Canning

 Congrats  Camp!

  

Happy gardening
Rose

Congratulations! I hope you are very pleased with the results of the judges!  I have always loved County Fairs.  In past years I have spent hours looking at nearly everything from canned goods to quilts.

Thank you all for inspiring us new ones to can  

This is our second year to pressure can

so far this last week....we canned

8 Pints of green/yellow/purple beans from the gardens

6 half pints of seedless blackberry jam from the gardens

7 pints of chili made with onions and peppers from the gardens

6 Quarts of chicken soup made with carrots and onions from the gardens

2 Quarts = (4 cabbages) of dehydrated cabbage from our gardens

1 pint of dehydrated and made into powder kale from the gardens

1 jar of oregano & 1 jar of basil from the gardens



 happy canning
rose.....who just picked another gal size bag of beans to can

oooooooh! You have a pressure canner! It all looks great!
Is anyone else noticing that the jar companies are no longer putting labels in the boxes of jars?
Sooooooooo disappointing.  

Camp we have never received labels with our jars....it sure would be nice  

yes we have a pressure canner  we bought it last year....the two years before we learned how to water bath pickles and jams.....so...we got brave and decided to pressure can since our gardens are growing and we would like to put up as much as we can  

we do freeze some things and we started to dehydrate as well....this is the first year dehydrating cabbage, as freezing it last year didn't turn out that great...

we have been learning so much.....some veggies taste better either frozen or dehydrated or canned.....we kind of got it down.....I think  

happy canning
rose

Camp, Congratulations, again!  

FG, Dehydrated cabbage and Kale? You you plan to use them in soups this winter? If so, I may try them in my summer dehydrator boxes.

Strawberry, blueberry, raspberry (red & black) Jam, Garlic Dill Pickles (Hot & Reg), I am going to try relish for the first time, and Salsa.
 
Congrats, Camp all your stuff looks wonderful.

WOW! camp, I am very impressed with your results at the fair. I too have learned so much in a short time from your sharing of canning info and the encouragement you have given.

Thanks and congrats!

camprn wrote:oooooooh! You have a pressure canner! It all looks great!
Is anyone else noticing that the jar companies are no longer putting labels in the boxes of jars?
Sooooooooo disappointing.  

We write the item name and yr on the flats which get thrown away after opening. I have found it a pain to try to remove labels off of my jars.

herblover wrote:

camprn wrote:oooooooh! You have a pressure canner! It all looks great!
Is anyone else noticing that the jar companies are no longer putting labels in the boxes of jars?
Sooooooooo disappointing.  

We write the item name and yr on the flats which get thrown away after opening.  I have found it a pain to try to remove labels off of my jars.

I also use a sharpie on the lids of all my canning, but for the purposes of exhibition, the label is required. It is something new this year that Ball is not including labels.

Congratulations, Camp!!!  What an inspiration!


CC

Congratulations Camp, what a wonderful showing! You raise canning to an art. Inspirational. I would like to try Pressure cooker canning at some point. I have been researching Pressure cookers. Any thoughts on what cooker to invest in?

It's sad Ball does not include the labels anymore. A few letters or emails to them might change how they package the jars. I'm sure the labels don't cost them that much. They do sell canning labels at Ace Hardware, they look just like what Ball used to have. You also can make your own on the computer. I believe Staples has the oval stickers. Craft stores like Michaels probably have a kit as well.

Personally, I've always hated peeling the old labels off the jars and I always wanted to write more on it than there was room for, so we started making our own labels on the computer. We hold the labels together with a piece of double stick tape and only a small amount of it actually sticks to the jar. It usually all comes off when you rip off the label.

We give much of our canning as Christmas gifts and over the years have gotten creative with label making. We always use pictures of our dogs and change the theme of the label. Last year we used the "got milk?" idea. "got toast?" for jams and jellies, "got pasta?" for our homemade sauce and "got pancakes?" for the maple walnut syrup. The year before I used the image of the painting 'American Gothic' and superimposed the dogs faces onto the bodies of the farmer and his wife. I really enjoy creating the labels. It allows us to put the ingredient list on the back, so people with special dietary requirements or allergies know exactly what is in the jar. I've also started putting a "use by" date on them. I know these large labels obscure the contents for judging purposes and couldn't be used in that regard, but they make for great gift giving.

Here's a picture of some of last years jars.

Those labels are fantastic lyndeeloo!

Visiting my son in Wilmington. Per my DIL's request, I did a batch of watermelon rind marmalade. Supposed to make 6 pints but I only got 4 1/2. Think I got 5 1/2 when I made it at home.

Kay

More often than not I end up with less than the recipe says it will yield. How long do you typically have to cook the watermelon marmalade?

I use a pectin recipe, so cooking time is about 10 minutes. I did notice I had to add more water to my grated rind to make up the 2 cups of liquid. Maybe a dry melon rind.

Kay

That marmalade sounds great! I've had watermelon rind pickles and love em, but never heard of rind marmalade. YUM  

This am i froze another pkg of chard, have a small meal of stuffed peppers freezing and vacuum packed the last of 10 pkgs of blackberries picked Monday froma local u pick farm.  Hoping to get corn to freeze later today from the fram mkt.

Camp- I bought new jars this year and they had labels in the package.  All your canned goods look amazing and congrats on your winnings from the fair.

I'll probably ask for a pressure canner for Xmas this year.  So far I have canned cherry preserves (even made my own pectin from our apples) and bread & butter pickles.  Im going to do a batch of dill pickles tonight.

Lyn- I love your labels!

Dusted off the canning kettle and fired her up yesterday! Put up 34 jars of strawberry jam. Wish I could say the strawberries were from my own garden, but those got eaten as soon as they got brought into the house. Picked 10 pounds of strawberries on Sunday at a local farm and turned them all into jam.

I've been canning potatoes, Italian meat sauce, & homemade smoked bbq sauce.

Can't WAIT till I can can the produce from this year!

lyndeeloo wrote:Dusted off the canning kettle and fired her up yesterday! Put up 34 jars of strawberry jam. Wish I could say the strawberries were from my own garden, but those got eaten as soon as they got brought into the house. Picked 10 pounds of strawberries on Sunday at a local farm and turned them all into jam.

you got 34 jelly jars from 10# berries? Nice!!

Lyndeeloo - did you ever get a pressure canner?

I have a large Presto dial gauge.  I LOVE it!

And love your labels!

AtlantaMarie wrote:Lyndeeloo - did you ever get a pressure canner?

I have a large Presto dial gauge.  I LOVE it!

And love your labels!

I bought the Presto pressure canner late in the season last year and had very little left to can. This year I hope to really give it a workout. Thanks about the labels Marie, I'd better start working on a design for this year!

camprn wrote:

lyndeeloo wrote:Dusted off the canning kettle and fired her up yesterday! Put up 34 jars of strawberry jam. Wish I could say the strawberries were from my own garden, but those got eaten as soon as they got brought into the house. Picked 10 pounds of strawberries on Sunday at a local farm and turned them all into jam.

you got 34 jelly jars from 10# berries? Nice!!

Thanks Camprn.  Have you ever used the low sugar pectin? Experiences? Thoughts? I would like to make jams with less sugar for some friends with dietary concerns but I refuse to use artificial sweeteners or sugar substitutes.