Canning the Garden & Other Stuff

It is HOT! Sorry to yell, but it really is hot here. There are some clouds forming and we might get some much needed rain, even though there's not a great chance of it. We had record rainfall in the spring, but with these hot temperatures, we are definitely in need of more. Since the afternoons are way to hot to work outside, we have been canning up a storm, not everyday, but more often than not lately.

We finally finished canning the four bushels of peaches we bought. We broke about four or five jars by trying to put them into a hot water bath we had just taken a load out of. I was thinking that since we were putting boiling water over the peaches they would be fine. They were not. Room temperature peaches and boiling water isn't really all that hot. The last batch of peaches we heated up and didn't lose a jar. Lesson learned. 

Peach sauce on the left, then plums and garlic

We made a batch of peach sauce from a recommendation in one of the comments we received. Thank you! It was simple, it just took a few days of simmering to cook it down to the consistency we wanted. Wash the peaches, pit, cut out any bruises or bad spots, cut up and cook it down. That's it. We did add some fruit fresh to prevent darkening, but the sauce does darken some naturally as you cook it down and run it through the water bath. From a half bushel of peaches we ended up with 11 pints. I like the idea of including the peels instead of taking them off. Has anyone canned peach slices with the peel on? I wonder if that would work? I know there are nutrients in the peel just like with apples and potatoes. I may try it next time.

We have continued to can our Cushaw and Buttercup winter squashes because the ones we've picked so far aren't keeping well. They developed during the really wet weather and are getting soft spots or outright starting to rot already. 

We have one hill of yellow squash left alive that the squash bugs haven't killed. I probably squished about 30 bugs this morning. I have also sprayed them with a water, baking soda, Dawn soap combination followed by a dose of diatomaceous earth. They have killed all of the Buttercup winter squash and are working on the Cushaw. This morning I planted more of all three kinds of squash in an attempt to grow a fall crop. We will see how they do.

 

We get enough cowpeas to can about once a week for now. Once the new patch of peas starts producing we will have many more. After we fill the shelf with all we want we will start drying them to use for winter feed for the goats, pigs and chickens. 

We haven't canned very many green beans, and I was hoping for about 70 or 80 pints at least. The leaves on most of the plants look like lace from the beetles and worms. What a year for bugs. I will be planting more beans in an attempt to get a fall crop from them as well. We plan to disc up quite a bit of the garden tomorrow so I can start planting turnips, carrots, potatoes, green beans, beets and I'm not sure what else. Some of these crops will do well after a frost and some won't. I will start some cabbage, broccoli and brussels sprout seedlings before long as well.

We tried our 'new' canner that we had problems with again, we found out it is a 2008 model, and it still leaks around the lid. After two calls to the factory the technician recommended we go over the seal with some '000' steel wool and lubricate it with olive oil instead of Vaseline. When we started using our first All American the recommendation was Vaseline, now they are finding the lid sticks less with olive oil. We have yet to try this out, but will let you know how it goes when we do.

In the meantime we got out our tertiary All American and it works great. You know the saying, three is two, two is one, and one is none? That's why we have three canners, two of which had never been out of the box until a few days ago. Since I have been very serious about filling our shelves with food this summer, it was time to get out a second canner so I can run both of them at the same time. It saves a lot of time. Like today.

We have some old pinto beans that are getting hard to cook. It takes a long time. So I decided to put a big batch on the stove last night and cook them for a while, let them soak overnight, cook them for a few hours this morning, then can them in pints. Well, there were a little more than 32 pints, so we will eat some for supper as well. Our model 921 All American canners hold 16 pints, and I would highly recommend them. As we were putting these beans in the canner, Frank made a great recommendation. The next time we are at the big box store, we'll pick up a 50 lb. bag of pinto beans to can. Then, if the time comes that we need to eat these old beans, we will, but for now, we'll use fresh ones. We can always grind the old beans into flour as another way of accessing the nutrition they contain.

So far, our canning efforts this summer have produced this yield.

•  7 pints of green beans
• 20 pints of yellow squash
  
•  5 pints of beets
• 10 pints of carrots
• 12 pints of cowpeas
• 11 pints of peach sauce
•  7 pints of plums
• 16 pints of minced garlic
• 68 quarts of peaches
• 34 quarts of winter squash

The canned minced garlic turned out fine even though it browned as we canned it. The texture is very soft, not really a minced texture anymore, but it smells fine and works well cooked into a dish. I look forward to using it and may do another batch, just to have it on the shelf. I have neglected to include enough garlic in our diets, and this has turned out to be a good option for me.

I'm glad we have put up this much food, but it really isn't very much food if I stop and look at it. If we were to have to depend upon what we are stocking away as our sole source of nutrition, we would be in trouble. Big trouble. So, I will keep trying to add as many things to the shelves as I can. Before long our oldest baby chickens will be ready to butcher. We will freeze a few for

convenience and because we like fried chicken, but many of them will end up in a jar on the shelf along with some chicken broth. We still have wethers that should have been butchered long ago out grazing in the pasture. They will probably wait until fall. They've waited this long, what's another month or two? Some of that meat will also end up in jars on the shelf. And then there are the two barrows, castrated pigs, that are wondering around in another pasture. In time, they will make their way into the freezer and into jars on the shelf. That will help with our preserved food supply. I still count them now even though they are still out there walking around. I call them meat on the hoof, or I guess in the case of the birds, meat on the foot.


It is a good summer. There is much to do everyday. Do we get it all done? No, not even close. But what we don't get done one day waits for us the next day. It's funny how that works, isn't it? Things just don't get done by themselves. We find it hard to prioritize things sometimes since there are a number of things that need our attention. The squash bugs really got the upper hand while I was canning peaches. I noticed this morning that some of my elderberries have already ripened and disappeared, probably into the mouth of a bird. I want to make some elderberry syrup this summer since it's so good for colds. Yet another thing to put on the list. Then I wanted to check on the apple tree next door, and then........

This thing we all feel coming gets closer everyday, do all you can to be ready.

Until next time - Fern
 

A Peach of a Day

We made a dent in the four bushels of peaches we picked up yesterday from a local orchard. It's been a long, productive day.

First, I sorted the peaches into three categories. The first one, which we took care of today, I thought of as the 'can right now' batch. These are the ones that were bruised, very ripe or injured in some way. The second group includes peaches that are ripe and ready to eat. Their skins are intact, and they are not bruised, but they need to be processed very soon, like tomorrow. The third group has those peaches that are still firm and can wait a few days before they need attention.

I decided to blanch and skin all of the peaches that we were going to process today in the first step. That frees up the stove for heating water for lids and rings, more water to sterilize the jars, and more water for the peaches in the jars. We used only water with pectin for our liquid, with no sweeteners of any kind. After the peaches were blanched and peeled it was time to heat up two water bath canners, slice the peaches, bring in more jars, dig out the pectin and get ready to go.

It always seems like that first canner takes forever to come to boiling. We heated up the water in the canner while we got everything ready, but it still takes a while to come to a rolling boil so you can start timing it.

We ran out of room on our 'sealing and cooling' shelf, so we had to wash up and put away the things we canned recently.

 

 I remarked to Frank that it is nice to finally be comfortable canning. At first I was always nervous, checking and rechecking to make sure everything was right. Now, I find it enjoyable to be able to confidently put away food for us to eat. 

The sun has long since set and we had a very late supper. We ended up with 34 quarts of peaches today and that's only about a third of them. We'll be at it for a few more days before we are finished, and then I have about 35 pounds of Cushaw squash waiting to be canned. It's been another good day on the homestead.

Until next time - Fern
 

Making Chevre Cheesecake

This is one of those yummy desserts that takes years to make. Well, maybe not years, but....... first I had to buy a goat.....and milk it..... and make the chevre cheese, which is a soft cheese.....and make the graham crackers. But this is really a simple recipe that can be made with any milk, butter and eggs. I am just happy to be able to make it from some of the things we produce here at home. The ingredients that were bought at the store include wheat, flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and vanilla. So, when I think about the things I need to stock up on to be prepared, these are the items I get. Basic staples that can be used in a wide variety of ways. This is definitely one of the more tasty ways to use them.

I have shown how I made Chevre cheese. I also made the graham crackers. I will show you how on another post. They are both fairly simple to make and don't take a lot of attention and direct time. Once they are both made, it is very quick and easy to make a cheesecake.

I used my old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (copyright 1978) for the graham cracker crust recipe. It is very simple. Combine 1 1/4 cup fine graham cracker crumbs with 1/4 cup sugar and 6 tbsp. melted butter. Mix and press firmly into a 9 inch pie plate.

To crush the crackers, I put them in a Ziplock bag and beat them up with my rolling pin. 


This very effective and doesn't take long. Just don't do this when someone is trying to take a nap. It's noisy. 

I find it easy enough to put the cracker crumbs directly into the pie pan.

This is some of our butter, made from the cream from our goat milk.  I melted it in the microwave.

I skipped the sugar for the crust. The graham crackers are sweet enough on their own, so I only added the butter. Pour the butter into the crumbs, mix well, then press the crumbs smoothly into the pie plate.
 

Next I used my 500 Treasured Country Recipes for the cheesecake recipe. This is definitely my kind of recipe. Cheese, eggs, sugar and vanilla. That's it! 

So... mix:
3 cups Chevre
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Fill the crust. My crust is very loose and crumbly and the cheese is very stiff. It doesn't spread well so it's kind of a pressing motion to fill the crust. 

But it's very pretty isn't it? The cheese that started out white is now a pale yellow due to the rich yolks of the eggs.





Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until the cheesecake is firm.

Those two finger prints are how you test to see if it is done. Of course, they weren't supposed to show up in the picture!

 

Now for the hard part. Waiting until it is cool enough to eat. Frank just asked, "How long does that have to cool?" "I don't know. I have never eaten hot cheesecake before."





We have been wanting to try out our canned peaches to see how they turned out and I think this is the perfect opportunity. We used an ultra light syrup on the peaches so they aren't very sweet. But knowing that we canned them made them a good compliment to the cheesecake.

I have said this before. I cannot begin to describe the satisfaction that comes from producing, processing, preserving and serving our own food. We are truly blessed.

Until next time - Fern
 

Did Someone Say Peaches?

There are several orchards in this area that grow peaches. We have wanted to can our own for several years but haven't gotten around to it - until this year. Some of our friends made a trip to the orchard for peaches and kindly picked up three bushels for us. We tried to estimate how many we might eat in a year, so we will see how this turns out.

The first thing we did is eat two or three, then we sorted them out. Most of them needed to sit and ripen for a few days before they were ready to can. The really soft ones we set aside to eat first.

We have planted fruit trees, but we have never been very successful at growing anything. We will keep trying. But for now, it is nice to have fresh fruit to put up. And did I say these are good? I really like peaches.

This picture is only half of the peaches (and some whey left from making cheese and the harvest from the garden for the day).

The first thing we made was peach butter. We had great luck with pear butter last summer and like the simplicity of the recipe. So we tried our luck at peach butter.

The recipe is fairly simple, but I didn't follow it exactly, of course. We did an experimental batch to see if it was good before we made more. It is good. Really good. It kind of tastes like peach cobbler without the crust. I also didn't get any pictures. So I will just describe it for you.

Peel, pit and slice or chunk 9 lbs. of peaches. In a stainless steel pot, combine peaches with 1/2 cup water, 2 tsp. grated lemon zest (I used dehydrated orange peel) and 6 tbsp. of lemon juice (or the juice of one lemon). Boil gently until peaches are soft - about 20 minutes.

The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving recommends using a food mill or food processor to puree the peaches, but I used my potato masher. I took about half of the peaches out and put them in another pan just for ease of working, then took my time and mashed them up. They aren't consistently smooth, but that's okay with us, we like a little more texture. This step will be a personal preference in consistency.

Next, return all the peaches to the pot and add 3 cups sugar (if I followed the actual recipe it would be 8 cups of sugar - way too much for us), 1/4 tsp. almond extract, 1/8 tsp. nutmeg and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (these spices are not in the original recipe). Stir until the sugar dissolves, bring to a gentle boil and simmer until thickened to the desired consistency. Since I use much less sugar than called for, my butter doesn't thicken up as much, but it holds together fairly well when chilled. It isn't runny, but isn't smooth and buttery textured either. The last step is to process it in a water bath for 10 minutes (for pints). The most time consuming step is letting it cook down to consistency.

Next came canning peach slices. If you have read some of the other posts, you know by now that we use minimal sugar.

The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving has a great table that shows how to make ultra light syrup for canning fruit. I didn't use quite as much as it calls for, but almost.  5 cups of water and 1/3 cup of sugar - we did 5 times this much.

The first step is to blanch the peaches to loosen the skin. Put the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to one minute then move them to a sink of cold water.

We added ice to the water in the sink to keep it cold.

Next skin the peaches........
We blanched about a bushel and a half - enough to fill up the dish pan. We weren't sure how many quarts this would make, so we stopped there for the first go round.

Slice them. Fill the jars with peaches, fill with syrup, wipe the rim, seat lids and rings and place in canner.

Our water bath canners hold seven quarts and we are using both of them. Round one goes well and uses a lot of the peaches. We have enough left for six more quarts. 


Shortly after we started the last batch, one of the jars broke so we got to fish out some floating peaches. It's the one in the back that's higher than the rest. We couldn't find anything wrong, so it must have been a jar with a weak place. The bottom broke off all the way around in one piece.

Day One = 19 quarts of sliced peaches and 8 pints of peach butter

We got started earlier on day 2 so we thought we would be finished at a decent hour. This was not the case. First we washed up the jars from day one, labeled them and got them put away.

Time to get out more jars and get them washed up and ready to go. You know, we have named the dishwashers here - Frank and Fern.

Since we wanted to use both water bath canners, we got out our hot plate to heat the syrup on. This really filled the cabinet up, so we had to be very organized.

Milk buckets sure do come in handy. We have our rings and lids in the bucket with boiling water over them.

Here is one of the batches fresh from the canner.

12 hours later, we were very, very tired. But the peaches are finished and beautiful to behold.

Total count
40 quarts of sliced peaches
26 pints of peach butter
2 tired people

Growing, processing and canning your own food is a lot of work. I have great respect for our ancestors that grew and preserved what they ate - or they didn't eat. We all know that changes are in the wind for our country and our world. We don't know when, what kind or to what degree, but we do know they are coming. I continue to urge you all to learn something that will be beneficial to your family now and in the long run. Now is the time to learn while failure is still an option. Yesterday Frank was talking about using up some of the store bought green beans we have on the shelf. So we made a green bean casserole for lunch at church. He said if we don't grow enough this year to can and replace them, we will go the store and get more. We still have that option, and I am grateful we do. It may not always be the case.

Until next time - Fern