Canning on the Homestead: A Time-Honored Tradition for Sustainable Living

peteyfoozer

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I love canning. I can a lot of our meat as well ad soups, meals and veggies. I don’t actually do much water bath, mostly pressure canning
 

ducks4you

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Mostly I can tomatoes yearly bc we use them for so many meals.
I have about 60 quarts of grapes and need to persuade eldest DD to help me make some wine with them.
I also have about 30 quarts of dark cherries and some jars of apple juice. I have a wine making kit, still in it's box, but that is typical for Ducks, who often have to clean off the dust from the packaging before starting a new project.
In 2022 I took to making broth from bones since we got a whole cow (steer) and I didn't want to waste the bones AND DD (Chef) tells me that every meat meal tastes better with broth than with water.
My old dog Pyg (15yo) benefits from broth and I often simply cook down bones and hot water bath "dog broth" bc it is used up in a fortnight. I am using up the Uline lids that I bought in 2021 bc a few have failed.
We used 8 month old lamb broth for our Easter leg(s) of lamb.
Not yet canning meat. Family suggested that we freeze chili instead of canning bc it tastes overcooked pressure canning.
Both my hot water bath canner and my pressure canner sit underneath my (tall with 3 chairs against the wall) kitchen table, clean and at the ready.
I bought a new stainless steel hot water bath canner with a glass lid in 2021. I got tired of the mess with the spatterwear canners, but I still have them. DD's sometimes dye fabric with them.
I have a basement pantry with 2 shelves and it's pretty dark and definitely cool them year round.
Still, canned peaches and canned pears don't last forever.
 

Crealcritter

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Mostly I can tomatoes yearly bc we use them for so many meals.
I have about 60 quarts of grapes and need to persuade eldest DD to help me make some wine with them.
I also have about 30 quarts of dark cherries and some jars of apple juice. I have a wine making kit, still in it's box, but that is typical for Ducks, who often have to clean off the dust from the packaging before starting a new project.
In 2022 I took to making broth from bones since we got a whole cow (steer) and I didn't want to waste the bones AND DD (Chef) tells me that every meat meal tastes better with broth than with water.
My old dog Pyg (15yo) benefits from broth and I often simply cook down bones and hot water bath "dog broth" bc it is used up in a fortnight. I am using up the Uline lids that I bought in 2021 bc a few have failed.
We used 8 month old lamb broth for our Easter leg(s) of lamb.
Not yet canning meat. Family suggested that we freeze chili instead of canning bc it tastes overcooked pressure canning.
Both my hot water bath canner and my pressure canner sit underneath my (tall with 3 chairs against the wall) kitchen table, clean and at the ready.
I bought a new stainless steel hot water bath canner with a glass lid in 2021. I got tired of the mess with the spatterwear canners, but I still have them. DD's sometimes dye fabric with them.
I have a basement pantry with 2 shelves and it's pretty dark and definitely cool them year round.
Still, canned peaches and canned pears don't last forever.
I made different kinds of beer and fruit wines before I gave it up. I think the best was strawberry, blueberry, cranberry, red raspberry and white grape juice. Interesting enough the white grape juice I fermented that was on sale at dollar general. Crazy how much sugar is in that grape juice.

I also have a persimmon that was picked off a friend's tree. I started it in November 2020, racked once and it's sitting in a 3 gallon carboy every since. No mojo to rack, bottle and cork it. Like I said I gave it up.

Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸
 

ducks4you

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I made orange marmelade several years ago. The smell when processing was Heavenly. Tasted great.
Hated how runny it was and ended up cleaning out uneaten jars years later.
When I made the orange upside down cake for Easter I made orange jam from the leftovers (which were paltry, since blood oranges and cara cara oranges were $1/each.)
I Really like it!
I think next January, when citris fruits are in season in Florida, I will try the marmelade again, but fix the runny out of the recipe. Lemons do add a little something to the taste and I think that there is a recipe that also uses nuts.
 

Crealcritter

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We made 4 pizzas last night. Farm babe made a whole bunch of pizza sauce from last year's canned tomatoes and canned the remaining. She then informed me, we have enough pizza sauce for 36 pizzas now. Each 1/2 pint is enough sauce for 2 pizzas.
IMG_20230510_185434639.jpg


FYI... This is very good recipe for homemade pizza. Tweak the sauce as you go to personal taste, use fresh ingredients. It's just as good as any restaurant pizza and you don't have to leave the house to go and get it 👍.
IMG_20230510_190210190.jpg


Farmbabe, daughter in law and grand daughters are currently in the midst of strawberry jam fest. Man the got a bunch of jars out. But you don't hear me complaining at all 😋

Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸
 

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