Well, I canned green beans for the first time tonight. It was easier than I ever imagined and I got a lot of yield that I can't wait to tuck into when we have three foot of snow outside.
Step 1.
Make your kids and husband break their backs picking green beans; We got just under 1/2 bushell but a little more than 1/3. It came to three dollars = Bargain.
Clean the rims and then place the lids on
Put on the rims, make them tight but not too tight. Easy to get off. Place in your pressure canner and follow directions. Processing time is 20 minutes but its best to do some reasearch about your OWN pressure canner. I don't want to be held responsible for lost limbs.
Canned green beans, super easy.
Step 1.
Make your kids and husband break their backs picking green beans; We got just under 1/2 bushell but a little more than 1/3. It came to three dollars = Bargain.
Step 2 - Top and Tail, wash and cut your green beans. Canning them whole is fine too. I was using pint jars so had to chop them. If I was using quarts, I would have kept them whole. At this point its best to grab a beer, Canning under the influence!
Wash your Jars and lids, I raw packed so sterilized my jars, put in the cold green beans, half a teaspoon of salt (full teaspoon for quarts) and hot water, leaving 1' of headspace.
We decided to go Peach picking to get a few for our own consumption. We got there and was told that we had to pick a half bushell and if we wanted less we didn't get to pick but could buy them from the shop. This orchard is a great place, very pretty and we will go back for the three tons of apples I need to make a years worth of unsweetened apple sauce (We eat alot of apple sauce..... so we are talking 48 quarts here and we still might end up with it not lasting a year).
We managed to get:
1/2 Bushell of Peaches
1/4 Bushell of Green Beans (ever picked your own green beans? don't bother, get them from the farmers market, I felt like I broke my back for an hour after. Nothing that a magarita can't fix though!)
Dozen Sweetcorn..
All for the wonderful price of $15.
We are processing the green beans and corn also but the peaches was what we really had to get going on because they spoil so quickly.
Dehydrated peaches are yum, natures candy. We put them in the dehydrator last night at about 10 and they were ready at 10 the next morning.
We also froze some, about a gallon in fact. I didn't want to can them all because peaches are great in smoothies also. At the same time, I don't want a freezer full of peaches. What happens if we lose electricity? I want my canned food! The people accross the road might starve but we'll be ok! (not really, i'd probably invite everyone round and have a redcross shelter in my basement)
Then we canned some spicy peaches in the pressure canner. Peaches can be safetly water bath canned but I bought a new pressure canner today so was playing. Pressure canners are a whole new animal, on numerous occasions I was hiding under the dining table waiting for the thing to blow up. So far so good though and the jars are sealed fine.
We used a light syrup (1 quart of water, 2 cups of sugar) which we poured over sliced peaches already in jars. Stuck in a cinnamon stick and some cloves and popped them in the pressure canner. 5 pounds of pressure for 10 minutes processing time. My pressure canner is my new love and i'm going to can some green beans tomorrow.
We managed to get:
1/2 Bushell of Peaches
1/4 Bushell of Green Beans (ever picked your own green beans? don't bother, get them from the farmers market, I felt like I broke my back for an hour after. Nothing that a magarita can't fix though!)
Dozen Sweetcorn..
All for the wonderful price of $15.
We are processing the green beans and corn also but the peaches was what we really had to get going on because they spoil so quickly.
Dehydrated peaches are yum, natures candy. We put them in the dehydrator last night at about 10 and they were ready at 10 the next morning.
We also froze some, about a gallon in fact. I didn't want to can them all because peaches are great in smoothies also. At the same time, I don't want a freezer full of peaches. What happens if we lose electricity? I want my canned food! The people accross the road might starve but we'll be ok! (not really, i'd probably invite everyone round and have a redcross shelter in my basement)
Then we canned some spicy peaches in the pressure canner. Peaches can be safetly water bath canned but I bought a new pressure canner today so was playing. Pressure canners are a whole new animal, on numerous occasions I was hiding under the dining table waiting for the thing to blow up. So far so good though and the jars are sealed fine.
We used a light syrup (1 quart of water, 2 cups of sugar) which we poured over sliced peaches already in jars. Stuck in a cinnamon stick and some cloves and popped them in the pressure canner. 5 pounds of pressure for 10 minutes processing time. My pressure canner is my new love and i'm going to can some green beans tomorrow.
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