Gardening and canning

So this year I decided to try a few new things. Nothing dare-devilish, just simple so if nothing else I can say I did them once in my life. Well it turns out I loved it and "IT" just happens to be having a garden. Can you believe it? I am 31-years-old and have never had a garden. Sure growing up my mom had a garden a few years here and there but I never really participated in the work associated with it. So this year I took on the task.
I didn't have a large garden but it was adequate for a first timer. I only chose vegetables I would actually eat, I mean what's the point of growing things if they aren't going to be used. So I opted to grow: tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeños, watermelon (which never grew to a size bigger than a softball), spaghetti squash, straight neck squash, zucchini, carrots, pumpkins, and onions. My garden was doing great right after I transplanted it into the planter boxes outside. That was until a late frost came and killed off all of my squash and tomatoes. I was heart broken, dismayed and ready to just give up. But thanks to my dad we replanted and watched them grow. Steadily though-out the summer I was able to get a few things here and there but then at the end of September I knew my outdoor growing time was coming to an end. After the first few frosts I decided it was time to figure out what to do with my bounty and what better to do to preserve than bottle it. Again this wasn't a task I had accomplished on my own, but with the help of google and a few very helpful bloggers I figured out how to do it.

Jalapeños

My first task was my jalapeños. I never in my wildest dreams figured that two little plants would give me so many but they did. I figured out the best thing to do was to pickle them. This worked great! I was so impressed.

How to bottle Pickled Jalapeños

7 lbs jalapeños (obviously I didn't have that many so I altered the recipe a little)

5 c. vinegar

1 c. water

3 cloves garlic

2 T. sugar (as you like)

4 T. canning or pickling salt

1 T. celery seed

1 T. mustard seed

Heat liquid and spices until boiling, put peppers in jars and cover with hot liquid and process for 30 minutes

(This recipe I got off of Cooks.com with my alterations)

Peaches

Alright I'm going to be completely honest about my canning of peaches experience...not the funnest. Everything I read said they are super easy. You just blanch them for a few seconds in boiling water and then place them in an ice-water bath and the skins peal right off....so they say. My peaches must have had some adversity to being naked because they did not want their peel to come off! Although I love peaches and wanted to try something different I think next time I will stick to freezing them. Again I got my recipe off the internet at pickyourown.org/peachescanning.htm

Peaches recipe

5 peaches to fill a quart jar (approximately)

I opted to do the sugar solution but you can use fruit juice instead

I did the light sugar syrup which calls for:

2 c. sugar to 6 c. water

Hot pack the peaches by adding them to the syrup mixture and allow to boil for 5 minutes before adding to your jars

Process for 30 minutes

Tomatoes

I didn't get very many tomatoes before the frost came but from what I did get I didn't want them to go to waste so I decided to bottle them too. I got my ideas from another blog called, "My Crazy Life as a Farmers Wife" http://sherellechristensen.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/10/recipes-for-canning-tomatoes-stewed-tomatoes-pizza-sauce-spaghetti-sauce-salsa.html.  She also gives great tips on peeling the tomatoes (where was that when I was doing peaches).

Tomato Recipe

This is what she said on her blog:

Place a large empty pot on the stove and turn on low heat. Rough chop each tomato into bite sized pieces. They don't have to be perfect. Trasfer to the pot as your cutting board gets full. Don't waster the tomato juice...it adds wonderful flavor. Repeat until all tomatoes have been chopped, and tomatoes and juice are all in the pot. Turn heat up to medium low and start adding seasoning. I like to add plenty of salt, pepper and then some celery salt. I also add a tiny bit of sugar to bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes.  I usually add a half cup, but I make a HUGE pot...so you'll want to play around with seasonings until it tastes good, depending on how much you're making. Add a few Tbs. of lemon juice. Some people like to add chopped onions and celery at this point, but I prefer to just have the tomatoes plain because I like to add them to so many different recipes. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Then process in the water bath for approximately 30 minutes.

Apple Pie Filling

Next was apples (ok, I know I didn't technically grow these but a wonderful grower from here in Utah did, and how could I resist making some apple pie filling for some delicious apple cobbler?). It was a weekend event at my moms house. At the end of our churches General Conference we got to work. It took about 4 hours, 6 workers, and one burn casualty (me :( ) to accomplish bottling 29 quarts of apple pie filling. Now my mom and I should have enough to last for the next year.

Apple Pie Filling

(for seven quarts) 

6 quarts blanched fresh apples sliced 1/4" thick

5 1/2 c. Sugar

1 T cinnamon

1t. nutmeg (optional)

2 1/2 c. cold water

5 c. apple juice

3/4 c. bottled lemon juice

7 drops food coloring (opt.) we didn't do this

3 c. Ultra gel

Peel core and slice apples; place in water containing ascorbic acid. Blanch no more than two quarts at a time for 1 minute in boiling water and keep warm. 

Combine sugar, spices, water, apple juice, lemon juice. and coloring in large kettle. Add ultra gel gradually with wire whisk (I added it while the mixture was still cold and used a hand mixer which made it much easier, also add it slowly mixing in between otherwise you'll get lumps but as the mixture warms they will dissolve) stir until smooth. Cook until thick and bubbly (WARNING: it will pop as it starts to bubble so keep your distance or you will get burned by scorching hot sugar, I know!)

Fold in drained apple slices. Fill jars leaving 1/2" headspace

Process for 35 minutes if at sea level, for us we had to bump it up to 45 minutes since we are over 5,000 feet

CARROTS

Last but not least was my carrots. As you can see I had so many and I didn't know what to do with all of them. A great friend from work told me that you can bottle them and then use them in soups, casseroles, stews, blend it up for baby food, whatever you'd like. I was amazed why didn't I think of that! So with his help, and google to tell me how to use a pressure canner, I was able to finish 12 pints of carrots ready when I need them.

How to bottle Carrots

Carrots cleaned and cut (I did both disks and chopped)

water

salt (1 tsp for each quart or 1/2 tsp per pint)

I did mine a bit different than what my friend discussed but it seemed to work just fine

I put the carrots into the bottles then had the water/salt mixture already warm on the stove and pored it  into the bottles

Lid and ring like normal then place in pressure canner

pressure can for 30min

let cool and you have delicious carrots ready when you are :)