First time canning

[Rick]

(whistles sharply) Yo! Everyone! Desert is an Winnie's house!!!!! Take your shoes off, though, we have to a wade a bit of water to get there.

Equus - When you open those canned green beans in January or pop open a fresh jar of pickles and watch the snow fall, you'll be hooked. Once you have the initial investment behind you it's so much cheaper than buying at the store and it tastes better, too.

[Winnie]

You'd have to fight wychwood jnr for them Rick! He's rather precious about his old ma's cooking! (you gotta love him!)

That's the one thing I do wish I could can, is veg and I'd love to have a go at canning meat and fish too, but no pressure canners over here. grrrr.

I do salt runner beans and they're pretty good. It's nice opening a jar of summer in the depths of winter.

[Rick]

You can certainly do things like pickles in a hot water bath. It's veggies in a different format...sort of.

As for runner beans. This is the first year I've grown them and I'm anxious to see what they taste like. I understand they are quite the think in the UK and Europe but, for some reason, they simply have not caught on here. They have some spectacular blooms on them and they produce a really large bean pod. Our pole and bush beans, like Kentucky wonders, on the other hand, tend to get tough when they get the same size. I have the nicest salmon colored blooms on my beans. (Big Smile!!)

[equus]

yeah the next thing is trying to find a place to put a garden next year. we live in an apartment complex no room for a garden. i might be able to put a garden out at the barn next year? (Where we keep our horses)

can you can store bought veggies? soes it taste as good? or should i just wait till next year and try to can?

[crashdive123]

You can dehydrate or can fresh veggies and fruit that you purchase. They will taste just fine.

[equus]

all right then i may try to can this coming up week. what all do i need to can? i am not for sure what all i need.

[Winnie]

You can certainly store shop veg Equus. Owing to a vine weavil attack I'll be buying fresh tomatoes from the market to make chutney and to can as a sauce.
Buy the best and freshest you can, making sure there are no blemishes and away you go!

Rick, if you can find it try the runner bean white emergo. I usually grow these(save my own seed) the flowers are white and the beans can be as long as 24"!!! and tasty!
Had a bit of a disaster this spring with my beans so had to sow them again hence the later harvesting, the first lot to salt down will be in the jar tomorrow! Oooh I love this time of year! harvesting and preserving!!

[Winnie]

Equus: try this link and there's instructions and what you need on here, I've found it very useful.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/search.html

[crashdive123]

Equus - Something you may want to look into. I took a couple of canning classes at my local county extension office. The classes were given by volunteers (Master Gardeners that had taken classes). Not sure if something like that is available, but might be worth looking into.

[equus]

see you guys later going to wal-mart to price canning supplies.

[Winnie]

Oh dear, Equus could be gone some time!

[Rick]

Equus - There are a number of options that are available to you. Some have been mentioned.

1. Assuming the folks where your horses are kept are in agreement, you can place a garden there. The horse manure makes excellent fertilizer. If not at that location, perhaps the owners of the stable know of some land not currently in use that would be suitable for a garden next year. Perhaps in exchange for cleaning up the ground or some other form of barter.

2. You could talk to your apartment owners and see if they would be in agreement to a community garden.

3. You could do some container gardening in and around your apartment. A couple of tomato plants won't take up much room.

4. You can visit a Farmer's Market and purchase your veggies for canning there.

[Lorna]

Something about canning and preserving your own food builds bonds that aren't easily broken. To my fellow canners and preservers I love ya'll. Before Ken put his 2 cents in lets not forget about the QC Dept.

[Ken]

Something about canning and preserving your own food builds bonds that aren't easily broken. To my fellow canners and preservers I love ya'll. Before Ken put his 2 cents in lets not forget about the QC Dept.

Thank you, Lorna! Yes, the Quality Control Department. We are your friends!

[Lorna]

Wychwood, have you tried canning plum pudding yet? I'm thinking canning puddings might work rather well. Would love any imput you might have? I know mince meat cans really well.

[Ken]

To my fellow canners and preservers I love ya'll.

I'm a canner and preserver.

[pocomoonskyeyes]

Well Equus and I got back,from wally world. We just went to price the stuff to get started. We figured (see if this sounds right to you)
Canner w/jar rack-$18.97
case of jars @$8.00 each case
16 qt. Pressure Canner - $70
Canning & pickling salt $1.30
Liquid fruuit pectin $2.70
large measuring cup - $4
and we decided to look at a 4 qt. pressure cooker as well - $35
Grand total before taxes @ $162.50
Does that sound about right? Did we miss anything? Just trying to cover the basics.

[Ken]

Well Equus and I got back,from wally world. We just went to price the stuff to get started. We figured (see if this sounds right to you)
Canner w/jar rack-$18.97
case of jars @$8.00 each case
16 qt. Pressure Canner - $70
Canning & pickling salt $1.30
Liquid fruuit pectin $2.70
large measuring cup - $4
and we decided to look at a 4 qt. pressure cooker as well - $35
Grand total before taxes @ $162.50
Does that sound about right? Did we miss anything? Just trying to cover the basics.

Which type of jars?

Did the jars come with rings and lids?

[Rick]

You want the wide mouthed jars. It just makes life easier all the way around. You might also think about a home canning kit.

http://www.canningpantry.com/home-canning-kit.html

They probably have them at Wal-Mart as well. I use the jar lifter, the funnel and the lid lifter (the little thing with a magnet) all the time. Very handy items.

[Winnie]

Wychwood, have you tried canning plum pudding yet? I'm thinking canning puddings might work rather well. Would love any imput you might have? I know mince meat cans really well.

Do you mean christmas pudding?
If so There's no need to can it! I make 3 puddings in september, one for christmas, one for new year and one for easter. The recipe I use is OLD! and only requires that you boil, then store the pudding in a cloth and greaseproof paper. Done like this it will last about a year.
The mincemeat I make never lasts long enough to need canning! I have to make it when wychwood jnr isn't around or he eats it straight from the mixing bowl, it doesn't even make it to the jar! (could have something to do with the alcohol I put in it)