Been to the farm

[J.B. Books]

Brought home a bushel of pears and apples, turning them into rollups. Anybody put stuff up for later?
JB

[pcox]

The wife makes salsa. I usually put out around forty tomato plants. Keeps her busy.

[lyman]

I freeze veggies when the garden does well,

[Allen]

With the droughts and monsoons we have here I had to give up on gardening long ago. This is just a tip and you can't do it with all vegs but I like to cook with bell peppers but don't like to take the time to chop one up while cooking and usually don't need a whole one. I buy the large ones when I can, chop them up and put half a pepper in a small zip lock bag and freeze submerged in water. The water preserves the veg and prevents freezer burn. I do it with shrimp, hamburger meat and other stuff as well. I have used the frozen in water peppers years later and they still appear and taste fresh. This obviously wouldn't work with mushy fruits like bananas and apples would probably turn brown but it works well with firm vegs. Items you normally can buy frozen.

[J.B. Books]

The wife makes salsa. I usually put out around forty tomato plants. Keeps her busy.

I make my own and strain out any seeds, I have a bad gut. One of my favorite things to make is brandy peaches...fantastic over ice cream!
JB

[Allen]

One of my favorite things to make is brandy peaches...fantastic over ice cream!

My mother use to make that. She had a recipe for making it out of canned fruit cocktail.

[Sunray]

"...turning them into rollups..." Tsk. Poach the pears in red wine. And make apple almond pudding. Neither lasts long enough for there to be a 'later'. Mind you, fruit will 'keep' in a cool, dry, place. Like a root cellar next to your gun powder. snicker.
"...brandy peaches..." There's Peach Brandy too.
"...bell peppers..." Don't need the water for freezing. In a freezer bag, cut up or not, and into the freezer is good enough.
"...forty tomato plants..." My ma had 100 plants given to her, years ago. The soil here is the best there is anywhere. She said they had so many tomatoes that anybody who came to the door left with at least one basket. And that was after the canning.

[free1954]

I give my excess away to others that "put stuff up".
J.B. BOOKS may I ask what parts you hail from where you refer to processing food as putting stuff up. around here the process is known as canning. doesn't matter what kind of container you put it in.in my grandmothers day it was known as "going in the crock" [the stoneware crock.]there are only two types of storage here in the Pennsylvanian northeast, canning and freezing. putting stuff up is what we do when we want to keep something from the kids.

[lyman]

years ago, my Mother mostly froze stuff, we had specific tupperware type containers for it,

my grandmothers both Canned (mason jars) most stuff, and some was blanched and frozen,
jams, jellies, beans tomatos in the jar, corn and a few others frozen,

good stuff


worked on a house when I was a teenager with my Grandfather,
original part of the house was 1700's, post and beam construction, then added on to a couple times (last in the 30's or 40's)

guy that owned the place was a friend of my grandparents, we did some minor home repairs for him,

went upstairs for something and guy's wife was a canner,
she had bottles or jars lined around each room, as in against the baseboard, one layer deep in most places, side by side around several rooms,

he had about an acre garden, and some of the green beans had started to fade in color,
not sure how long they were up there

[jon_norstog]

I can a lot. For short=term I just shovel boiling hot into the jar, close it up, give it a shake to heat the air, crack it to let off the pressure and then close it up. Lid goes "ping" and my pasta sauce, chili, bean soup, stew meat, chicken, bone broth, whatever keeps great in the fridge for at least a month. Longer term I can for real in a pressure cooker. This year it's tomatoes - I planted San Marzanos and now have a year's supply of tomato sauce with more coming on. Elk I freeze, but in big pieces. I'll thaw and cook a package, like make bourguignon or something and can the rest. Turkey carcass, get about 4-6 qts of broth off one. Chicken bones, are good for two quaRts, why buy the stuff?

This year the green beans went big and those we mostly froze. I think this year I'll put down a concrete pad outside so I can have a chest-type freezer.

jn

[lyman]

I can a lot. For short=term I just shovel boiling hot into the jar, close it up, give it a shake to heat the air, crack it to let off the pressure and then close it up. Lid goes "ping" and my pasta sauce, chili, bean soup, stew meat, chicken, bone broth, whatever keeps great in the fridge for at least a month. Longer term I can for real in a pressure cooker. This year it's tomatoes - I planted San Marzanos and now have a year's supply of tomato sauce with more coming on. Elk I freeze, but in big pieces. I'll thaw and cook a package, like make bourguignon or something and can the rest. Turkey carcass, get about 4-6 qts of broth off one. Chicken bones, are good for two quaRts, why buy the stuff?

This year the green beans went big and those we mostly froze. I think this year I'll put down a concrete pad outside so I can have a chest-type freezer.

jn

my garden did horrible this year,

too much rain early so it was late getting in,

wife is celiac, and while we don't grow wheat, she has found she feels better on a AIP diet, so no eggplant, tomato, potato this year, and beans are off the list as well, (in the past 80% or our garden was beans and peas)

onions did horrible, had a few gypsy potatoes that did not do well,

I'm going to cover it with compost this fall, and then till up a smaller area in the spring, and redo,
I have to fence it in to keep the deer out,

thinking more onions , leeks, and a lot of squashes and melons,

lettuce and spinach do not do well in our soil,


I'll replant my garlic next month, (it does ok every year)

[Allen]

Just curious, have any of you used one of those vacuum sealers? I've always wanted one but just don't have the extra counter space for yet another gadget. They've really come down in price over the years.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2062857.m570.l1311.R6.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xvacuum.TRS0&_nkw=vacuum+sealer&_sacat=0

[lyman]

Just curious, have any of you used one of those vacuum sealers? I've always wanted one but just don't have the extra counter space for yet another gadget. They've really come down in price over the years.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...ealer&_sacat=0

I use one from Cabela's,

came with its own storage bag, so I keep it in the pantry, take it out and set it up (easy, just plug it in) when needed
bags are relatively cheap,

and it works well,

I use it for freezing veggies, and have used it to freeze some meat and leftovers

[Allen]

I use one from Cabela's,

came with its own storage bag, so I keep it in the pantry, take it out and set it up (easy, just plug it in) when needed
bags are relatively cheap,

and it works well,

I use it for freezing veggies, and have used it to freeze some meat and leftovers

Some people who are loaded preserve money in the bags as well. I think this would work well for coin collectors that want to keep the air from tarnishing the coins.

It seems to me this would be a useful tool for the survivalist as you can vacuum seal rice, cereal and other dry stuff to keep moisture out.

Thanks for replying.

[jon_norstog]

I almost forgot! Wild blackberries. In a good year Salisa and I can pick a five-gallon bucket in a couple hours. Makes about 18-20 quarts.

After picking, sometimes people stare - what happened to your shirt?

"The purple stains are blackberry, the red ones are blood.

jn