Once upon a time when groceries were much cheaper, canned meats were an inexpensive way of adding proteins to your food storage. Nowadays, not so much. Canning your own chicken can save you money. You can take advantage of good meat sales and have another option besides freezing or smoking the meat for preservation. Having canned meat is a great source of shelf-stable protein which comes in handy when the budget is tight or meat prices go sky high. Canned…
Fresh peaches are truly a summer delight! I usually buy a few bushels for eating, baking, and preserving throughout the summer. One of my favorite ways to preserve peaches for eating later is to can them. Canning peaches is pretty straightforward. You can use your water bath canner which makes the process easier. Supplies: PeachesWater bath cannerJars, lids, and ringsA pot for blanching the peachesA large bowl of cold water to cool the peaches downA large bowl to put peeled…
Food shortages (or the threat thereof) have driven more people to grow and preserve their own food. This trend has caused shortages of many canning supplies and ingredients that we have always had good luck finding in the stores. If this year has proven anything, it has proven that people who stockpile goods are not crazy. While things seem to be in short supply now, you can still find these items if you are creative. Thrift stores, garage sales, Amish…
In my garden, one of the easiest things to grow and to preserve is green beans. They grow without much effort. You plant the seeds, either bush or pole green beans, set up a trellis if they are pole beans, and provide adequate water. They germinate pretty well and they will grow even in my black clay soil. Being self-sufficient means you should be learning new skills all the time. However, I believe that you should pick some easy things…
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you had time during the garden harvest to can all day, every day? When you see super awesome deals on produce at the store, you could purchase them and can them right away when you get home?You don’t have that kind of time? Me neither.A lot of people ask how I get so much canning done when I am busy with a full-time job and kids. I have a good sized garden and we like…
Sunday greetings, everyone!In talking to some of my readers and good friends, I found out that while they liked my blog posts (thanks!) they wanted me to go back to doing something of a regular update about what we do around here. They also liked when I talked about what I thought of things and what I am interested in. I was a little surprised to tell you the truth. I was pretty sure no one really wanted to know…