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Harvest time is here! In fact, the peak time for some fruits has already past. Now is the time to get to preserving foods for the coming winter, even if you don’t have a garden. Those peaches you can buy right now for 65 cents a pound will be over $3/pound in December! A small can of peaches will be over a dollar on sale! A little time home canning, freezing or drying foods will save much in the coming months!
Why Preserve Foods?
If you’ve ever read old diaries or books about life in the past, you know that a lot of summers were spent not only growing food but also preserving that food. Of course, this was because the food was scarce during the winter months. Now, we have various supermarkets that offer fresh foods year round. However, you’ve probably noticed that the prices tend to fluctuate as well. In July, Zucchinis are 49 cents/pound. In January, those Zucchinis are $1.50/each. And small. I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but this coming winter looks to be one that will be even more costly for us. Food prices did not come down a whole lot this summer and I’ve already been informed that other fixed expenses we have will be increasing. Preserving food
My Plan
Several weeks ago, I made strawberry jam when they were in season. Blackberry jam will be next, as soon as they’re picked! Meanwhile, I started canning peaches. Soon will be pears and applesauce! Then freezing beans and pickle making! It’s going to be pretty busy around here for the next month or so!
Water Bath Canning
If you’ve never canned before or are looking to expand your recipes for preserving check out these sites:
Complete Home Canning Basics For Beginners – this video walks you through everything you need to know and fully explains why. It’s well worth watching.
What You Need for Water Bath Canning A full list of equipment needed for water bath canning. This is the easier method to start canning! No scary pressure cooker or fancy equipment to buy… well, that lid lifter is pretty fancy, but it’s cheap!”>
Avoid these Canning Mistakes from the beginning.
Canning 101 Guide – from Ball, everyone’s go-to for canning everything!
How To Can Peaches – A Step By Step Guide – This a really good guide, complete with photos! It recommends getting freestone or cling-free peaches. They are easier to cut, especially if you’ve never canned peaches before. However, I think the flavor of stone peaches are worth the extra effort!
In fact, this is all about canning stone fruits. Peaches, plums, and apricots! Preserving Stone Fruit in Jars
How to Can Pears – Complete recipe. To make them more interesting, you can put a cinnamon stick into the jar for an extra flavor.
Make Homemade Applesauce and can for winter or holiday gifts! Check out the link on the page for apple butter! My total fav for an afternoon snack.
You can do more than fruit with water bath canning! You can also can tomatoes and pickles.
How to Can Diced Tomatoes and make yummy sauces all winter long!
Step by Step Recipe for Canning Spaghetti Sauce
Bread and Butter Pickles – these are so great and for my pickle fiend, a must have for us. Be sure to follow the recipe exactly in order to keep the acidity levels at perfection.
Freezing
Freezing Zucchini – If you grow zucchini, you will have an excess of it. If you don’t, simply make friends with someone who does. They’ll be happy to share their bounty. You may even wake up to boxes of them on your porch if word gets around.
Guide to Freezing Green Beans – includes photos to accompany step by step instructions. Read the comments for additional tips!
5 Ways to Freeze Fresh Basil – I love basil and pesto!
Make and Freeze Hashbrowns before your potatoes sprout or go bad.
Have you ever tried this? Oven Canning for Dry Goods – it’s on my list to try this year! What is on your list?