Harvest Hard core canning

M

Murt

Veteran Member
The wife and I are into canning season
we picked 3 five gallon buckets of green beans yesterday to can.
the A/C went out yesterday afternoon (Saturday) (naturally on a weekend)
So we now have two 23 quart canners going in the kitchen---in Georgia --in June --with no A/C
you don't know what you've got till it's gone
but at least we have the blessing of a really good garden this year

potatoes were very good
beans are great
cabbage is awesome
squash is doing well
carrots and beets probably best in 3 or 4 years
tomatoes are about to explode
peas, peanuts and sweet potatoes are looking pretty good too

hopefully I can get the A/C fixed tomorrow (Monday)
 
N

Nich1

Veteran Member
Murt said:
The wife and I are into canning season
we picked 3 five gallon buckets of green beans yesterday to can.
the A/C went out yesterday afternoon (Saturday) (naturally on a weekend)
So we now have two 23 quart canners going in the kitchen---in Georgia --in June --with no A/C
you don't know what you've got till it's gone
but at least we have the blessing of a really good garden this year

potatoes were very good
beans are great
cabbage is awesome
squash is doing well
carrots and beets probably best in 3 or 4 years
tomatoes are about to explode
peas, peanuts and sweet potatoes are looking pretty good too

hopefully I can get the A/C fixed tomorrow (Monday)
Click to expand...
Wow...awesome! Not the a/c problem, but you know what I mean.
 
M

Murt

Veteran Member
A/C repaired
canning done----for now
14 quarts and 32 pints of potatoes
7 quarts and 24 pints of green beans
5 pints of coleslaw----wife is trying something new
and
1 crock of sauerkraut brewing
a decent start for the season
did I mentioned that the A/C was working again
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Great job! I never did have AC until we moved into this apartment. Our farmhouse had 7 huge sugar maples on the South and East, and a row of mature Spruce as a windbreaker on the West, which also blocked the setting sun.

As long as we actively managed our airflow... opening windows in the evening as soon as the outdoor temps dropped below the inside temps, and then closing them in early morning before the sun came up... we had very few days where it exceeded about 78 degrees inside.

But canning... yeah, that could really warm things up! Still, the knowledge of the grocery savings and the comfort a full basement pantry provided kept us motivated on even the toughest days. We'd usually shell peas or snap beans on the front deck in the shade. We used the milk house to run the Victorio strainer for applesauce or tomatoes... made cleanup a LOT easier!

And a quick swim in the pond after milking felt wonderful!

Our gardens are just starting, and we're praising God for the wonderful, all day rain He's given us today. It's been bone dry, and the farm well can't begin to keep up with even survival watering. It looks like we'll get over an inch out of this system, and I swear the garden plants and pasture visibly grew this afternoon!

I'm hoping to make strawberry jam soon, but I may have to buy them... so far, the three little girls are keeping up with the production of 150 plants! You have to get up really early to beat them to even the partly ripe berries! But it's the first homegrown fresh fruit of the season, and it's hard to tell them not to eat them all (and I doubt they'd listen!)

We do have about 75 feet of double pea row blossoming, so we'll get busy shelling and freezing peas in 10 days or so. But most of our canning is done from early August on...

Enjoy your AC!

Summerthyme
 
dioptase

dioptase

Veteran Member
Grats on the haul, and on the restoration of the a/c!

A couple of days ago I picked our first 6 small peppers. The peppers were small because the plants were under lights indoors for a long time, partly waiting for the weather to warm up here (partly waiting til my knees didn't hurt too bad to plant!).

Our tomatoes are growing... lots of blooms but so far only two small green tomatoes spied, on DIRTY GIRL (a de-hybridized EARLY GIRL), which should be the earliest bearing of our 4 tomato plants this year. (We don't can.... we use all our tomatoes fresh in salads, on sandwiches, or in gazpacho, which we consume pretty quickly. DH can hardly wait to start making gazpacho again.)

I just got two basils planted out on Saturday, but the roots tore on one of them, trying to get it out of the pot. That one looks wilted, but oh well... even if it dies, we will still have the other one, and we don't use all that much basil. Actually the herb that I'm getting the most use out of right now is the apple mint! It's great in iced tea - I like it better than I ever liked spearmint (which always looked mangy and diseased here), and even peppermint.
 
W

Wildwood

Veteran Member
summerthyme said:
Great job! I never did have AC until we moved into this apartment. Our farmhouse had 7 huge sugar maples on the South and East, and a row of mature Spruce as a windbreaker on the West, which also blocked the setting sun.

As long as we actively managed our airflow... opening windows in the evening as soon as the outdoor temps dropped below the inside temps, and then closing them in early morning before the sun came up... we had very few days where it exceeded about 78 degrees inside.

But canning... yeah, that could really warm things up! Still, the knowledge of the grocery savings and the comfort a full basement pantry provided kept us motivated on even the toughest days. We'd usually shell peas or snap beans on the front deck in the shade. We used the milk house to run the Victorio strainer for applesauce or tomatoes... made cleanup a LOT easier!

And a quick swim in the pond after milking felt wonderful!

Our gardens are just starting, and we're praising God for the wonderful, all day rain He's given us today. It's been bone dry, and the farm well can't begin to keep up with even survival watering. It looks like we'll get over an inch out of this system, and I swear the garden plants and pasture visibly grew this afternoon!

I'm hoping to make strawberry jam soon, but I may have to buy them... so far, the three little girls are keeping up with the production of 150 plants! You have to get up really early to beat them to even the partly ripe berries! But it's the first homegrown fresh fruit of the season, and it's hard to tell them not to eat them all (and I doubt they'd listen!)

We do have about 75 feet of double pea row blossoming, so we'll get busy shelling and freezing peas in 10 days or so. But most of our canning is done from early August on...

Enjoy your AC!

Summerthyme
Click to expand...
My little granddaughter and DIL keep my strawberries picked clean just for snacking. I don't have time to do anything with them anyway so I'm just glad to see someone enjoying them. I eat a few right off the vine if I can beat them to them lol.
Murt said:
The wife and I are into canning season
we picked 3 five gallon buckets of green beans yesterday to can.
the A/C went out yesterday afternoon (Saturday) (naturally on a weekend)
So we now have two 23 quart canners going in the kitchen---in Georgia --in June --with no A/C
you don't know what you've got till it's gone
but at least we have the blessing of a really good garden this year

potatoes were very good
beans are great
cabbage is awesome
squash is doing well
carrots and beets probably best in 3 or 4 years
tomatoes are about to explode
peas, peanuts and sweet potatoes are looking pretty good too

hopefully I can get the A/C fixed tomorrow (Monday)
Click to expand...
Congratulations! Sounds like a blessing of abundance.
 
M

Murt

Veteran Member
summerthyme said:
Great job! I never did have AC until we moved into this apartment. Our farmhouse had 7 huge sugar maples on the South and East, and a row of mature Spruce as a windbreaker on the West, which also blocked the setting sun.

As long as we actively managed our airflow... opening windows in the evening as soon as the outdoor temps dropped below the inside temps, and then closing them in early morning before the sun came up... we had very few days where it exceeded about 78 degrees inside.

But canning... yeah, that could really warm things up! Still, the knowledge of the grocery savings and the comfort a full basement pantry provided kept us motivated on even the toughest days. We'd usually shell peas or snap beans on the front deck in the shade. We used the milk house to run the Victorio strainer for applesauce or tomatoes... made cleanup a LOT easier!

And a quick swim in the pond after milking felt wonderful!

Our gardens are just starting, and we're praising God for the wonderful, all day rain He's given us today. It's been bone dry, and the farm well can't begin to keep up with even survival watering. It looks like we'll get over an inch out of this system, and I swear the garden plants and pasture visibly grew this afternoon!

I'm hoping to make strawberry jam soon, but I may have to buy them... so far, the three little girls are keeping up with the production of 150 plants! You have to get up really early to beat them to even the partly ripe berries! But it's the first homegrown fresh fruit of the season, and it's hard to tell them not to eat them all (and I doubt they'd listen!)

We do have about 75 feet of double pea row blossoming, so we'll get busy shelling and freezing peas in 10 days or so. But most of our canning is done from early August on...

Enjoy your AC!

Summerthyme
Click to expand...
I spent most of my younger years living with my grandparents on a farm in west Tennessee
They grew and canned A LOT (most) of what we had to eat
No A/C --barely had electricity
I remember shelling--shucking-snapping whatever prep was needed under a large oak tree in the front of the house (east side) and most of the canning was done late at night or very early in the mornings in an effort to keep the house from getting so hot
Several times it was almost a social event---aunts, uncles, cousins and sometimes neighbors from down the road would sit around shelling peas and gossiping for 2 or 3 hours
Also the houses back then were built much differently than today because of no A/C
 
Toosh

Toosh

Veteran Member
Murt said:
The wife and I are into canning season
we picked 3 five gallon buckets of green beans yesterday to can.
the A/C went out yesterday afternoon (Saturday) (naturally on a weekend)
So we now have two 23 quart canners going in the kitchen---in Georgia --in June --with no A/C
you don't know what you've got till it's gone
but at least we have the blessing of a really good garden this year

potatoes were very good
beans are great
cabbage is awesome
squash is doing well
carrots and beets probably best in 3 or 4 years
tomatoes are about to explode
peas, peanuts and sweet potatoes are looking pretty good too

hopefully I can get the A/C fixed tomorrow (Monday)
Click to expand...
I have loved my covered, outdoor kitchen setup. Everything is arranged for quick and efficient canning. Everything is stored in one place, in locking cabinets. Near the garden and the indoor kitchen. Large country sink with running water, plenty of counter space with butcher blocks, a large work table on casters and a double propane burner on legs with a wind shield. I can run 2 canners at the the same time, plus the dehydrator. No heat or smell in the house. A mister and a fan keeps the work area a pleasant 75-ish degrees. A timer and a comfy chair and I'm all set. Sounds like you have a big garden. Highly recommend an outdoor kitchen!
 
M

Murt

Veteran Member
Toosh said:
I have loved my covered, outdoor kitchen setup. Everything is arranged for quick and efficient canning. Everything is stored in one place, in locking cabinets. Near the garden and the indoor kitchen. Large country sink with running water, plenty of counter space with butcher blocks, a large work table on casters and a double propane burner on legs with a wind shield. I can run 2 canners at the the same time, plus the dehydrator. No heat or smell in the house. A mister and a fan keeps the work area a pleasant 75-ish degrees. A timer and a comfy chair and I'm all set. Sounds like you have a big garden. Highly recommend an outdoor kitchen!
Click to expand...
That is on the list of upcoming projects
 
F

FireDance

TB Fanatic
Great job everyone! Except all of you who can’t keep the “critters” out of your strawberries! So, sweet. That’s a memory those children will carry forever. The best kind!

I was blessed last weekend with a ton of corn, cucumbers, 10 lb of potatoes, two LARGE cookings of squash and a half bushel of green beans. We have one of those glass top ovens so no canning for me. I almost died when I saw all those beans. Thought I had them all strung and snapped. But then found another bag in the fridge this afternoon. Gah! My hands are so sore. But I feel so blessed!!!

I have cooked a large thing of beans and a large squash casserole. Both turned out great. Froze the rest. It will be so good when winter gets here.

I too remember sitting on the porch prepping peas, etc. if you were really quiet, the adults would forget you were there and gossip a little bit. Good times. I miss them.
 
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