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On the Preservation Front: In Jars

November 20th, 2008

I am part of the Harvest Keepers Challenge over at Freedom Gardens, so I’ve been trying to preserve some of the things I’ve grown, been given or bought at the Farmer’s Market. I’m not a big fan of canning, but I do all this to be more environmentally friendly and reduce the frequent flier miles of our fruits & veggies and because it’s much healthier to eat locally and preserve your own. So what have I been preserving in jars?

Chicken Stock. Not just any chicken stock, this is made with locally raised pastured chickens. I bought them from a local farm. They spent several years of their lives laying eggs and when they quit laying eggs they become soup chickens. I bought 3 of these from the farm and made 3 batches of chicken stock. I have 15 quarts of stock in my pantry. These will come in handy for those winter soups.

We use tons of tomatoes in the winter for soups and sauces. So far this summer I have roasted one bushel of tomatoes and frozen them and I have canned 7 quarts of fire-roasted tomatoes, 19 pints of diced tomatoes, 7 quarts of frozen roasted tomatoes, 6 half-pints of tomato paste and 31 pints of tomato soup. 75 lbs of these came from my garden and the rest were bought at the farmer’s market (my mom gave me a few of hers as well).

I also canned 2 batches of elderberry syrup. My mom gave me the elderberries so they were FREE (can’t beat that price). This will be so good in tea & on pancakes. I have 9 pints of elderberry syrup in the pantry (although some of this might be traded with my mom for some of her elderberry jelly). I also canned 5 pints of elderberry jelly.

Remember those pears that my mom gave us? I canned all of those (pears are a tons of work to can, especially organic ones). I ended up with 27 quarts of canned pears, 7 half pints of pear butter, 1 quart of spiced whole pears, and 10 pints of roasted pear chutney. These will come in handy this winter for pre-run & pre-race fuel.

5 quarts of pickled peppers also grace my pantry, as well as 21 pints of peaches. (As you can see by the photo, some of the peppers are already gone, Mr Chiots has been enjoying those on pizza and sandwiches.) I also have 45 pints of applesauce, 25 pints of apple butter, 12 pints of peach chutney, 7 pints of BBQ sauce, 7 pints of sweet and sour sauce, 10 pints of peach salsa, 25 pints of pickled beets, 5 pints of zucchini pickles, 12 pints of green tomato chutney, 10 half pints of hot pepper relish, and 8 half pints of mulled cider jelly. Many of these will be given as gifts during the holidays.

This doesn’t even include all the stuff I have in my freezer or dried. I’ll be going over those later this week.

19 Comments to “On the Preservation Front: In Jars”
  1. MeghanO on November 20, 2008 at 8:57 am

    Holy.cannolli. I’d like to come grocery shopping at your house!! That’s amazing!!

    I’m totally jealous. If I am able to grow/can ONE THING next year I will consider it a success, demanding parades in my honor!

    Reply to MeghanO's comment

  2. Throwback at Trapper Creek on November 20, 2008 at 9:37 am

    Great looking canning, it feels good doesn’t it to see all your hard work!!

    Reply to Throwback at Trapper Creek's comment

  3. Colleen on November 20, 2008 at 10:07 am

    I am so glad you commented on my blog—your blog is fantastic. I’m totally jealous of your pantry. I will grow enough to can next year–you’ve inspired me!

    Reply to Colleen's comment

  4. Debbie Davis on November 20, 2008 at 11:58 am

    Oh wow! Can I come over to your house before Thanksgiving? (: And Elderberry is sooo good for you. Have a wonderful day!

    Reply to Debbie Davis's comment

  5. Meadowlark on November 20, 2008 at 12:03 pm

    Holy Cow! Beautiful work, beautiful photos. Thanks for dropping by and I look forward to returning here.

    Peace
    ~ Meadowlark

    Reply to Meadowlark's comment

  6. Squawkfox on November 20, 2008 at 12:23 pm

    Amazing! I’ve only started growing and preserving food. This year I froze all my berries and used my dehydrator to save my apples and pears. I would LOVE to learn how to can and preserve. It is so much work, but so worth it to keep your own organic foods longer. Since moving to a farm I have become very interested in avoiding the grocery stores and living a more frugal and simple life. Awesome photos.

    Reply to Squawkfox's comment

  7. Em on November 20, 2008 at 2:43 pm

    Wow, what great harvest! It does sound like quite a lot of work to can, but I’ve bought equipment for our summer produce (we’re in Aus) after losing a freezer full of food some months ago – it made me realise that I need to preserve our food in different ways to reduce risk.

    I’d love your recipe for elderberry syrup if you have time to post it :)

    Reply to Em's comment

  8. Susy on November 20, 2008 at 3:08 pm

    I made my elderberry syrup with some pectin I made from some early transparent apples & crab apples. I doubled the juice in a jelly recipe (that way the syrup is thick).

    I think I have some photos, I’ll make a post with my recipe sometime next week.

    Reply to Susy's comment

  9. AgrarianLife on November 20, 2008 at 4:16 pm

    Great job, you have a gormet pantry!

    Reply to AgrarianLife's comment

  10. Stephany on November 20, 2008 at 5:01 pm

    Thanks for stopping in. I am jealous of all your elderberries. I use them for medicinal purposes and I usually get them from my sister’s farm but the neighbor came by and sprayed them all accidentally so I didn’t want to use them, this year.

    It all looks great!

    Reply to Stephany's comment

  11. Kelly on November 21, 2008 at 8:57 am

    Wow! You are amazing!! It all looks SO Yummy!

    Reply to Kelly's comment

  12. Em on November 21, 2008 at 7:05 pm

    Thanks Susy! :)

    Reply to Em's comment

  13. EJ on November 22, 2008 at 12:23 pm

    “not a big fan of canning”!? You jars look great, and so many different kinds.

    Reply to EJ's comment

  14. The Last Farmer’s Market at Chiot’s Run on November 23, 2008 at 5:15 am

    […] called at the market will be sad to see the market end. I guess I’ll be shopping in my pantry this winter for all of our veggies. At least I was able to preserve so many wonderful things from […]

    Reply to The Last Farmer’s Market at Chiot’s Run's comment

  15. […] & veggies and because it’s much healthier to eat locally and preserve your own. I made a detailed post about everything I have canned in jars last week. I do like freezing, it’s so easy: put food […]

    Reply to On the Preservation Front: In the Freezer at Chiot’s Run's comment

  16. Elderberry Syrup at Chiot’s Run on December 23, 2008 at 8:19 pm

    […] from Dance of the Small Things asked for my Elderberry Syrup recipe back when I posted about the items I had canned as part of the Harvest Keepers Challenge. I make syrup every year and […]

    Reply to Elderberry Syrup at Chiot’s Run's comment

  17. Elderberry on October 16, 2009 at 3:42 am

    Is it true that elderberries have loads of calcium? More than milk maybe?

    Reply to Elderberry's comment

    • Susy on October 16, 2009 at 9:17 am

      I’m not sure, I’ll have to check that out.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  18. […] Susy at Chiot’s Run writes on her homemade preserves. For detailed instructions, see the Harvest Keepers […]

    Reply to Holiday Gifts: 10 Frugal and Homemade Gift Ideas | Squawkfox's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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