On the Preservation Front: In Jars
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.
Filed under Harvest Keepers Challenge | Comments (19)
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!
to MeghanO's comment
Great looking canning, it feels good doesn’t it to see all your hard work!!
to Throwback at Trapper Creek's comment
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!
to Colleen's comment
Oh wow! Can I come over to your house before Thanksgiving? (: And Elderberry is sooo good for you. Have a wonderful day!
to Debbie Davis's comment
Holy Cow! Beautiful work, beautiful photos. Thanks for dropping by and I look forward to returning here.
Peace
~ Meadowlark
to Meadowlark's comment
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.
to Squawkfox's comment
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 :)
to Em's comment
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.
to Susy's comment
Great job, you have a gormet pantry!
to AgrarianLife's comment
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!
to Stephany's comment
Wow! You are amazing!! It all looks SO Yummy!
to Kelly's comment
Thanks Susy! :)
to Em's comment
“not a big fan of canning”!? You jars look great, and so many different kinds.
to EJ's comment
[…] 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 […]
to The Last Farmer’s Market at Chiot’s Run's comment
[…] & 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 […]
to On the Preservation Front: In the Freezer at Chiot’s Run's comment
[…] 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 […]
to Elderberry Syrup at Chiot’s Run's comment
Is it true that elderberries have loads of calcium? More than milk maybe?
to Elderberry's comment
I’m not sure, I’ll have to check that out.
to Susy's comment
[…] Susy at Chiot’s Run writes on her homemade preserves. For detailed instructions, see the Harvest Keepers […]
to Holiday Gifts: 10 Frugal and Homemade Gift Ideas | Squawkfox's comment