A Little Fun
Who said canning wasn’t fun? Last year I introduced a friend of mine the joy of pickled beets. He now loves them and always helps us pollish off jar after jar of them. I decided while canning some this year I’d make some just for him. Since he’s a fan of the The Office, I figured I’m make his with a special label.
Do you share your harvests with friends & family?
Filed under Beets, Canning, harvest, Harvest Keepers Challenge, Preservation | Comments (29)
What a beautiful jar!
Yes, although I don’t have much personal harvest I try to share whenever possible!
to Frugal Trenches's comment
I do share, usually when I have way too much coming out of the garden. I’ve given away chard, komatsuna, tyfon, snow peas, snap peas (both uncooked and pickled), and cherry tomatoes. Last year I gave away tons of pickles, but this year my cucumbers just haven’t produced.
.-= Daphne´s last blog ..Compost Turned =-.
to Daphne's comment
I do share. I share zuchinni (a lot of it), tomatoes, herbs, whatever I have and can’t use I preserve or share, and particularly when I have just a small amount, its a lot easier to share.
And, that label ROX!
.-= Chicago Mike´s last blog ..Dazzling Color, Great Taste =-.
to Chicago Mike's comment
Mmmmm. Beets! Looks good. I canned some peach preserves we hope to share around Christmas time with folks.
.-= Dave´s last blog ..A Quick and Easy Rustic Planter =-.
to Dave's comment
Fun labels!
I share meals made from our garden often and I share excess produce that are perishable and not easily preserved. The vast majority of our garden output though is not generally shared. We get 100% of our vegetables from our garden (no purchased items other than mushrooms and fruits) so produce not currently needed is preserved in some fashion for later use. Obviously things like Lettuce don’t lend themselves well to that – so we share the extra bounty.
to KitsapFG's comment
I try to give to neighbors when I see them, and we have guests they often go home with zucchini too, ha! And as mentioned, perishables such as lettuce for sure. I also LOVE having people over for dinner this time of year!
I do fine that now that I preserve so much of our harvest, I don’t have quite the pull to get rid of extra stuff–especially tomatoes. But, I guess I do gift out the jams and jellies etc so maybe it all works out :)
Anybody else worry about gifting home canned stuff? I sometimes think that if the recipient does not trust the methods, they might not use it? I would hate for something to go to waste…
.-= s´s last blog ..low-budget seed saving =-.
to s's comment
…I too am a big fan of “The Office” and that I love the label! :o)
…Yes – I share our harvest and canned items too but I do agree with ‘s’ up there about concerns with folks taking the canned items and then not using them. It’s so hard to tell if people will genuinely use the stuff you send home with them… I am choosy about who I give my home canned goods too and hope for the best!
…Btw, I would like to know how you preserve your sweet corn? Do you leave it on the cob and if so, do you blanch it first? Do you use a Food Saver Machine to freeze produce? I would like to freeze sweet corn and am not sure about how to do this… Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
…Blessings… :o)
to tj's comment
I usually blanch the corn for a few minutes, plunge into cold water, then cut it off the cob (I use a good knife) and freeze it in small glass containers (we’re glass container people, no plastic). My sister freezes hers in small ziploc bags and those square hefty freezer containers. You can freeze it on the cob, but I find it takes up so much space in the freezer.
to Susy's comment
We share plums and figs. When you’ve got them, you’ve got them!
to elephant’s eye's comment
MMM, figs. I just got a fig tree this year. I’m hoping in a few years we have figs to dry (and give away).
to Susy's comment
My Christmas baskets are full of home canned goodies…especially jams and jellies to go with the homemade bread and scones I tuck into the baskets! Kim
.-= the inadvertent farmer´s last blog ..Watermelon Time! =-.
to the inadvertent farmer's comment
You know, I have always wanted to try pickled beets, you make them sound so good. Perhaps I will try making some with this years crop. I’m sure I will like them.
.-= Mike´s last blog ..A Good Year For Peppers =-.
to Mike's comment
Those labels are hilarious. I don’t watch any TV, with the exception of The Office on DVD. Poor Dwight.
I want to get into canning. I pickled and canned some jalapenos a while back, but beyond that and tomatoes, I think I’m too scared to can without a pressure cooker. I think I’ll stick with freezing food for now, and try that later down the road.
.-= Christine´s last blog ..An unexpected harvest =-.
to Christine's comment
There’s really nothing to be afraid of, particularly with relishes & chutneys. Usually if something doesn’t go right and somethings not sealed, you’ll know when you pull it out of the pantry!
to Susy's comment
I share both fresh and canned. I have a few friends, that give me my jars back and ask for refills:) That always makes me smile.
.-= Teri´s last blog ..222/365 =-.
to Teri's comment
I have people hint that they’d love some more of something.
to Susy's comment
We do share….especially since I made tons of strawberry jam and no one in our house really likes it that much (not sure what I was thinking, we prefer blackberry). So we’ve been giving jars away (sometimes with a loaf of homemade bread) along with tomatoes, beans, and zucchini. It’s wonderful to be able to help families that are struggling this year, we don’t have a lot of extra cash but everyone’s gotta eat!
ps. We LOVE ‘The Office’.
.-= Maureen´s last blog ..More Salsa =-.
to Maureen's comment
That’s funny that everyone prefers blackberry to strawberry, it seems like everyone I know is a strawberry jam lover. Personally, my favorite is wild black raspberry. Strawberry is a little too sweet for my tastes.
to Susy's comment
Heck with ‘a lot of extra cash’ ….we don’t have ANY extra cash!
.-= Maureen´s last blog ..More Salsa =-.
to Maureen's comment
Love pickled beets and the label was excellent! Would you share your recipe, please? I’m getting ready to make mine but I’d like a tried and true recipe. Yours look great!
Beth
to Beth Stoneking's comment
It’s the recipe from The Joy of Pickling.
to Susy's comment
I love the label! We co-garden with my parents so the sharing part is sort of implied, but it’s not abnormal for me to take both halves of the harvest and process them in some fashion (ferment, combine with other ingredients to make something new, can, etc).
.-= Pampered Mom´s last blog ..Lemon Verbena Kefir Soda (adapted slightly from "Full Moon Feast" =-.
to Pampered Mom's comment
I also garden at my mom’s so I picked all of her beets and then canned them. I return half of them to her in jars.
to Susy's comment
My 14 year old might eat them with that label! Actually, she’d probably just display them.
I give away lots of jam and honey, but I wish I could get jars back!
to stefaneener's comment
I wait all year to make pickled beets! Just did 7 pints and can’t wait to do more! It surprises me how much we get from the garden. More than enough for 4 adults, so we are always giving things away. 4 eggs a day is more that all of us can eat, so we’ve been giving those out too. Too much fun!!
.-= Beegirl´s last blog ..Blogger lost my peeps! =-.
to Beegirl's comment
Any chance of you sharing that recipe? I’ve been looking to try beet recipes and there are just too many variations. I’d like to try one I know has been tried and tested.
to Jason Erickson's comment
This is epic!
.-= Eve Martel´s last blog ..Attention beet lovers =-.
to Eve Martel's comment
Too Funny! Love the label :)
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..My Seedlings =-.
to Sarah's comment
I love the label… really funny. I definitely share with my family, but when we are able to we like to have canning parties. We always get way more done working together than we do alone and then we share the proceeds. It works out really well. Not beets though… I haven’t yet acquired a taste for those, although I think it might be a good idea. Don’t ask… I’m weird like that. I can force myself to acquire tastes for about any food I dislike if I have enough motivation, it’s bizarre.
to Bethany's comment