Most years I will make tomato sauce and can it. I still have about 6 pints from last year and already the tomatoes from this years are starting to come in. Also I have make dill pickles and pickled banana peppers in previous years but have used a refrigerator pickle recipe that requires the jar to be refrigerated. Also most years I will make large batches of pesto and freeze most of it.

My mom did it and my sister and I use to help. She canned everything we grew in our huge garden and also made juice and preserves from the fruit we grew. I use to do it a lot when I was younger but not so much any more. DH and DS are not big fans of pickles or pickled veggies. And we don't go through that much jelly or jam anymore. It is cheaper and easier to just buy it.

The only thing I make on a regular basis is lemon curd because I love it. I am the only one who eats it because DH and DS don't like citrus. Which is funny because I have 4 citrus trees; Lisbon lemon, Meyer lemon, Key lime and Washington navel orange. When the trees are over loaded I pick enough to fill a couple of big boxes and put them at the end of the driveway with a free sign. One time someone left me a thank you card and a bottle of wine in my mail box. A year ago I made several jars of marmalade that will last me for many years to come.

I have really cut down on what I grow in the garden and do several small gardens year around rather than one big one. Once and awhile I will make a few jars of pickles that is an old family recipe that I haven't ever found in any store. I buy the cukes though. I also make pesto and can excess tomatoes that I use for spaghetti sauce later.

haven't had enough tomatoes yet to can them, but I have peaches.

Does anyone here can peaches? Do you peel them? I am planning on canning a few pints... but wasn't thinking of peeling. Now I pulled my canning book out, and it says peel.

Hmmm

I really don't want to peel.

Moni

My mom had a small garden on a piece of property that my parents owned. We didn't live there we just carried water in jugs to water the garden. My mom had tomatoes, green beans and if I remember cucumbers and green peppers. She did can the tomatoes and green beans and made pickles. We did enjoy the canned vegetables around Thanksgiving. I do remember her buying corn from a local farmer and she canned that too. I have made pickles from a small garden that my husband and I had. I gave tomatoes away one year we had so many. I may have canned them I don't remember. But our daughter in law and her mom make Fig jam. My husband loves it. I have made blackberry jelly but its been years.

My mother used to can peaches and yes, you peel them. Bring a big pot full of water to a full boil, drop in the peaches for a couple of seconds, then when you pull them out the skins should slip right off. (Maybe you'd better google this in case my memory is off.) Mmmmm!!

I know how to get the skin off, but I wonder about the WHY.

I have never canned but my mom used to and I remember her saying that the skin can get tough if left on. Whether that's true or not I don't know. but she always peeled them.

I sure wish I had paid more attention to my mother back in the day. She canned everything. She had 3 daughters and never made us help. I wish now that she would have. I might have learned a thing or two.

Moni,

There's a couple of reasons to peel the peaches. It does get rid of most pesticide residue and bacteria. The skin can get tough and, in some varieties, taste bitter and unpleasant.

I can mine in a light sugar syrup.

7 peaches per quart (I can halves)

After peeling, keep peaches in a solution of Fruit Fresh or Vitamin C tablets (to keep them from browning). I also take a spoon and scrape away most of the red fiber around the pit. I've found that can turn bitter as well.

Make a syrup of 2 1/4 cups of sugar and 5 1/4 cups water (this makes enough for 7 quarts, which is one load in my canner). Bring syrup to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pack the peach halves, cut side down, into quart jars (you can do slices, too). Cover the peaches with the syrup and use a chopstick to get the big air bubbles out, leaving 1/2 inch headspace at the top of the jar. Cap with lids (which have been heated to about 180 degrees - don't BOIL!), add the rings and place in a boiling water bath, making sure the water is at least 1" over the jars. Yes, if you're doing quarts, you need a deep pot - at least 10". Cover the pot, bring to a boil and process 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts.

Remove jars, place on a towel and let cool undisturbed overnight. This recipe makes a not-too-sweet, firm and delicious product. I've stored them up to 3 years in a cool, dark cupboard. You can also add a cinnamon stick, a whole clove and 2 whole allspice berries to the syrup for a delicately spiced peach batch. I like using whole spices rather than ground spices, which tend to look "muddy" in the jars.

I have so many jars left from last year (three kinds of salsa, chili sauce, canned tomatoes, chutneys and preserves, pickles of all kinds, etc.), I didn't bother planting a garden this year (didn't have time either). Keep in mind, stored correctly, canned produce is good for 2-3 years.

Not anymore. I did so much of it (mostly freezing, but some canning and drying) when my kids were young that I get tired just thinking about it. :-)

These days I freeze green beans from my garden, and store my winter squash in an unheated bedroom. And I make vast quantities of applesauce from our apple crops.

If I were still able to eat tomatoes (which, unfortunately, I'm not), I would still be growing and preserving them, probably in the freezer.

I have canned almost everything you can think of. A couple years ago I canned a hundred quarts of green beans and nearly that many of applesauce,. I also can zucchini pineapple and salsa. Sometimes can tomato juice. I don't care for green beans frozen, but do freeze the black raspberries we pick and cherries and blueberries. I also freeze sweet peppers. I have frozen sweet potatoes but usually just keep them in my garage till they are used up. I still have some that are good from last year.

Sue

One of the things I remember about my Mother was that she made lots of preserves, jellies, pickles, and the like. What she didn't can, she froze. She didn't garden much, but every August we drove to the Niagara County NY farm markets. . She'd buy baskets/ bushels of peaches, rhubarb, corn, cukes, grapes, apples. Then she'd go to work making batches of delicious jellies, applesauce, pickles, etc. which we'd enjoy all fall and winter. I didn't pay enough attention. Most of her recipes are now "lost" since she died in 2011. A favorite cousin had a few recipes she shared with me. But somehow things don't taste the same when I make them. But I do have my memories.

I grew up on a small farm during the 1940s and mother canned enough food to last our family of 4 from October 1 until new crops became available about June 1 the following year. I estimate that mother, my sister and I spent about a third of our time in summer preparing food for the year. When the black berries began to ripen, the 3 of us would pick wild berries until about 1 pm and then for the remainder of the day, clean and can the berries. When Mom thought she had enough canned berries plus a little extra, she'd start turning the rest into jams and jellies. We canned peaches, pears, plums, and apples. One day, I'd be slicing cabbage most of the day on a cutter board. Mother typically fermented 3 large vessels of kraut. Then, the same crocks were used to make pickles and this was time consuming. The standard pickling process took 14 days until someone developed recipe for 7 day pickles. We tried the 7 day pickle, found it was not quite as tasty as the 14 day ones, BUT was good enough, so from thereon, we made 7 day pickles. Stuff that got canned from the garden was rhubarb, peas, carrots, corn, beans, and goose berries, We did not can asparagus, okra, onions, celery, or lettuce. These were eaten as they became available. We did not can whole strawberries, but did can strawberry jam and preserves.

Summer was a busy time in the food department. That was the happiest time of the year for us. Fresh food was plentiful and livin' was inexpensive.

Yes,I "put up" garden veggies and various herbs.

I dehydrate the herbs,usually oregano and parsley that I ahve in front garden.

I used to have 1/2 an acre of garden,then down sized to about 20'x20'-then down to about a 4x8 piece-this year,due to the sale of this house,I have a pallet garden-not quite 4'x4'-in that are carrots,squash and corn that are doing really well;my potatoes were ready for the 12th of July,but I haven't dug them as yet.

I have loads of rhubarb that I sell at the local grocery store-should have another picking of that before I move.

My son,who always helped in the gardens at home has a huge one this year,and everything is coming right along-I have to just s'pose that I'll be benefitting from some of his stuff.

I won't be canning as much this year,due to time restraints with the move-but I'll have time at my new place to pace out a space for next year to be able to continue doing what I have done now for 40 years-still love to "can"!!

Townhouse living has reduced my gardening and space considerably but I found containers that are safe [no dripping water] and appropriate for off-the-ground deck gardening. I used to grow a variety of greens as well as tomatoes...but it got to be more demanding than I had the time to address correctly. Now, my "crops" are limited to the herbs that I regularly use year long...primarily Parsley, Chives and Basil...with decorative containers of Peri-winkle and Lobelia to dress up the place. I chop and freeze the Chives and Parsely. Then I make Pesto with the Basil and freeze it in containers sized for my single person use. It always delights me to sit down to a pasta and pesto concoction in the middle of winter. :-)

A very easy item that's not sugary or fattening, and which is a simple getting started food, is DILLY BEANS.

Green beans in vinegar with a bit of garlic, fresh dill and a dried small red chili. You can find recipes online. It used wide-mouth pint jars and a boiling water bath.

the flowers of dill weed look pretty in the preserved product, btw. These taste yummy with a sandwich or on a relish tray. I have put some raffia around the jar and given them as simple gifts.

Spiced crabapples also are fun and beautiful to view through the glass jar. Kids seem to enjoy the sweet and sour syrup.

Dilly beans are on the shelf. Last year I made some sweet relish, I'll pass on it this year. This evening, I will make some peach preserves. I have a Reliance peach tree in back and I have dozens of peaches. The missus doesn't care for peaches, so I have been eating 4-6 every day and I cannot keep up. Some have fallen and the ants are feasting.

I also have a critter, I believe a squirrel from a block away (no trees big enough on my street, we're a new one) that has taken a few bites of the peach and then left. Yesterday, I saw a peach across the yard. The only way it could have gotten there is being carried. Today, it was gone. The branches on my tree are sagging with the weight of the peaches and one actually broke. Nothing bigger than a squirrel would be able to do the nipping and carrying.

I made the apricot jam and it turned out very well, but was only 4 jars. Must do a double batch next time...and the rest of the apricots need to be picked tonight as this hot weather we are having will make the pit rot them from the center. Peaches are green, as are the Satsuma plums. Have Boysenberries ready for the "ricer" to take away some of the seeds...then process for jam in the next day or so. The heat is making many of them more seedy than usual. Unusual for Southern Oregon to have these high temps for such a long stretch.

Well, I followed my daughters advice, and cut the peaches and put them in the dehydrator. Some where still laying here, and I ended up tossing them with some grapes together for juice.

Moni

Doesn't anyone that makes jams or jellies freeze the fresh fruit that you cannot put up because of time or that the fruit may rot? When there is so much available I usually wash and freeze on cookie sheets, and pit and core those that need to be first. When frozen I put in double bagged zip locks or plastic ice cream containers, label and bring them out later in the fall when it isn't so hot in the house to cook.

I do freeze fruit but am way too lazy to do any canning or preserving. I keep my garden small on purpose...just enough for us, the neighbors, and the occasional drop off to a food pantry.

I do make refrigerator pickles occasionally, but that doesn't count.

threejs I have a small fridge with freezer on top. At the moment there are 3 different ice cream flavors, my ice cream freezer bowl, 11 home made pop-cycles and an assortment of frozen veggies. It is FULL to the brim. If I want to can, I have to do it right then. And to top it off, there isn't any space in my little house, nor in my to small garage (my mini cooper barely fits along with my 3 bicycles) for a freezer. I just make due.

I just made some dilly beans this afternoon. I grew the dill and got beans, Serrano peppers and garlic from the farmers' market. Now that blueberries are plentiful, I'll make some blueberry pepper jelly next. I'll give most of these as gifts. My mom canned a lot, tomatoes, peaches, pickles, jams and jellies. I used to help her. I really enjoy it, but I don't do it on nearly the scale that she did.

Back in the 60's and 70's I use to help my mom can tomatoes. Now I go to a farm in Ohio and buy a bushel of red peppers, slice them up and freeze them. I buy my sweet corn from a near by side of the road vendor and freeze them whole. I don't do any tomatoes any more. I would if I had the extra energy.