this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023
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Canning & Food Preservation

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Canning and preserving food. Includes dehydrating, freeze-drying, etc.

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Canning haul from this year (midwest.social)
submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Pictured is stewed tomato, salsa, spaghet sauce, tomato juice, marinara, ketchup, pickles, cranberries, gooseberry jam and ancient peaches from years gone. All sourced from a pretty modest sized garden. Not shown is sauerkraut and frozen corn

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

Be very very careful - it's a slippery slope. My wife wanted "a small garden and maybe do some canning". Fast forward 3 years:

  • I've turned 2000m² (1/2 acre) of a meadow into a garden
  • I've learned how to build basic wooden structures and I've built a greenhouse
  • we've harvested over 2000 kg (4400lbs) of vegetables this year
  • I've purchased jars by pallet load this year. Twice. All are full.
  • I've had to buy and assemble a lot of metal shelving to store it all
  • I now own a small (27hp) tractor

And there I thought going into software development would keep my life largely free of manual labor..

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think you're a farmer now.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago

Greenhouse could be easily classified as a software project:

  • it took 4 times longer than planned
  • it's over budget
  • plans changed as it was being built
  • it's more than was actually required
  • I was convinced it would be both cheaper and better if I built it
  • I had no experience building things remotely like this before deciding to build it
[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

That actually sounds pretty great! Unfortunately I dont have any land I rent a 15x15' plot at a community garden, it's a real small scale operation. The most I could do would to rent an extra plot, in which case I'd probably plant tubers for once.

You know with that much harvested you could probably sell the extras at a farmers market or something. Also I cant imagine going through that much canned food in a year

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

You sure you're not living in Stardew valley?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Bonus pickles I couldnt get to upload with the post

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

How do you keep them from becoming soggy af and yeasty?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Idk about yeasty but all I put in is vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, dill and sometimes mustard seed if I want them hot. But I think the trick to keep them from getting soggy is to cut off the blossom end, at least that's what I do and never have an issue

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I do need to do that on my next batch. But also the main difference is you use vinegar and I'm just doing salt brine. Other than that, same ingredients between us.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Cutting off the blossom end is a game-changer.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

I read this before but never did it.

Fuck it. Im-a do it

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Any particular reason you didn't leave the rings on the cans? I've never seen canned food stored with only the top on it like that.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The rings aren't needed once the jar is sealed. Removing it can make it easier to tell when a seal has broken and the contents may not longer be safe.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I can understand that. The loss of the ring to use as a pry bar to pop the top off baffles me, lol. I wouldn't know how to open it without the ring!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I mean the rings still exist, just not on each individual jar. Usually you can get an edge on the lid and pry it up to break the seal, once the seal is broken you add the ring back until you finish the jar.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

Yeah thanks for answering I actually have a bunch of ringer lid combos I use after I open them too. Also the lids are pretty easy to pop open with a key or the special thing on the can opener made for opening sealed lids

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Same question. I've never canned before, so idk what idk.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Okay, how much space do the tomato plants take up? Maybe I can achieve something similar in our own garden.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

I had 20 plants 4 rows of 5, they didnt take up excessive space. There were super sauce tomatoes, beefsteak, Roma and one cherry tomato bush.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

This is amazing and a great achievement. Thank you for the share!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I want to try everything you made. Especially since it's all sourced from a garden, which I'm assuming means your garden. Which means that stuff is going to be so tasty.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Thanks man, it's all really good stuff especially the juice. This years had celery, onion, garlic,basil, cilantro, tomatos and peppers I think I wrote v7 on the labels. It's also always nice to give some of the stuff as presents too

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

im no canning expert, but im pretty sure those are jars.