The Downhill Slide
I can see the light at the end of the preserving/pantry filling tunnel.
I am almost done freezing what is left of the corn, and I may can some carrots, make some more kraut, freeze some celeriac tops, seed the naked seed pumpkins and then I will be able to put all the canning/preserving supplies away for the season. Shelves and freezers are stuffed to the gills. We’ve had a couple of light frosts this week so the season has officially changed.
To remove the fretting of saving tender fall crops from frost, this year I didn’t plant anything that couldn’t take some freezing. What a relief not to have to run outside and cover plants. Cold hardy is the way to go.
Pantry/ Frosty Garden Checklist this week:
Pick Northern Spy and King apples.
Final corn picking, harvest stalks for cattle.
Sort and bag onions.
Sort and bag garlic.
Pick Hardy Kiwi.
Greenhouse:
Sort and label seeds drying down.
Put soaker hoses away.
Pull tomato plants and sanitize tomato clips.
Plant cover crop in greenhouse.
Anna, Actinidia arguta
It’s nice to see things getting crossed off the list, almost time for some winter rejuvenation.
Food Renegade
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
Did you make saurkraut this year? If so, can you tell me which post has the recipe? The thing I love about your recipes is that they are simple to follow and delicious! Also, how do you keep your jars from cracking in the freezer…maybe is should just use only mason jars?
Chris, I didn’t post a recipe, but I just use the standby: 5 pounds cabbage (or whatever) to 3 Tablespoons salt.
I do just use mason jars, the tapered are the best, because the contents can expand without putting pressure on the neck of the jar. But I freeze milk in half gallons, and they aren’t tapered so that is all about headspace. The Ball blue book has instructions for freezing in jars, headspace for different products etc. And a word to the wise, I hardly ever freeze anything that is very liquidy so I don’t worry to much about expansion and breaking jars.
It all looks great. Congratulations!
LindaG,
Wow that sounds like a lot of hard work, but well worth it I am sure.
BP&A, definitely!
what size jars do you use for freezing?
Ben, it depends on what I’m freezing, milk, butter, pesto, veggies…usually wide mouth tapered pints or half pints. I save my lids, and have lots of canning rings I don’t trust for canning anymore, so the whole deal is recycled. And the benefit is that there is virtually no freezer burn or phthalates.
the chart on the side of my canning jar box says the only freezer safe size is the pint size and smaller…
I guess they mean they will guarantee that those jars won’t break because those are the only jars available with a taper. I freeze my milk in 1/2 gallon jars and have only had one or two jars crack over the years, because I overfilled or because jars don’t last forever. Sometimes you never know what is going to cause them to break, after being used so many times. I’ve dropped them too, and watched them tumble down a flight of stairs and not break, and the next time I drop one on the floor and it cracks.
Safety is a relative term, if the jar cracks I discard the contents, but some may try to save it. Ball is just protecting themselves from potential liability.
I don’t like Winter but it does give us time to rejuvinate. I finished canning 2 weeks ago and retired my canner for the season…..with a really big YAHOO! It’s a long season isn’t it
We have a snow storm scheduled for tomorrow night ~ very unprecidented for New England. It was a good gardening and canning year ~ food is in ~ God is good.
ElizaJ, I saw that snow on the news – I have to say I am glad it isn’t here! We had a great year in the garden too despite the slow start
What an impressive list! We’re going to get a freeze soon, but so far we’ve covered the beans, cucumbers and peppers on the cold nights and eked out another week from the garden. It is nice to have the cool weather veggies that don’t need coddling!
Susan, you must be in a warm spot, our warm weather crops have been toast for quite a while. Congrats on the extra garden week!
other than the obvious plastic/waste issues, is there is a reason you can in jars versus bags? the jars waste so much freezer space to me
I guess the biggest issue for me is the phthalate issue in the food, I try to avoid it where I can. Some things in my freezer have to be stored in plastic, meat being the primary one, since I raise my own meat and don’t want to can it all. Other than that, the waste issue probably is a wash, for me, storing something that won’t freezer burn and keeps its quality , compared to a little wasted space is more important. I keep the jars in their original boxes and they stack neatly with less wasted space than the bags I use. I still do freeze some things in freezer bags, it just depends on what I am freezing and in what quantity I want. I’m not using most of these jars for canning anyway, so this is a good use for them.
But like any issue, I am sure there are people who believe some substances are harmful, and others who think it’s hogwash. Everyone has to do what they think is right, and works best for them.
oops I said can in jars, and I meant “freeze in jars”.
Do hardy kiwis taste like regular kiwis?
Emily, yes, only they are grape size and need no peeling, just pop in your mouth and eat
You are so busy! And that corn looks so delicious!
Hi there!
How old are your kiwi plants? I just planted some this spring and was wondering when we would get fruit. We still have bosc pears to dry and we picked some wild cranberrys that i am going to try to make sauce out of. We butchered out 4 year old laying hens and they will get canned today. It is so nice to be able to see all of your jars fill up with yummy goodness. Hope to be able to get out to look for some mushrooms yet this fall, do you have lots of them this year?
Shirley, our kiwis are about 20 years old, but they started producing really well the third year. Yes, the mushrooms have been good, just the right balance of rain to bring them out.
A friend gifted me with a full bucket of tomatillos, so I guess I still have some preserving to do 
What would we do without friends! Mine brought me some elderberrys. I like to dry them and make tea.
Ah ha!! When you said you didn’t freeze anything too liquidy…that was my answer because I was freezing chicken stock and the jars pretty much all broke!
No vinegar in your saurkraut….just salt??
That explains it, I have had jars crack when I froze milk. I make bone broth every week, so I never have to freeze it. If I get more than I can use in a week, I can it
I never have had sauerkraut with vinegar, just slaw. The sour taste comes from lactic acid as the cabbage ferments. Do you have Nourishing Traditions or Wild Fermentation? Good books on the subject.
Crikey! How many does that feed? Do you sell at a farm shop or just subsist through the winter?
MM, it depends, that’s only 12, one cup jars, probably destined for a pot of stew or a pot pie
We just subsist…