I am one of those crazy people that still cans in this world. I don't really do it for the cost as much as the taste. One night my daughter had been playing with friends and she came home with fresh green beans picked from her friends garden, with the instructions on how to cook them for dinner. We had long since run out of home canned/grown green beans, but i had some store bought ones, so i added them to our dinner. The store bought ones looked brown compared to the lovely fresh green ones. I was so disappointed. I am a canner purely because of the taste.
Last year summer was not as kind to me as i would have liked, thus i did not do any canning or gardening, weeding etc. In all appearances you could say i was on strike for all outdoors activities. It started out really well. I planted 9 tomato plants, because i LOVE home grown tomatoes, but when my health crashed, so did the garden. I had my kids helping with the weeding and one of my beloved boys used round up on the weeds on the borders and didn't know about overspray or the consequences of spraying that close. Needless to say, i think i might have had 1 plant survive, i don't remember, but his efforts made me smile.
This year i planned to double my efforts from last year. So far this summer, i have canned many quarts of applesauce, 37 quarts of spaghetti sauce, and now 19 quarts of green beans. I had quite a few peaches and pears left over, so i didnt make any this year. I also did some strawberry jam back in April I think. YUUMMMMM these are my all time favorite things to eat when canned at home, not by the store, and the foods i will continue to process as long as my body can handle it. I also like to do salsa, but not sure it will get done this year. We have been making a lot of fresh salsa and the 2 just don't compare and i am becoming a salsa snob. I also have frozen some peppers and plan to do more, and hopefully some green beans again, soon. WOW, it looks so much more impressive when you write it all down. Pics will come when i am more awake.
I have also decided it is not worth keeping my own garden for the quantity of canning. I will plant a few of my favorites, but that will be all. I just don't have a ton of space right now. There is a local farm here that lets you pick your own veggies and charges by the box. Their tomatoes were HUGE and took much less time to peel, core, skin and squeeze than my own.
5 more minutes until green beans are done ...im going to bed...
