SO WHAT ARE YOU GROWING TO CAN?

[docjered]

Tell me... what are you growing this year to can and/or dehydrate??

I am growing ten kinds of peppers, cucumbers for pickles, 20 kinds of tomatoes for tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, chili and dried cherry and grape tomatoes. Also corn for dehydrating as well as beans.

Plenty of salad greens for fresh salads!

[humbug]

Hi Doc,

I am growing corn, cukes for pickles, tomatoes, peppers, green beans and peas to can. I will also make some zucchini relish.

I usually store my carrots, squash, potatoes, onions and other root crops.

I am also growing lots of greens and am really working on extending my season as long as I can this year.

I am hoping to have late fall cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and greens. I am also going to try for a fall crop of peas.

[DM]

Of all the things i grow, about the only thing from the garden i put away for the winter is tomatoes, and some wild mushrooms. I no longer even can those, i freeze them... Everything else we eat fresh untill we are sick of it...

I do store some potatoes too, but things like carrots, apples ect.. are so cheap here it's not worth growing them...

There's huge amounts of food grown in this area....

DM

[docjered]

Deb: I just cut the cherry tomatoes in half and dehydrate until crisp. They are great as an addition to a good wheat bread; also good on salads, as the dressing softens them to a raisin-like consistency. Last year I dried a bunch by cutting them then dipping the cut face in dried hidden ranch dressing mix... A little vinegar and oil dressing on a salad with these in them gives a great dressing taste to the salad! I also toss a handful into pasta sauce when cooking for a more chunky pasta sauce. Also, try adding a few to a chopped onion when you cook it down to top a steak. I really like grape tomatoes, too, for all of the above! Sun dried tomatoes are so expensive at the store.

[docjered]

One of my favorite things to dry is peppers. I have a large canister of green/red/yellow pepper pieces, and another canister with some of the above plus jalapeno, chili, habanero, and banana peppers. This is great when you need a hotter addition to a dish. I am surprised at how fast I can go through a half gallon of dried peppers!

[docjered]

Strawberries were so cheap this season that I sliced and dried several flats. A handful in breakfast cereal is wonderful! These will be a constant item in my kitchen from now on!

[creekside-angie]

I do alot of tomatoes and peppers also cukes for pickles.One of my favs for canning is one my granddad taught me. I take hungarian hot peppers and stuff them with shredded cabbage and pickle like hot peppers, some times we put in some green cherry tomatoes with them,Yummy!
Also when we do the crock pickles we layer in some cauliflower and hot peppers along with the dill and grape leaves.(Grape leaves help keep them crisp)
And the cabbage I grow goes into the crock with some dill for some of the best sourcrout I've ever had!
Most ever thing else gets froze.Okra,beans,corn,peas ect.
Oh I do can the new potatoes, but the rest go to cold storage with the squashes and carrots.
I have to buy in my fruit tho, and usually can at least 4 bushel of peaches and cold storage about 10 bushel of apples.They keep good until I'm ready to sauce 'em. ;)

[elh]

As much as I can. English Peas, Green Beans, Broccoli, Asparagus, Corn, Cabbage, Tomatoes (regular and grape), several varieties of peppers. Pinto Beans, Peanuts, Black-eyed Peas, Cucumbers (for pickles), Spinach, fresh greens for salads, Sweet Potatoes, Irish Potatoes, and then comes the fruit. Wild Blackberries, Strawberries, Raspberries, Apples, Peaches, Figs, Pears, Wild Sand Plums, Crab apples all make jellies, jams, and syrups.
We also try to put away as many herbs as will grow here.

This garden just keeps getting bigger every year.
Our grown children are on hand for the planting, harvesting and preserving. The grandchildren are learning too. :D
We all help with the work and share in the rich winter fare.