{"id":3115,"date":"2013-04-04T03:00:53","date_gmt":"2013-04-04T07:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=3115"},"modified":"2013-04-04T03:00:53","modified_gmt":"2013-04-04T07:00:53","slug":"q-and-a-storing-seeds-and-canning-infused-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2013\/04\/04\/q-and-a-storing-seeds-and-canning-infused-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Q and A: storing seeds and canning infused water"},"content":{"rendered":"

Storing seeds<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve found that home centers are selling seeds labeled “heirloom” now. If I buy these seeds and vacuum pack them, will they last long term and for how long?<\/em><\/p>\n

Michael Setterquist<\/em>
\nFriendship, Wisconsin<\/em><\/p>\n

Yeah, I’ve noticed that the big seed companies are climbing on the heirloom bandwagon. Heirloom seeds are “in” now and therefore more saleable than in the past at big box stores. I love heirloom, open pollinated varieties, but one caution is that many of the heirloom varieties sold by the big box stores are, in reality, just old cheaper varieties. True, they’re open pollinated, but often you can do much better by buying more tasty, more productive, and nicer varieties from companies who specialize in heirloom seeds such as Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Yes, you can vacuum pack the seeds. To get the longest storage life, freeze them in an airtight package or store them in the back of the refrigerator. Otherwise, store them in a dark, cool spot in your house. Most seeds remain viable for at least several years, most longer than that. But like long-term storage foods, it really pays to regularly use and rotate your seeds so you don’t end up counting on really old seeds. Some will not be viable and others will have a much lower germination rate. Onions and parsnips are two vegetables that have seeds that are good only for about a year. After that time they lose their viability quickly so they must be renewed yearly. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Canning infused water<\/strong><\/p>\n

I read on Facebook a thing about water in quart jars with fruit — but not to keep it longer than 48 hours. If it were pressure-canned could you keep it longer than 48 hours? If you canned water with fruit (lemon, cucumber, etc) in it, would it flavor the water a bit more than just putting some in there for a day? Here is the article on Facebook:<\/em><\/p>\n

Infused waters.<\/em>
\nHere are the benefits to help with detoxification, energy, and hydration. Put as much fruit in water as you like and let the water sit for at least 30 minutes before drinking (1) Green tea, mint, lime — fat burning, digestion, headaches, congestion and breath freshener. (2) Strawberry, kiwi — cardiovascular health, immune system protection, blood sugar regulation, digestion (3) Cucumber, lime, lemon — water weight management, bloating, appetite control, hydration, digestion (4) Lemon, lime, orange — digestion vitamin C, immune defense, heartburn, (drink this one at room temperature).<\/em><\/p>\n

Do not keep longer than 48 hours — you can put more water using the same fruit, but discard after 48 hours.<\/em><\/p>\n

Shanda Knight<\/em>
\nEvansdale, Iowa<\/em><\/p>\n

You could certainly can fruits in water instead of in a syrup base for the purpose of flavoring the water. You would water bath process the fruit\/water just as if you were canning fruit so follow the directions for each type of fruit but only put in as much fruit as you wish and omit the sugary syrup which is only used as a flavor enhancer, not as a preservative. I’d skip the cucumber flavored water as a cucumber is a vegetable and is low acid, requiring pressure canning unless made as a pickle (using vinegar) and pressure canned cucumber would taste yucky. Once canned, your fruit-flavored water would remain good for years on the pantry shelf. I would recommend trying a small batch and then tasting it after cooling to make sure you like the flavor before you do up a big batch. — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Storing seeds I’ve found that home centers are selling seeds labeled “heirloom” now. If I buy these seeds and vacuum pack them, will they last long term and for how long? Michael Setterquist Friendship, Wisconsin Yeah, I’ve noticed that the big seed companies are climbing on the heirloom bandwagon. Heirloom seeds are “in” now and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3115"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}