I really never stop canning. I make soups and stews and can dried beans all year round, but the busy canning season is in the summer and it is winding down.
I canned the last of the butternut squash two weekends ago and that rounded out a very bountiful harvest!
God has blessed us with such a wonderful garden this year and I have no words to express my thanks. Pretty much every weekend for the last 6 weeks or so has been devoted to canning all of that largesse!
- 53 pints salsa (Most of these tomatoes were bought from our Amish neighbors - 24 lbs for $8)
- 5 pints pizza sauce
- 31 pints sweet corn
- 19 quarts lime pickles
- 19 quarts dill spears
- 2 pints dill spears
- 29 quarts butternut squash
- 2 quarts mixed corn and squash
- 15 quarts tomatoes
- 7 pints sweet relish
- 7 pints bread and butter pickles
- 12 pints zesty bread and butter pickles
- 6 pints mulberry jam
- 9 pints summer squash
- 4 pints pickled beets
- 22 pints green beans
- 57 lbs of red potatoes
Next year we plan to plant a lot more summer squash and only one hill of cucumbers and one hill of butternut squash. We should have plenty of pickles and butternut squash left over. If not then we'll revise the plan.
The garden has been tilled in preparation for the fall crops of kale, turnips, beets (for greens), green onions, and mustard greens. I've found that beet greens are just about my favorite type of green, so I can't wait for those to come up!
These fellers were oh so happy to get the canning leavings and I'm oh so glad to share with them, as it makes for such delicious pork! They are getting all the leftovers from canning as well as lots of surplus eggs and milk and as you can see it they are doing well!
In front here is the big gilt, or Peggy Sue as we call her. She is a BEAUTIFUL hog and I would keep her for breeding, but she'll serve us much better in the freezer.
The little red spotted gilt is Rita Rose. I actually bought her to use as a breeding sow, but she isn't maturing near as nice as I'd like to see her, so she will go into the freezer as well. The barrow is in the middle. He's not as nice as Peggy Sue either, but will make delicious meat nonetheless!
So that's whats going on around here. Things are good, summer is quickly fading into fall and we are so happy and blessed!
Till next time,
God Bless,
Wow, you've been busy putting up your lovely, bountiful harvest.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week ~ FlowerLady
Thanks FlowerLady! God has been, and always is so good to us! :)
DeleteI am very impressed with your canning list. Ours isn't anywhere close.
ReplyDeleteDo you breed pigs or buy them to raise and butcher? We have raised a few feeder pigs in the past, but are now trying American Guinea Hogs. We bought 3 boars, which are now one boar and two barrows. We hope to butcher the barrows in the winter. We also have one gilt. This is a whole new experience for us, so if you raise pigs to breed, I will follow along and learn from you. I need all the help I can get! (-:
Fern
Hi Fern! We bought these three from our across the road neighbor. He raises hogs on dirt. I grew up on a hog farm and we waffle back and forth about keeping a sow. The neighbor has said we can use one of his boars to breed with if we should decide to keep a sow, but we just can't decide what we want to do. Actually if we could find a Gloucestershire Old spot gilt we would buy her, but they are hard to find around here. Good luck with your AGH's! We actually thought about getting a pair of them, but considering we put 3 hogs a year in the freezer, I was concerned about having to butcher 5 or more of those!
DeleteI am bowled over with the amount of food you have stored! I have done hardly anything this year.....my excuse? we have had a year of renovating our house, which is a poor excuse really, but I shall try harder next year when things are quiet on the home front.
ReplyDeleteYou have all the reason in the world! It's a HUGE undertaking you and your man are dealing with, and I think you are doing great things! :)
DeleteWow, that's a great canning spread. I didn't do as much canning this summer as I usually do. It has been extremely dry and hot in my parts, so my garden really suffered. You'll be eating good for sure.
ReplyDeleteFabulous canning! I haven't gotten nearly as much, but am planning on doing some squash this weekend, in addition to the chicken, tomatoes, pickles as sauerkraut I've done so far. Love the blog!
ReplyDeleteBoobbuffet
Hi Goodwife, How did your fall crops do? Add anymore jars to the shelf? Look forward to hearing from you again. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteFern