Episode 25: Canning in 8 Projects: 1 – Pickles
On today’s show, I will walk you through a specific recipe you can try at home with produce purchased at the store for your first canning project. This is in advance of our soon to be produced youtube series: Learn Canning with 8 Home Preservation Projects. Also cued up for the show is another segment from Samantha the Savings Ninja! She will give us her top picks for phone apps that can save you money.
Also, Holler Roast coffee is officially for sale online at livingfreeintennessee.com. It is $14 a pound plus shipping, and of course the best shipping rate is for 5 pounds, but two pounds ship for a fairly reasonable price too!
Eating Seasonally
This is where we share what we are eating as it comes to us.
- Deadnettle
- Chickweed or Stellaria media, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellaria_media
- Dandelion
- Time to harvest our annual stinging nettle for tea
- Hoping to see wild mustard soon.
- Keeping an eye out for poke weed
- Watercress still going strong.
Getting the Gardens Ready
Where we share what we are doing to get our food growing operation up and running.
- Tomatoes seeded in their trays AND germinated in only three days.
- Poop Proceeding 17 has reached phase two – and the tractor is a great help!
- Peas, Lettuce and other early seeds are going both in the ground with row cover and in trays for the green house
Garden Economics update
Where I share with you if I am making or losing money by growing my organically handled veggies!
- Set up a tracking spreadsheet
- Spent $90, made $45 = $45 spent so far in the aggregate.
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
How we are keeping our winter stores interesting.
- Pork shoulder – what really happened
- Using up potatoes and sweet potatoes like mad!
- Last call for jerusalem artichokes
- Pickled things on wild salads – so very yummy
- Eating through the beans and corn, but need to use the canned beets!
Cider Hollow grafting workshop.
He’s got TEN spaces left!
Learn Canning in 8 Projects: Project 1 – Pickles
Starting canning kit:
- Pressure Canner vs. the waterbath canning kits you see at Walmart. Just buy a pressure canner if you plan to develop canning skills.
Presto
All American - Jar lifter.
- 12 quart-sized, wide mouth mason jars.
- 12 lids and rings.
- Pickling Salt or Canning Salt
If you are serious about learning canning, just buy a starter kit of tools:
- I prefer this $40 one because of the metal funnel
- But this $13 one will do and has some nice extras
- Walmart Has an off the shelf Kit that is pretty good too that has the funnel, tongs, and so forth. And you can buy a metal funnel separately.
On to pickling: Quick Pickles
8 pounds cucumbers – no more than 4 inches long
14 cloves of garlic, cut in half
14 heads of dill weed (or use dry dill, or use fresh dill from the store)
7 hot peppers
28 peppercorns
Brine:
1/2 cup pickling or kosher salt
5.5 cups 5% vinegar
6 cups water
Processing Time: 15 to 1,000, 20 to 6,000, 25 over 6,000
You can try them right away – or wait 6 weeks for better flavor!
A word from Samantha the Savings NINJA
- Link to Ibotta – Use this and you get $10 extra after you redeem three rebates, and Samantha gets $5! https://ibotta.com/r/drhyuw
This week, I have a big business trip taking me away for several days and I sang a concert with my choir last week, so making forward progress here was a challenge. I got our tomatoes started, got the ducks under control, set up coffee sales and launched the online eggs. Anyway – that’s life here in the holler.
Thank you so much for joining me today here on Living Free in Tennessee and make it a great week!
Song: Sauce, Thanks Dave
