Emperor Tiberius liked Skirret. Must be tasty - I cannot imagine him eating veggies under compulsion.
Thanks it is a new veg for me.

I hope to taste some myself next season!

I have a package of bush beans from about years ago. do you think they ae still good to plant??

thanks

I've rarely had luck with years old seeds but it never hurts to dump then in a pot or pan of soil and see if any germinate before tossing them.

Oh, where have I been for sooooooooooooooooo long?

Crittergarden,
I just started canning this past two months ago, and I am LOVING IT! I started off with simple water bath canning, to get a feel for the process. To date, I've canned whole berry cranberry sauce, jalapeno pepper jelly, and spiced beets. ALL three were successful, and, I have a batch of fresh jalapenos waiting to become more pepper jelly!

I have had an ALL AMERICAN PRESSURE CANNER 921 sitting in the box since I bought it, almost 5 years ago, brand spanking new!

It's time to get serious! I started collecting turkeys on sale at Thanksgiving time, so I can brine them, roast them on the rotisserie, and then can the meat for the shelf!

Here are a couple of YouTube websites I've been following to learn about canning. I trust these folks. Beware, however, there are any number of additional YouTube posters who I do NOT follow for canning instructions, LOL! Watch all the canning videos for the first three, and you'll be able to detect those you might wanna skip, LOL!

imstillworkin
katzcradul
webcajun
homesteadingGirl (for a nice tutorial on using your pressure canner)

Can't wait to start canning my greens!

P.S. The spiced beets are A-MAZ-ING!

P.S.S. When I became a serious veggie gardener, I knew I was going to need a freezer. Having lived with both a huge chest freezer and an upright shelf freezer, I'd recommend the upright freezer, hands down. You have to dress like an Eskimo to retrieve anything from the bottom of that chest freezer. And, stuff is not readily visible. You'll appreciate the shelves in an upright freezer for organizing your veggies, and frozen goods. JMHO (just my humble opinion), LOL!

A few canning tips I have learned that might be helpful to you:
►Lids and rings are getting more and more expensive, and the Tattler reusable lids are becoming popular. However, there is a definite LEARNING curve with using those lids! Find the YouTube video where the guy posts a rant, and you'll see why.

►Garage sales, elderly neighbors who used to can, Craig's list, etc., can be sources for Ball and Mason jars. Be sure the older, vintage jars aren't too vintage. If they are, the newer lids and rings will NOT fit them
.
►Watch your processing times! Too much and you'll get mush in the jars.

►Do NOT let your jars cool in the canner overnight! Go that extra step of removing them to a towel on your counter...

►You can divide the process up between prepping the food and processing the food. I'm going to core and slice the jalapenos on one evening, and put them into the fridge (or the freezer), until I'm ready to can (process) them... I have found food prep is the most time-consuming part of the whole event. I can even boil, peel and dice the beets on one evening, and process on another...

►ALWAYS sterilize more jars, ring, and lids, than you think you'll need! It's a total pill to end up with a corner of something and not have an extra jar ready, LOL. And, like "imstillworkin" says, "I sterilize my rings." "You don't have to, if you don' want to!"

"Hope this helps!"

Linda

GymGirl, where HAVE you been for sooooooooooooooooo long?

Great gusto girl!

I'm not venturing into pressure canning until I have a season of hot water canning under my belt. I'm kind of timid about the pressure thing.

Thanks for all your tips and pointers!

I agree with you about the upright freezer thing. I never thought I'd want a chest freezer. But I decided it would fit between my washer and dryer in the basement and make a good folding table I can't pile stuff on top of. I'll load it from the right and remove from the left, periodically bringing the oldest things upstairs to the fridge freezer.

DO post your experiences!

Frank, those bean seeds should definately be still good. Plant them this spring.

Rita - Thanks. I thought they would be good.

I'm not much for canning but i would be really afraid to can turkey or any kind of meat.

No need to fear -- all those folks over on YouTube that I trust have been doing this for years, and they live to teach me, LOL!

If you do this to turkey what does it look and taste like when you open up the can or jar or whatever your put it in.??

I don't know about canned turkey but my grandmother used to can beef and pork and it was the best meat I have ever tasted! So tender too!

I have canned chicken over the years and really love it. So easy to fix and delicious too.

If I may, I want to weigh in on the freezer. Chest here and I'll tell you why. While barefoot, open the door on the upright freezer while retrieving frozen goodies. You will be amazed at how much cold air that your barefeet will feel. Not quite as efficient as a chest freezer and furthermore, beware of the frozen goodies hitting your bare feet if they fall off the over stuffed shelves. Better make that steel toed boots instead. lol

Maybe a chest freezer would be easier to dig to the bottom of, if you set it up like our foot lockers at Boy Scout camp.

The footlockers had a shallow tray that sat on top of the main volume of the footlocker. That lifted out easily and revealed the bottom 3/4 of the contents.

Maybe keeping the top few layers of things in a chest freezer in boxes or heavy bags would let you lift out and replace things faster than digging and rummaging would.

I suspect they would collect frost while outside the freezer, but individual items would collect even more frost.

That does work Rick Corey. I use the cloth shopping bags. I sort foods into the different bags and set them in the chest freezer. I can easily find what I need by pulling out a bag of meat or vegies or dairy products. It also makes defrosting easy when I can quickly remove the bags. I wash the inside of the freezer with a water hose, use a wet vacuum to dry it and sort through the bags while the freezer is cooling back down. It does make it easy and leaves more time for my plants.

I agree. Organization is key with a freezer whether upright or chest. But I do like a chest freezer. And there's much less chance of some frozen thing falling on your foot or toe. That does hurt!

My stand up freezer is over 6 feet tall and i love it. one shelf is for chicken, one for pork, one for beef. the two large drawers hold hamburgers and franks. the door shelves holds goodies for Ava and the free donuts we get from Dunkin Donuts.

Gymgirl said:
Here are a couple of YouTube websites I've been following to learn about canning.
imstillworkin
katzcradul
webcajun
homesteadingGirl (for a nice tutorial on using your pressure canner)

P.S. The spiced beets are A-MAZ-ING!
Linda

Linda, Thanks for telling us about homesteadingGirl on youtube. I follow the others you mentioned, but hadn't seen hers. Now. I'll follow her also.

I love beets!! What the recipe for spiced beets?
Jo-Ann

Wait, I want to know about those free Dunkin Donuts!

Yeah, I wanna know about the free Dunking Donuts, too, LOL!

Jo-Ann,
Is that you, girl???!!! Over here, LOL! Great minds DO think alike, LOL!

The spiced beets are so EZ PZ and they are unbelievably delicious. Since mine aren't ready yet (wee babes, still in the garden...) I went to my local farmers market and bought a couple bunches of fresh there. I tried to get the roots to be roughly the same sizes in both bunches for consistency in cooking them.

I'll post the recipe or a link when I get a chance.

Hugs!

Free DD donuts?? !!! ??

Did you bring enough to share with everyone?