Processing 2020

In the Kitchen

This is going to be a list of the items I put up this past year.  It is really just for me but I like to put it in the blog so I can refer back to it year after year.  I just finished canning right before Thanksgiving!  I didn't think the garden was going to do well but I was pleasantly surprised by everything that I got put up.  I did have to buy some hot peppers this year because mine were just really lagging.  Also, there was no corn, broccoli or cauliflower to freeze this year.  Other than that, I think we did pretty good.  I bought a shelving unit and put it in a closet in the basement and loaded it up with quart jars of food (the pint jars are in a different storage area).

Canning:

Several jars of chicken and beef broth...I just make this up as we go through the year
3 quarts grape juice (thank you Wendy!)
33 quarts seasoned tomato sauce - I was actually shocked (and happy) we got this much tomato sauce.  Believe it or not, the Beefstake tomatoes totally outperformed the Amish paste.  I almost didn't plant them but I had the seed so decided to go ahead an put a few in.  So glad I did!  They will be a staple in the garden from now on!
19 pints (red) salsa
11 pints green tomato salsa
20 pint and a half applesauce
13 quarts applesauce
16 pints hot apples
16 pints pears (thank you neighbors!)
23 pints cream of celery soup
23 pints green beans
10 pints Rotel
11 quarts of Green Tomato Enchilada sauce
4 pints pickled red onions

Drying:

We also dry lots of things.  We dry a lot of fruits and vegetables to make some goodies for the chickens and ducks during the winter.  I am going to put that process into a different blog post.  It will probably come out in January.  Here is a pic of Mark helping me to harvest some apple slices off a dehydrator rack.

Apples

Eggplant
Celery
Mushrooms
Herbs (parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage)

Freezing:

Although a lot of my basil got taken out by an early freeze on Labor Day, some plants survived and I still had enough to make some pesto and freeze it.

Pesto 

Spinach

Squash

Fermentation:

1 gallon of sauerkraut

1 1/2 gallons of salsa (I finished this at Thanksgiving and I am using the canned salsa now)

Root cellar:

Potatoes

Carrots 

Beets

Cabbage

Dry storage:

Onions

Leftovers!

I have to actually put a reminder on my calendar to eat some of the foods!  It is kind of an "out-of-sight-out of mind" thing at times.  Leftover from last year...AKA...need to use up right away:
6 jars apple juice
5 quarts Apple pie filling! What? We need to eat more pie!
3 pint and a half pickled cauliflower
5 pints pickled beets (yum!  one of my favorites)
1 pint beets (storing in root cellar now - way easier than pressure canning)
2 quarter pints Candied jalapenos
10 half pints of beet ketchup (I use this when I make meatloaf, I guess we better eat a lot more meatloaf)

So, that is it!  I think I finally have a good handle on what we like to store and the optimum way to store it (for our use.  I am not going to lie...this was a lot of work and I am glad to be done with it for the year!

~Denise