Ready for Winter?

Last month we finished up picking everything in the garden and ripping all the plants out just so Jared could plant winter rye grass. Instead of having and field of dirt we are now growing grass, but that is a different story for a different time. You may recall when, last month, we pulled up the garden.  Well the next day the four oldest kids helped me can peas and beans. First you start out with a load of clean, sterilized jars. It’s easiest to do this in the dishwasher.My boys thoroughly enjoyed filling jars with beans and peas.

Around here we raw pack the jars because it’s easy and the kids enjoy helping. Once the jars are filled with the vegetables I come along and fill them with hot water.

 

Then the jars are processed for about 35 minutes. If you plan on doing this be sure to check on processing times for your area. Living at high altitude the processing time will be a tad longer.

I have to thank our amazing church family (and friend, Elenita) for giving us so many canning supplies. You have no idea how incredibly appreciative we are for everything.  You helped make this year of gardening much easier on us. I know a lot of ladies from church have been saving jars and lids for years because the packaging shows. It’s been great to see how much you all paid for your lids compared to today.

      

I finally got around to organizing the kitchen cabinets a little. Jared was kind enough to build another pantry area in our basement. I have to say that this year of gardening was quite successful. We ended up with over 50 jars of pickles, 30 jars of green beans, 7 jars of peas (would  have been more if we weren’t gone for three weeks this summer), 7 jars of peaches, 6 jars of fruit cocktail, 24 jars of plum jelly (thanks for the plums Laura!), a ton of cantaloupe, zucchini, yellow squash, buttercup squash, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, corn (that we froze), and a couple pumpkins that have yet to ripen and will probably freeze now. It was quite the learning experience and we are now in the works to plan next year’s garden!