Does anybody still can produce? freeze produce?

[JitterbugPerfume]

I just talked to my daughter in law and she was canning peaches > I was IMPRESSED . She is also a career woman

what a gal my son married!

[MountainLaurel]

1. My grandmother, my mom, and my aunts all can

Every summer. They'll go to the farm market and pick up bushels of tomatoes, beans, and peppers to make salsa, vegetable soup, tomato sauce, and peppers and sauce. My grandmother also cans applesauce and apple butter, peaches, etc.

[JitterbugPerfume]

14. I remember mom and granny

canning bushels of good stuff--green beans , pickles, tomatoes , corn , beets,anything and everything they could pick out of their garden or buy at the farmers market


Granny made (canned) the best vegetable soup on the planet A bowl of that with her corn bread was pure heaven

[idgiehkt]

2. the ladies at the church I clean on sunday mornings can all summer

God, they make a stinking mess. They've gotten better the last couple of years, but they are like kids. They have a big sale in November for the 'building fund'.

[mad-mommy]

3. my parents and grandparents did...

another thing I want to learn and never do. what's wrong with me?

I loved the canning of tomatoes, smells so good!

[hotforteacher]

4. Both!

I haven't been able to have a garden myself, but have been canning and freezing stuff for the last four years. Generally a shitload of tomatoes, apple sauce, broth, peaches and nectarines and berries. I hate paying top-dollar for quality produce and whatnot if I can do it myself. I had this finace back in the day whose mother re-indoctrinated me to the ways. I never let a chicken carcass or beef trimmings go to waste anymore!

My mother did tons of canning when we were still younger. I remember in our basement there being a large shelving unit with massive cans of tomatoes, peaches, pears, and canned beef. It was a little spooky going down there to fetch something (it was an outside access basement, very old school, with the furnace and the woodpile--that's another story altogether).

[LeftyMom]

5. I can a little

More as a hobby than a big component of my diet though. I'd do more if I gardened but I can't keep plants alive to save my life. I did freeze more but I'm staying with my family now and there isn't much room in the freezers of those side-by-side fridges.

[xmas74]

6. I freeze and dehydrate.

I'm learning how to can but have always been afraid.

[RumpusCat]

7. Oh, I've always wanted to!

I even found an awesome resource: The National Center for Home Food Preservation. Now, if only I wasn't a space-limited apartment dweller... I do have a farmers' market nearby. Maybe I will learn how to can me some foods! :hi:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

8. When asparagus is on sale for 99 cents a bunch

I buy a lot of it, blanch it and freeze it. I hate paying 2.99 for something I can get for .99.

[JitterbugPerfume]

11. I have about two dozen bags of asparagus

thanks to aforementioned daughter in law! also blue berries , strawberries corn , cherries, and green peppers

I have the best daughter in law in the world --and of course she is a Democrat

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

12. I freeze tomatoes from my garden too

It came in handy this year because I didn't plant

[JitterbugPerfume]

19. oh ! I might try freezing tomatoes

never thought of the possibility We just always canned them

[raptor_rider]

20. I canned 28lbs with my mother-in-law

this past April. Man, that was a lot of stem snapping. However we have it for all year.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

23. I prefer freezing, only because I prefer them to be al dente rather

than soft

[raptor_rider]

27. They are so good that way.

I like either way. Such yummy stuff.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

31. agreed :)

[Debi]

9. I stew and freeze tomatoes and freeze sweet corn

I also make HUGE batches of chili, chicken noodle soup and beef stew and freeze them up for the winter.

I'm afraid to can food, your daughter-in-law is amazing.

[JitterbugPerfume]

15. Cindy was raised on a farm

and yes, she is amazing .I love her almost as much as my son does. She is a big sister , a teacher and does all kinds of cool stuff !

[Debi]

16. That's neat

Plus this winter those canned fruits will be wonderful in pies/cobblers and in treats. Much better than that 'foreign'fruit you have to buy in January/February :P

[Lars39]

10. I just found out my freezer door had been partially open for a while.

:cry:

[JitterbugPerfume]

26. OH ! I hope

you didn't lose any goodies !

[Lars39]

34. I'm going to have to cook some meat and use up some cheese.

It could have been a lot worse. :scared:

[mainegreen]

13. We freeze kale.

Lots and lots and lots of kale.

[JitterbugPerfume]

17. yes! KALE

turnip greens, mustard , spinach I LOVE GREENS

[Richard Steele]

18. Still have a bunch of frozen Jalapeños we grew last year.

Freezing affects the color & texture, but the taste still
says "fresh home-grown".
OK, that might be an exaggeration,
but they sure are better than canned.

I haven't done any canning yet, but once the shed is
built and I dig a root-cellar under it, look out!

[lukasahero]

21. I freeze (don't know how to can)

lots of the veggies I grow over the summer. Of course, I also pride myself in having grown all the veggies from seed in my spare time. :)

[raptor_rider]

22. My mother-in-law taught me

how to can. We can all the time. Stews, veggies, apples, applesauce, apple juice, cherries, you name it, it gets canned. She is a Naturopathic Doctor and Nutritionist that is into whole pure and natural and organic foods. It was defiantly a change of lifestyle when I met my husband 3 years ago. Haven't been healthier in my life. Had a very healthy and strong son 9 weeks ago and I lost all of my baby weight in just 6 days. Granted I only gained 24lbs with him and he was almost 7lbs at birth.

[GumboYaYa]

24. I make all our jellies, jams and pickles.

We are making cherry jelly this weekend. The quality is so much better that it is definitely worth the work. My kids and I do it together and it is fun.

[JitterbugPerfume]

25. I made strawberry freezer jam

with Splenda . It is kinda thin , but good .It is the perfect consistancy for pouring over ice cream

for other things I use stevia , but splenda worked for the jam

[FedUpWithIt All]

28. I can and dehydrate...

Usually i just can homemade vegetable beef soup and assorted jellies that the kids and i make. I also ferment pickles and cabbage occasionally.

I am very interested in learning old techniques for smoking meat and fish as well, but find it all a bit daunting.


I think things like sewing, organic gardening, animal husbandry and food storage are important lost arts, considering the increasing climate instabilities, Government and oil concerns.

[leftofthedial]

29. froze a box of peaches a few nights ago

I roast and freeze green chili every year

I usually can something--pickles, salsa, or whatever is good and I'm in the mood for

[GumboYaYa]

30. Pesto freezes well also.

You can defrost it an voila, instant dinner.

[NewWaveChick1981]

32. Hubby and I just canned 22 jars of fig preserves and 8 big jars of

tomatoes. :) I'd never canned anything before in my life, and neither had he. We had a bumper crop of figs from our tree and a bumper crop of tomatoes, so we decided to try out hand at canning. It worked very well, and now we have lots of tomatoes to use in recipes this fall and winter. :) The figs are mainly for Christmas gifts. Both the figs and tomatoes turned out very well! :D

[BigMcLargehuge]

33. we do

peaches, raspberries, strawberries... We make jam too.

[JitterbugPerfume]

35. people who know how to

can , freeze , perserve , garden etc will survive when others perish I truly believe this