Canning - How to Can Your Own Strawberry and Blueberry Jam

During the summer months, I look forward to canning my own homemade strawberry and blueberry jams. People often tell me that they don't get into canning because they think it's too hard, however, one of the easiest things to can is homemade jam.

For the following recipes, you will need some jelly or half-pint sized canning jars, seals, rings, and a water bath canner. If you have a jar lifter, silicone spatula and a funnel, they would be useful too, but not necessary.

Easy Strawberry Jam Recipe

3 cups fresh strawberries, caps removed
3 cups granulated sugar
1 envelope of fruit pectin (Sure-Jell)

Fruit Preparation: Wash and remove the caps from your fresh strawberries, place them in a medium sized saucepan.

Stir in 1 cup of granulated sugar and bring the mixture to a rapid boil and boil for 4 minutes. Stir in the second cup of granulated sugar and bring it back to a boil and boil for an additional 3 minutes. Finally, stir in the remaining 1 cup of granulated sugar and contents of 1 envelope of fruit pectin, bring mixture back to a full boil and boil an additional 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove pan from the burner and let it cool down for 10 minutes, stirring mixture occasionally with a nonstick silicone spatula. Spoon mixture into hot clean jars and seal. Process the jars in your water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Canning - How To Make Homemade Blueberry Chutney

During the summer and early fall months, I enjoy canning some homemade blueberry chutney for my family and friends. The process is rather easy to complete and will only take a few hours.

You will need your basic canning supplies: half-pint or pint-sized canning jars, water bath canner, seals and rings, jar lifter, funnel and a ladle.

Blueberry Chutney Recipe

4 cup fresh blueberries
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seed
1 tablespoon crystallized ginger, finely grated
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper

Place blueberries in a large colander and rinse under running tap water and remove stems or any defective berries. Drain water for 5 minutes before placing them into a large stock pot. Stir in the finely choppe d onion, table salt, ground nutmeg and dried red pepper. Bring this mixture to a full boil and simmer over medium heat. You will want to stir the mixture every couple of minutes and simmer for approximately 45 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. I find that a silicone nonstick spatula works best for stirring.

Ladle the hot chutney into your warm half-pint or pint sized jars, leaving a 1/2" head space. Wipe the jar rim clean with a soft cotton towel and place the seals and rings onto the jars.

Process your jars in a water bath canner for 10 to 15 minutes or according to manufacturers instructions. Remove jars from the canner and let them cool in a non-drafty area of your kitchen. After 2 hours, double check your jars to make sure they have all sealed properly.

This blueberry chutney will keep up to 1 year in properly sealed jars.

Homemade Canning - Escalating and Canning Your Very own Food

But should the issue come up, there are several techniques in which pest problems can be tackled biologically. One of these solutions will involve planting another species of plant intermixed with the key crop that repels the injury-triggering pest a practice that is usually acknowledged as Companion Planting. Biological Insect Command is also very effective. In this latter procedure, a predator insect is released into the crop to wipe out the pest. The two these techniques are completely purely natural, do not introduce poisonous chemicals in the crop, and therefore, thoroughly organic.

Natural hydro growing does take a very little bit far more effort, but the rewards far outweigh and far more than justify the several extra lengths taken. Apart from giving a fruit or vegetable that is free of unsafe chemical compounds, natural hydro growing also provides a merchandise that is wealthy in nutrients which is much more than can be vouched for commercially grown crops that are typically products of overfarmed nutrient-deficient soils.

In this scenario, a very little can surely go a very long way. Cultivating a hydro garden and escalating your own meals is quite fulfilling. Taking it a action further more and developing an natural and organic hydro garden is not only rewarding but the finest preference for your overall health.

Homemade Canning - Increasing and Canning Your Individual Food

For a extensive time, this posed a dilemma for hydro growers who wished to opt for organic rising approaches. But today organic and natural hydroponic fertilizers are extensively accessible, which make it doable to deliver a plant with the excellent mineral resolution, with out having to resort to non-natural and organic means. Reduced-acid veggies have to have to be canned a lot more cautiously to prevent spoilage. Even so, like fruits, the ideal garden can develop anything to can weekly or bi-weekly all 12 months-prolonged.

When setting up a residence-grown garden for canning, decide on vegetables for individual seasons:

Winter months Garden Create:

Cabbage

Brussels sprouts (in coastal locations)

Kale

Spring Garden Generate:

Asparagus

Celery

Dark leafy greens like spinach

Summertime by Drop Garden Make:

Green Beans or Lengthy Beans

Rhubarb

Peppers

Okra

Onions and Garlic

Peas

Zucchini

Dark Leafy Greens like Kale and Swiss Chard

Herbs

Even a modest family members garden, or container garden, can create adequate to stockpile canned develop. Many of these meals can well with minimal or no earlier cooking. Simply just scrub them, chop them up, things them into a jar, pour boiling h2o over them, screw on a lid, and place them into the pressure canner. Each vegetable, vegetable mix, or relish has a specific time and recipe that wants to be followed to the letter when canning it. Failure to adhere to a recipe for the distinct meals can end result in an inedible products, or even worse, spoilage.

Canning - Hot Pepper, Corn and Cucumber Pickle Relish Recipes

During the summer and fall months, I like to spend time in the kitchen canning foods that we have harvested from our backyard garden. Canning is easy to do and you can preserve for your foods for up to 1 year by canning them.

One of our favorite things to make with our excess garden vegetables is homemade relishes. To make the following recipes, I suggest using a food processor to finely chop up your vegetables to get them to the consistency that is needed for the recipes.

Here are 3 of our favorite recipes that we enjoy making.

Hot Pepper Relish

1 quart hot pepper sauce
1 large onion
1 tablespoon table salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 pint white vinegar

Mix together the first 3 ingredients in a small bowl. Cover the bowl and let stand for 4 hours. Stir in the granulated sugar and white vinegar. Cook in a medium-sized pan, stirring frequently for 45 minutes. Pour mixture into hot jars and seal in a water bath canner. Makes 1 1/2 pints. This recipe can be easily doubled.