Does anyone here hate canning as much as I do?

[Percysgirl]

LOL! I get irritated when they interrupt me mid-thought, because I work from home and we homeschool. It seems on certain days that I never complete a thought.

[Virginia]

Being a "small batch" canner most of the time, I feel like it is a continuous thing. Yesterday, I mostly cleaned off my kitchen table AND my dining table, mostly. Swiped at the floor. I'm glad to know that others just can't keep things up to snuff in canning time. However, it is so rewarding when it is all done, I just love that.

 

Also, glad I don't wear socks in canning season. I much rather have my sandles stick to the floor instead of socks. :.)

[Stephanie]

I had to pack my canner away for a few days so I could focus on homeschooling preps, we start Sept1. I tend to hyper focus!

 

I still have not made the dill relish that I intended to and I really want to make some green tomato pickles and I bought a bunch of meat to can and, and, and,....

 

[Shandy]

Well, it's Sunday, and I haven't canned since Thursday. So it's been a nice break. I didn't get to my house, however. Chicken and goat stuff to take care of.

 

But I'm ready for the slew of greenbeans coming off tomorrow, and the corn for Monday or Tuesday night, and the pears that start on Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

A little break helps from time to time.

 

School? My kids are begging me to stop so we can start school, but that happens every September. We don't school till the rains start.

[Crazy4Canning]

My DH even said he thought that my canning was a 'blur'...

 

He says, "Oh didn't you just can pickles?"

"No dear, that was 10 days ago..."

"Oh...but didn't you just do some peaches?"

"No dear, that was 3 weeks ago..."

"Oh...okay"

[JCK88]

LOL a friend asked my husband how he could handle the disarray of canning, what with all the juicy compost, the boiling jars, the full jars, the pots and pans, etc. etc...

 

My husband told him, "I don't know. I never see that. I leave in the morning and she's got a bushel of something in the kitchen. I get home at night and it's all in jars and the kitchen is clean.

It happens by magic. My wife is magic! The food is magic!"

 

 

I wish...I want the Violet patented floor bib for canning, and I want it now. I had to wash the floor again this afternoon after deciding to make another small batch of salsa "just for fun."

 

Hubby was home. He saw the magic. He's a nice guy. He helped me clean it up, LOL

 

I'm going to get another box of peaches Tuesday....

 

[Shandy]

My husband loves the whole deal. Of course, aside from being part of the production line when we freeze corn and putting up the poles for the pole beans in the spring, he has nothing at all to do with the planting, care of, harvesting of, or preserving of any of this.

 

So for him, it's a delight to watch me produce. (What?! Seven babies wasn't enough?)

 

This week I have my hands more full than I thought they would be. So I'll probably be back here crying and whining by Friday at the latest.

 

Corn to be frozen tomorrow night. (But the production line includes all of us, and everyone looks forward to the one night a year we do this. Full of "Corn Night" memories.)

 

Greenbeans (again) in the morning, and then again Thursday.

 

Blackberries all week.

 

Zucchini and zucchini bread (we freeze many loaves) all week.

 

Pears later this week.

 

Spinach pesto tonight.

 

After this week tho, the greenbeans will slow way down. So will the blackberries. And the corn will be over.

 

That just leaves pears, pumpkins, tomotoes, and zucchini stuff.

 

My six weeks are about half over.

 

And then I can plan next year's garden! Whoo hoo!!!!

[Vlynn]

I'm joining the "I hate canning" club. This is my first year canning - I did salsa and spaghetti sauce. There's all the work of putting the recipe together. Every pot and pan is dirty, and every square inch of counter space has something on it. I'm walking on tomato seeds and juice is running down the sides of the cabinets, and there's a big red stain on my white ceiling. It looks like blood spatter at a crime scene. Then I still have to can the stuff!

 

So there's the jars and lids and burnt fingers to deal with, and that gigantic pot of water, and trying to find that gadget you use to put the jars in and out of the hot water. The kitchen is a steambath, and I'm trying to do all this with one hand, because I have the Ball Blue Book in the other because I don't want to poison my family, and there's not a clean/dry place to lay it. Then my 7-year old comes in and wants to know when he can have lunch; that's when I realize it's 3PM, and I'm sweaty, tired, crabby, and my feet hurt.

 

Then I hear the POP's, and that makes it almost worth it.

 

Almost. I'm glad I did this because now I know I can can if I have to. But the rest of the season will be dehydrating and freezing for me.

[Stephanie]

Vlynn, try some meat! It's so easy. Do some raw pack chicken or hot pack beef chunks or whatever.

 

It's practically no prep and little mess and the meat actually transforms into this wonderfully tenderized, convenient meat.

 

[Tracie]

raw pack chicken is awesome!!! and so easy to use!

[Vlynn]

Meat, huh? Maybe....

That would be convenient to have around when I've forgotten to take anything out of the freezer. I'm taking a break for a couple of days, then maybe I'll consider that.

 

 

OOOhhhh... Now you've got me thinking about canning again.

[Stephanie]

That's the spirit!

 

And I'm not kidding, you won't believe how easy canning the meat is. My husband was saying, "Man, there's nothing to this is there?" And he was right.

 

So far I've canned...

 

Raw pack Chicken breasts

Seasoned Hamburger Meat

Chili (no beans)

Beef Chunks (broiled so hot pack)

and Baked Beans.

 

You just can't buy the same quality of stuff anywhere, or atleast I haven't found it.

 

 

[funkyducky]

Originally Posted By: Violet

How about some floor liners, like thin mats you stick down, and then you can wad them up and dispose of them ? The floor underneath would be clean. A floor bib or something. We could make it biodegradable so it could go in the compost, or maybe use to cover our gardens with to keep out weeds,later. It would be recycled.

Why not spread out old newspaper? Then when it's all yucky at the end of the day put it on the compost pile.