How many jars have you canned this year?

[westbrook]

oh look! peaches... canned 1991! lets open and see! yum! and I am still here!

 

it wasn't uncommon for people to can everything their trees produced, everything from their garden, year after year and for a few jars to get pushed back and hidden away... to be found during a time of a bad harvest year. Lucky to have them to eat... and eaten they were! Jars that were 10 years old was not uncommon.

 

As with store bought canned food it is the same with home canned food. If the lid bowed out? bad

 

is there seepage around the seams or lid? bad

 

when you break the seal is there a little resistance showing it is actually sealed (commercial canned food has a little sound as the air rushes in)? good

 

does the food spew out? bad!

 

 

[quiltys41]

I don't know if I want to count them...whew! I have boxes upon boxes stacked all over though. If I have to guess, just the canned stuff around 2000 jars or more. Plus I have all the dehydrated stuff too, and the frozen stuff. And yep, I can and freeze all year round. Especially if DH makes a big pot of stew or chili on the wood stove, then I can what is left. Not much of what we grew or were given this year went to waste. We canned most of it up this time.

 

Q

[MommaDogs]

How do you all store all these cans since they can't be stacked on top of each other?

[MamaTiger]

Anywhere, everywhere. Currently I am out of space at my house and have cases stored at my mother's and I am *still* canning. LOL

[mom11]

I do stack my cases of jars, about 8-10 to a stack. There really is no other way, when there are this many. I have two rooms filled with the things. Almost 50 more cases in my kitchen and dining room. Today, another 23 jars of apple syrup, to my tally.

[Robert Z]

yeah, my G/F is none too happy about the jars piling upp around the house. I have found creative places to stash them, in the backs of closets, over washer and dryer, in the spare bedroom closet, etc... I am starting to thing REALLY seriously about hiring someone to come dig me out a root cellar.

[ArmyOfFive4God]

WOW!! 2-3k. I thought I was doing well with my 100+. I'm a first year pressure canner-er though.

[quiltys41]

Originally Posted By: ArmyOfFive4God

WOW!! 2-3k. I thought I was doing well with my 100+. I'm a first year pressure canner-er though.

You are! Don't quit now lol! Keep right on going.

Q

[Yart]

Wow... I can't wait till I get 2k-3k jars. That is fantastic. I only have 200 full and about 100 more to fill. I am already looking for stuff to make for next year. As well as looking for more jars.

[michelle]

oh wow! how do you even buy 2000 jars? i have about 30 cases of jars and thats it. man i envy you canning goddesses.

[ArmyOfFive4God]

Originally Posted By: quiltys41

Originally Posted By: ArmyOfFive4God

WOW!! 2-3k. I thought I was doing well with my 100+. I'm a first year pressure canner-er though.

You are! Don't quit now lol! Keep right on going.

Q

AW! THNX, girl! & I will

[mom11]

Well...I buy my jars at the Mennonite Jam Shack. I usually buy 20 dozen, at a time, but I can sometimes turn right around and go buy more. I was given so many cases of peaches and bought apples so cheaply, that I think I have about 650-700 jars, of just apple and peach stuff...Apple sauce, jams, jellies, syrup, peaches in syrup, pie fillings...I have about 100 jars of blackberry jam and pie filling....One fruit comes, goes, then another pops up, before you know it...You have thousands of filled jars and have run out of empty ones. I keep about 15 cases of new jars, in my attic storage, for a power outage, so I can hurry and can foods out of my freezers, before they go bad. I will use my kerosene cookers.

 

Now it is time to do pumpkins, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, winter squash...But thankfully, none of this compares to the amount of work and mess of APPLES!

 

My biggest problem is disappearing cases of canned foods. There are so many cases of food, and if I move them to a storage unit...Well, I try to imagine doing it, but so far have been too cheap and lazy to follow through. I can barely lift one case of filled quarts and this would be hundreds of cases, trip by trip, with a van load of bratty chicks.....I just think, if much more vanishes, I will quit canning...I only am motivated by my babies...I don't like canning...I actually hate most of it, and to see it disappear, breaks my heart. All that gardening, picking, dragging it home, in big boxes, all those jars, all that sugar(950 lbs., this canning season, so far), vinegar,all that mess, all that WORK! So maybe thousands of jars, isn't so great.....Maybe it is a mistake.

[preparing]

Originally Posted By: mom11

Well...I buy my jars at the Mennonite Jam Shack. I usually buy 20 dozen, at a time, but I can sometimes turn right around and go buy more. I was given so many cases of peaches and bought apples so cheaply, that I think I have about 650-700 jars, of just apple and peach stuff...Apple sauce, jams, jellies, syrup, peaches in syrup, pie fillings...I have about 100 jars of blackberry jam and pie filling....One fruit comes, goes, then another pops up, before you know it...You have thousands of filled jars and have run out of empty ones. I keep about 15 cases of new jars, in my attic storage, for a power outage, so I can hurry and can foods out of my freezers, before they go bad. I will use my kerosene cookers.

Now it is time to do pumpkins, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, winter squash...But thankfully, none of this compares to the amount of work and mess of APPLES!

My biggest problem is disappearing cases of canned foods. There are so many cases of food, and if I move them to a storage unit...Well, I try to imagine doing it, but so far have been too cheap and lazy to follow through. I can barely lift one case of filled quarts and this would be hundreds of cases, trip by trip, with a van load of bratty chicks.....I just think, if much more vanishes, I will quit canning...I only am motivated by my babies...I don't like canning...I actually hate most of it, and to see it disappear, breaks my heart. All that gardening, picking, dragging it home, in big boxes, all those jars, all that sugar(950 lbs., this canning season, so far), vinegar,all that mess, all that WORK! So maybe thousands of jars, isn't so great.....Maybe it is a mistake.

Maybe you need to take a break and prepare in other ways. You need strength and prayer.

[Violet]

Mom11 is one canning gal, I can tell you that ! She cans more than anyone I know of. She does work VERY hard. She also grows a huge garden. I don't know how she does it all. Plus, she really does have 11 children. Not all at home, now, but still has her hands more than full. I pray for her all the time. The more prayers, the better for her. If you can join in, that would be great !

I have no idea how many jars I have filled.

Crazy4Canning also has a lot of jars filled. She has worked very hard this year, as well. I also pray for her. She knows I love her !

[preparing]

She really sounds amazing to me. We all need prayers, including me.

[anitapreciouspearl]

Well, it's my first year canning and I think I made it to 100. I did score on jars so I have nearly 450 empty ones. At this point I think I may be nearly done for this year since I am at a loss for what else to can. I will do more applesauce but I have to get in the habit of using what I can - somehow I hate to eat it after all the work I did.

 

I can't imagine canning a 1000 jars but you never know!!!

[Violet]

Anita,

Do you have a pressure canner ? If so, you can fill those jars with soup, dried beans, chili, meats, chicken, etc. No need to have that many empty jars.

We all understand not wanting to eat them. You finally get over that and do eat the food. That is good for your first time canning. Nice job !

[Shandy]

Agreeing with Violet. Good job, Anita!

 

We eat fresh as long as we can into the fall, and just before Thanksgiving is when we start using our jars of canned foods. That gives me a little time to enjoy seeing the fruit of my labor, and we still take advantage of fairly good food prices at the produce stand for greens, etc.

 

I've always just canned stuff from my garden or from fruit. But reading the canning posts here, I finally decided it was time to utilize my extra jars and start canning meats. We have really low meat prices in my area in the fall, and I bought tons of chicken. I found that canning chicken is just as easy as canning vegies...just takes longer in the canner.

 

If you empty your freezer of meats and can them, then you can replace the space the meat took with large bottles of water. We clean out our gallon milk containers really well and then fill them with water and freeze them. Those containers will not stand up long for holding water at room temp, but they do just fine in the freezer. You have some of your water supply in there (also ice for times of illness), and with your freezer filled with the gallons of water, you will need less energy to keep the freezer running.

 

Of course, if you empty the freezer of everything and can it, I'm not sure it's energy efficient to just freeze all water. But if you are going to be running your freezer anyway....

 

 

[mom11]

Thanks for the prayers Violet and Preparing. I'll share mine, with you!

 

As soon as we finish our Biblical pronunciation bookmarks, I'm going to let Emma can her cranberry stuff....I guess that means chiseling more canning goo off of the floors, cabinets, counters, the chicks...Oh well...At least cranberries are a pretty color...Applesauce...Yewwww!