In article . com>,
Sheldon > wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> > Sheldon wrote:
> > > I give most of what I make away as well. Most years I am eating the last
> > > of
> > > what I made about when it's time to make more.
> >
> > Good planning. My brother plans to can tomatoes every second year. The
> > year he cans he puts up a two-year supply.
>
> Then can I assume he doesn't plant tomatoes but every two years,

No, he does plant every year; considerably more in his canning year.

> weird. I plant tomatoes every year.

To each one's own. :-)

> tomatoes. But canned tomato sauce can contain all manner of
> flavorings. And jarred pasta sauce (the real reason I freeze my own)
> is all awful, so that's why I make my own and freeze it...

I agree. I usually have a couple bottles of Classico on hand if I need,
for some reason, to extend my homemade stuff. I freeze 3-cup portions;
that's enough for us. More than enough, really. Rob likes a lot of
sauce; I prefer less.


> > LOL. You're in deep water, Sheldon. You don't know what a large family
> > can consume.
>
> I can't imagine any family consuming 6 bushels worth of canned
> tomatoes in a year, not even Eyetalian/Cathelics. LOL An average
> bushel of tomatoes weighs 53 pounds, but smaller romas would weigh
> considerably more and since they're denser would produce about 20
> quarts of sauce.

LOL! Keep swimming.
Sheldon, for most of her life my mother cooked the evening meal for at
least 10 people. Seven days a week. Certainly *most* families won't
consume a boatload of tomato stuff, but they may well consume a
canoe-load. "-)

> > You won't eat anyone's home canned goods, but others will
> > and do. I understand your fear -- when I was given some stuff, I grilled
> > the donor about how they were processed.
>
> Then you agree that my fear is not unfounded.

It is not unfounded. Home canned vegetables may (or may not) be
delicious, but they *must* be pressure-canned and I want to be damned
sure they are. And at that, if I *were* given any, I'd be sure they
cooked for 10-15 minutes before I ate them. (Never mind the quality
after boiling them for 10 minutes when they've already been cooked.)
I'm not a fan of most canned vegetables, anyway; I prefer frozen,
generally, if I can't get decent fresh.

Because people have a fear of home canned vegetables, few do it.


> I've had folks give me
> some weird things they've canned, awful looking salsa,

I like a good homemade canned salsa though I prefer freshly made.
-snip-
>I wouldn't even
> put those in my composter, right in the trash they were poured, then
> gave back the jars and lied about how great they were.

Too bad you didn't say they weren't to your liking. Crow about how good
they are and you're likely to get more. :-)


> But I will eat
> certain canned products, like special recipe jams... those are
> actually confections

Sez who?


> and confections are pretty much self preserving
> anyways. I wished your jam lady jugs were larger. hehe

Trying to change the subject, huh?

> > > It was hot today (84F) but I was out working in my garden, harvested
> > > about 3 pounds of green beans, ate all my ripe blueberies and
> > > strawberries as I picked them (yummy warm from the sun),
> >
> > What kind of strawberries do you have?
>
> I planted the kind that bear all summer. I don't get too many
> strawberries each day but enough for a goodly sampling, and now that
> it's netted the darn crows don't get them... I'd say I pick about a
> pint each day... can't say exactly because I eat as I pick. My
> blueberries are doing very well, I have a dozen six year old plants,
> four different kinds, each producing at a different time (early, mid
> season, late) so I have pretty much a steady supply. I've been
> picking about a pint of blueberries each day too, this is the first
> year, been told that's excellent for newly planted. And these
> blueberries are huge, most larger than a dime, and the ones at the
> market can't compare with the flavor of freshly picked.

What I found out about blueberry jam is, to my palate, the flavor
improved with some standing -- like a couple weeks. Mostly I think
blueberries just taste sweet. I'm not wild about them.


> My
> blueberries are now netted too... I actually built a 6' high tent out
> of the netting so I can go inside,

Great idea. I'll tell Sister Julie. I think you posted about this
another time.

> > > across the road supplied with my extra crops, she'll get a about ten
> > > pounds of beets, she makes really good pickled beets.
> > > Sheldon
> >
> > Get her recipe!! I'm looking for a recipe.
>
> I'll have to ask her. But she doesn't can them, just keeps them in
> the fridge, pickled they'll easily keep a month. I'd make them myself

I've made them but hell will freeze before I eat them. I rely on others
to judge the quality. I'm not sure at all about the ones I'll enter in
this year's Fair.

> But I love beet tops, much better than spinach...

I like the beet tops, too. Ideally I'd find someone to eat the root and
I'd get the green. :-)


> My ancient Foley food mill I use to make tomato sauce, and my equally
> ancient blender, 50 years old and still works great:
> http://i18.tinypic.com/6gb6wq9.jpg

They still sell it. :-) It's what I use, too. I'd prefer stainless
steel to the tinned steel, though. I prefer this when I have a lot of
fruit to puree. It's what I used for the tomato juice. I've got
pictures but don't have them posted anywhere yet.
http://www.texastastes.com/p277b.htm

> Here's my Peach: http://i12.tinypic.com/4vrij9x.jpg

Looks distrustful. "-)

> I honestly do not believe that anyone cans 6 bushels of tomatoes in a
> home kitchen... takes me 24 hours straight to prepare my 25 quarts of
> sauce, the typical home stove can't handle much more at a time, they'd
> need to be working at it 24/7 for a week. I guess it's real easy to
> claim miracles on Usenet, but I've not seen an iota of proof from
> those so-called canners.

Big deal.

> I've always prooved what I claim, in vivid
> color... I gotta see their gardens, and their kitchens strewn with 6
> bushels of anything but BS.
>
> Sheldon

Keep swimming, Sheldon. LOL!
Who said they were canned at one time? With more than one person
working, it's not at all impossible or unlikely to put up a bushel of
tomatoes in a day. Sure, the days are long, but with the right company
it can be a fun time. And at the end of the day, you have the
satisfaction of a job well done and probably some funny stories, too.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com - story and
pics of Ronald McDonald House dinner posted 6-24-2007