First Canning Experience

I hate wasting food.  And what do I hate more than wasting food?  Wasting food that I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into growing.  So with my abundance of veggie harvests right now, I decided to try my hand at a food preservation method that I have not yet tried with my garden goodies: canning.

Experienced veggie gardeners would probably tell you that canning is as essential to the gardening practice as water and sunlight since a good garden harvest is going to produce a lot more food than you can use fresh yourself or give away.  But I have not incorporated it into my gardening repertoire until this point because frankly, it intimidated me.  I always heard how long and tedious of a process it was.  I remember growing up in Wisconsin and picking oodles of strawberries every summer, which my mom would then spend a whole day processing into jam.  I just don't have that kind of time on my hands.  But, since I've had a decent harvest this summer so far and have more veggies than I can eat fresh, and since I hate wasting food, I decided to give canning a try. Turns out, it really wasn't that bad.

Sure, it wasn't the quickest process.  It probably took me a couple hours total (with clean up) for just a few jars.  But, given it was my first time, I know I took a lot of extra time reading directions and making sure I got all the steps right.  But overall, it was much easier and faster than I expected, so I'm sure I'll be doing more canning in the future.

I ended up canning three quart jars of dill pickles, using Botanical Interests' Homemade Pickles cucumbers.  I also canned two pint jars of pickled green beans (Blue Lake 274).  Now, I just need to let the jars sit in the pantry for a few weeks before I can try how they turned out.

Here is the recipe that I used for both the green beans and cucumbers.  Since I'm new to this canning business, I'd love to hear some of your favorite canned veggie recipes!

Ingredients (makes 6 half-pint jars - I doubled the recipe for my 2 pint and 3 quart jars)

• 2 1/2 pounds fresh green beans (cucumbers)
• 2 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup salt (kosher or pickling)
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 bunch fresh dill weed
• 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

1.  Sterilize jars with rings and lids and keep hot.  Trim green beans to 1/4 inch shorter than the jars.

2.  In a large saucepan, stir together the vinegar, water and salt. Add garlic and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. In each jar, place 1 sprig of dill and 1/8 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Pack green beans into the jars so they are standing on their ends

3.  Ladle the boiling brine into the jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the tops. Discard garlic. Seal jars with lids and rings. Place in a hot water bath so they are covered by 1 inch of water. Simmer but do not boil for 10 minutes to process. Cool to room temperature. Test jars for a good seal by pressing on the center of the lid. It should not move. Refrigerate any jars that do not seal properly. Let pickles ferment for 2 to 3 weeks before eating.

Collard and Kale Preservation

The greens that were planted last fall have started to bolt, so it was time to bid adieu to them and get ready for the spring and summer beds.

But first, I harvested a bunch of the collard and kale leaves that remained on the plants (at least the ones that had not yet been infested with aphids).

I ended up harvesting 3 pounds and 13.5 ounces of the Flash collards and 2 pounds and 0.2 ounces of several kale varieties.

I was certainly not going to be able to eat this many fresh greens in the next few days, so I had to think about longer-term food preservation.  I have never done any canning, and very little freezing (usually just of soups or ratatouille), so I had to do some investigating to see what made sense.

I determined it would be best for me to freeze the greens, but first, I had to blanch them to get rid of the enzymes that break down food so that the veggies will last longer and retain more of their nutritional value.

STEP 1 - First, I had to thoroughly wash the collards and kale

STEP 2 - Next, I de-ribbed the leaves by removing the tough stem

STEP 3 - Give the greens a rough chop

STEP 4 - Bring a pot of water to boil (about 2/3 full) and cook the greens in the pot for 2-3 minutes (3 minutes for collards and 2 minutes for other greens).

STEP 5 - Remove leaves from boiling water and submerge in ice water (in a large pot) for 2-3 minutes (I had a lot more ice in the pot to begin with, but most melted once I was on my third batch of blanching).

STEP 6 - Thoroughly drain the greens to remove excess water

STEP 7 - Put the greens in Ziplock freezer bags or seal with a vacuum sealer

It's kind of crazy how much greens cook down to.  Almost six pounds of leaves made about nine cups of blanched greens.  But, if I did everything correctly, these should last in the freezer for up to a year...much better than making myself sick of collards and kale in the next day or two.

If you have any great recipes that call for frozen collards/kale, let me know.  I will likely find myself in need of a new recipe, or two!

My harvest totals so far this year include:

• 7.5 oz Cherry Bell radish

• 3 lb 13.9 oz kale (several varieties)

• 6 lb 10.3  oz Flash collards

• 1 lb 7.7 oz Ruby Red chard

• 14.2 oz Fordhook Giant chard

• 7 colanders salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula) 

• 1 lb 2.9 oz Meyer Lemons (5)

• 1 lb 1.2 oz Broccoli (5)

• 7.1 oz cilantro

• 6.5 oz parsley

• 4.0 oz spinach