Monday, October 25, 2010

Tallied Up

Okay! I have descended into the Pit of Despair, dodging cobwebs and other assorted gross things to count up the total jars of food canned this season. And to take the photos, of course, because otherwise how could you believe me?

Other than the fact that I'm completely trustworthy and have never lied to you before, but WHATEVER.

Moving on.

Okay, so the very first time I did this tallying was actually two years ago. It appears I didn't do it at all last year, which is unsurprising given the sad state of the canning last year. But this year I got it all counted up and duly photographed. So! On with the lists!

Caveat: Some of these things I've already started using, so I had to guess a little. And I didn't actually open the freezer and count the stuff in there, so those are estimates as well.

Frozen

6 quarts plain corn
5 quarts maquechoux
10 quarts green beans (thanks, Aunt Barb!)
3 quarts chard
6 quarts strawberries? Maybe? The MiL did these, so I'm not real sure.

Canned

6 quarts mulberry juice
10 pints sauerkraut
4 pints blackberry/currant jelly
3.5 pints blackberry jelly
7.5 pints strawberry/rhubarb jam
4 pints strawberry jam
19 quarts peaches
9 pints German red cabbage
5.5 pints pickled jalapenos
5.5 pints green tomato chutney
10 quarts tomato juice
28 pints salsa
39 quarts tomatoes

The MiL also made about a dozen pints of apricot jam, 5 pints of peach jam, 5 pints of bread and butter pickles, and about 6 pints of bitter orange marmalade.

And now, what you've all been waiting for . . .

Jams and jellies on the top shelf; pickles, sauerkraut, mulberry juice, and more jelly on the second shelf; peaches, red cabbage, and some old spiced pears on the third shelf. Know what should be on the bottom shelves? Pears. Damned wind. And sheep.

Plain tomatoes on top; salsa, pickled jalapenos, chutney, and tomato juice on the bottom.

No bonus potato shot this time, because I, um, forgot.

So! That's it! Let the eating commence.

9 comments:

Mayberry Magpie said...

That is a beautiful, beautiful sight. Alas, I'm lazy, so my shelves (or garden) will never look like yours, but I'm envious.

Very envious.

Anonymous said...

Good job...it all looks very nice on the shelves. Love all the colors. Beth

word verificaion - catermon

foodie video game and cartoon

Alicia said...

I'll take half the tomatoes, some blackberry jelly, and some salsa...even though you're a yankee so I'm kinda skeptical.

(Yes, I know you're from AZ. But you've lived in NY long enough to be a Yankee and even if you weren't, you'd make Southwest style salsa. Which probably means it has corn or black beans in it. Which is just wrong.)

Thank you!

rls said...

So jealous of the mulberry juice and all the Slippery Slopes it will make. Enjoy all the fruits and vegetables of your labors!

Phoo-D said...

A beautiful sight indeed and it represents SO much work! I'm impressed.

FinnyKnits said...

I'm sorry, did you say 39 QUARTS OF TOMATOES???

That's all very impressive, my dear, but I can't get over 39 QUARTS OF TOMATOES.

How many plants did you have this year??

Awesomely awesome.

Haley said...

Awesome. Am very jealous of the tomatoes.

I was reading about non-canning food preservation techniques and read that you can keep carrots and parsnips for several months by burying them in sand. Have you ever heard of this?

Kristin @ Going Country said...

Alicia: No, no beans or corn in my salsa. But you still can't have any.

Finny: 24 plants, but those canned tomatoes are almost all from about 12 plants (Romas and San Marzanos).

Haley: Yes, I have heard of this. It's my understanding, though, that you have to be careful to keep the sand damp, or else the carrots (or parsnips) will dry out and get rubbery. Parsnips, however, keep wonderfully right in the ground (we pulled up the last of ours in March), and we've never had so many carrots we couldn't just store them in the refrigerator, so I've never tried any preservation methods for those.

Mia said...

Well done to all! And aren't those jars just so cool lookin' all full up and lined up. That's almost worth all the work of canning :)

Almost :)