Plums jam is easy to make; all you need is fresh, ripe plums, sugar and a bit of lemon juice. From start to finish, you will have plum jam in less than an hour. Plums are a diverse lot; they range in color from green to yellow to red to purple to blue to black…
Canning
How to Can Green Beans for Beginners
Green beans are easy to can. You pick them, quickly snap or cut them in half or short pieces, simmer them for four minutes or less, pack them in jars, and process them in the canner for less than half an hour. Canned beans are delicious and versatile; they can be served as a side…
How to Can Pasta Sauce for Beginners
A tomato-rich sauce for pasta is a variation on a theme. You know your favorite pasta sauce and when the tomato harvest comes in summer, you have the opportunity to can your favorite tomato-based sauces for the year to come and capture the flavors of summer. There are quick ways to put up pasta sauce…
Canning Peaches for Beginners
Canning peaches is simple. You will need just ripe peaches that are not soft or mushy, and you will need about 45 minutes of preparation time and about 25 minutes of processing time. Peaches are easily prepared for canning in a hot-water bath canner. You will need about 17½ pounds of peaches for each canner…
How to Make Dill Pickles for Beginners
You can turn cucumbers into pickles in about 40 minutes. It’s not difficult. My favorite pickling cucumbers are County Fair, National Pickling, Pickle Bush, Regal, and Saladin. Pickling cucumbers are short–4 inches is about the right length–and compact with tender skins. Longer, larger cucumbers such as Marketmore and Bush Champion are best for fresh eating,…
Canning Sweet Pickle Relish
Sweet pickle relish combines cucumbers, green or red bell peppers, and onions from the summer garden. This is the classic relish to enjoy on hot dogs and hamburgers. Half pint jars are probably the right size for canning sweet pickle relish. Once opened you’ll want to keep this relish refrigerated and use it up within…
Beginner’s Guide to Canning Peppers
Can sweet bell peppers and chile peppers—which can be sweet or hot–to preserve your summer harvest? Can peppers after deciding if you want to preserve sweet or heat or a combination of the two? Sweet green, yellow, orange, or red bell peppers are large and thick fleshed. They have a sweet, crisp flavor. Chile peppers—such…
How to Home Can Tomatoes for Beginners
Canning is the best way to enjoy fresh, flavorful garden-grown tomatoes long after harvest time. Canned tomatoes are ideal for use in soups, stews, and casseroles. You will need 22 pounds of fresh tomatoes for a canner load of 7 quarts and 14 pounds of fresh tomatoes for a canner load of 9 pints. That’s…
Canning the Asparagus Harvest
Home grown asparagus can be cut for canning the second spring after planting. The harvest time lasts 4 to 6 weeks and begins when temperatures rise above 55°F. Then asparagus sends up stalks from its thick underground roots. Asparagus stalks grow 2 to 3 inches a day in cool weather, 7 to 8 inches a…
How to Make Orange Marmalade
Orange marmalade is the most popular marmalade. Marmalade is a soft translucent jelly preserve quite simply made from fruit, water, and sugar. Marmalade looks like jam but it contains thin fruit slices or diced fruit suspended in the jelly. Many say the fine flavor of the Seville orange makes the best marmalade. But you can…