Canning Peaches-Red Haven or Baby Gold!

I like to can Baby Gold Peaches.  My mother always canned Red Haven Peaches. 

What is the difference? 

 Baby Gold is a firm peach.  Red Haven is a soft, sweet peach. 

Baby Gold is a good canning peach.  They do not get squishy in the jar. 

Red Haven is a good freezer peach.  They are delicious frozen for shakes or mix them with blueberries and strawberries.

Yesterday, we did four bushels of Baby Gold peaches.  We averaged 22 quarts per bushel or a total of 91 quarts.  I usually dice my peaches.  Some people slice or halve them. 

In our house, canning peaches (or any other preserving of food) is a family affair.  The children (that are available) help.  Sometimes willingly and sometimes unwillingly!  We turn on Odyssey and work!  It is a nice memory.

I remember doing corn with my aunt and her family when I was little.  I don't remember the actual work, except maybe the husking. 

Hopefully my children will look back and remember canning as a good memory!

Do you have memories of big canning days?

What is your preference-Baby Gold or Red Haven?

All In A Day's Work!

My canning days are finally starting!  This week I canned tomato juice and 1 small recipe of ketchup.

I always save my spaghetti sauce jars to re-use.  They work really nice for canning different tomato items.  When I can tomato juice, I have a recipe from my sister-in-law that has some seasonings added to it that make it good for drinking like V-8 juice or I use it for any recipe that calls for juice.  It adds a little more flavor than the plain juice.

Tomato Juice to Can

6 quarts tomato juice (about 1/2 bushel tomatoes made into juice)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons onion salt

1 teaspoon celery seed

2 tablespoons salt

Heat juice and all seasonings until sugar is dissolved.  Water bath for 10 minutes.

This year, I decided to can some ketchup.  Normally, ketchup is  time consuming.  But I found a recipe over at the homejoys blog that is simple and easy.  Go here for the recipe.

A Few Canning Tips

Canning season is here for some gardeners!  I have not canned much yet.  I had to replant my green beans and the corn got planted late.  So I am just waiting.   I thought I would share a few canning tips that I have learned myself and from others.


Tip #1-
Have you ever opened a jar of green beans only to find that they tasted sour?  Over the years I have tried to figure our what went wrong with these kind of beans.  I even tried to add a little vinegar, but it just didn't help.  A few years ago, I discovered that if I wait to put the water and salt on them until just before I put them in the canner, I did not have sour beans!  Usually, I can 20+ jars of beans in one day and it is handy to fill all the jars and let them sit until the canner is ready.  But no more!  One year, I did beans with my sister and she filled the jars with water and salt ahead of time.  And I thought, "Oh well, shouldn't matter."  But it did!  I will never do it again!  We are still trying to eat those beans!


Tip #2-
Are you tired of fruit and vegetables that cooks out all over the jar?  Just a simple proceedure will take care of it!  Run a table knife through it to let all the air bubbles out.  You should have no more messes!


Tip #3-
Want to keep the heat out of the house?  Just use an outside cooker!  It costs around $130 but is well worth it!  My cooker (Click on the Cabelas link on the top right and search for camp chef explorer stove to see what I have.) has two burners and is run with a gas tank  from your gas grill.  With two burners you can use two canners and cut down on your time. 


Tip #4-
Having trouble with your pressure canner sealing up or jiggling properly?  I have trouble with the jiggler jiggling right.  It seems to build up pressure and I think it is ready to be timed but it never jiggles properly.  I called my aunt and she told me that the bottom of the pressure canner is warped and it is not level.  So my husband is to take a hammer and a board (inside the canner) and beat it flat again.  When she told me that, I remembered that he had done that once before.  So now I am anxious to pressure can beans this year!

If your canner truly does not seal up, you can go to Pague and Fegan in Shippensburg and buy a new sealer.  Just make sure you take your model number along.

I hope you find these tips useful!

Do you have any canning tips to share?  Feel free to share in the comment section!

Local Strawberry Prices

Here are the prices of local strawberries.  If there is any other places, feel free to let us know!

Beam's Blue Mountain Farm, Lurgan
Picking hours-Mon-Fri 7am-11am Sat. 7am-4pm
Price:  U pick -  $2.25/qt     They pick - $3.50/qt

Maplewood, Old Scotland Rd
Price:  U pick - $1.50/lb (a little more than 1/2 qt)    They pick $26/8qt flat  or $3.95/qt 
Call for picking times-532-8973

Produce Stand at the Pa Turnpike
$22/8qt  

Shippensburg Produce Auction (Leinbach's)
Not many strawberries coming in yet this year.  They seem a little scarce, unless they are later.
Prices for really ripe ones went for $15-$16 a flat which is 8 qt.
Prices for nice ones were going for $22-$25 a flat.
Auction days are Tues and Thurs, except for this week, it will be Fri because of Ascension Day.

Conrad Hege's do not have strawberries this year.

I am sure this is not a complete listing.  If you know of any other good places to pick, let us know.