And would wind up getting most of my 'raw' materials from the grocery anyway.

Question? Are most of you self sufficient for your canning/storage needs or do you find that you're supplimenting from outside sources?

Oh, and if anyone has a good zucchini salsa recipe, I'd love you forever. I found one on-line, but it looks sketchy.

For zuc recipes, try doing a search in this forum for the key word, Zucchini, it should bring up a LOT of posts.

Over the years we have come to know what we want to preserve, what all is needed to do those items, and that is what we grow. But we also have much larger than average gardens too. There is no way a small suburban garden could grow all that we do.

We also focus on the basics rather than any complex fancy recipes in our canning and freezing and drying - tomatoes and related recipes, beans, corn, carrots, peas, squash, peppers, pickles, asparagus, beets, meat, etc. The fancier mixed dishes can then be made at serving time as we will have all the ingredients.

We also grow and dry our own herbs so other than flour, sugar, coffee, canning salt, calcium chloride, and jugs of vinegar I guess we could claim to be mostly self-sufficient. But it took years to get to that point. ;)

Dave

So far, I've stuck with freezing my excess since I don't have a pressure canner, but I couldn't stand the hype and went to the grocery today to suppliment my own garden to make Annie's salsa. Holy Goodness. I'm hooked.

I've found the zucchini salsa recipes, but I was curious if there was a safe one to can being that I've read you can't can zucchini without a pressure cooker.

Per NCHFP FAQ:

Why is canning summer squash or zucchini not recommended?

Recommendations for canning summer squashes, including zucchini, that appeared in former editions of So Easy to Preserve have been withdrawn due to uncertainty about the determination of processing times. Squashes are low-acid vegetables and require pressure canning for a known period of time that will destroy the bacteria that cause botulism. Documentation for the previous processing times cannot be found, and reports that are available do not support the old process. Slices or cubes of cooked summer squash will get quite soft and pack tightly into the jars. The amount of squash filled into a jar will affect the heating pattern in that jar. It is best to freeze or pickle summer squashes, but they may also be dried.

So even if you could PC it it would be quite mushy. Make your zucchini salsa and freeze it.

Dave

ANNIE’S SALSA
8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained
2 ½ cups chopped onion
1 ½ cups chopped green pepper
3 – 5 chopped jalapenos
6 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp pepper
1/8 cup canning salt
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar (white or cider – any 5% vinegar)
16 oz. tomato sauce
16 oz tomato paste

Mix all ingredients, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Pour into hot jars, process at 10 lbs of pressure for 30 minutes for pints.

BWB: Increase vinegar to 1 cup; process 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts
Makes 6 pints

Annie’s Comments:
"You can also sub lemon juice or lime juice for the vinegar for a different flavor (although I tried taking out the cider vinegar altogether and that wasn't right either).

It’s fine with or without the tomato sauce/paste; I just like the consistency it gives.

I've tried it with red wine vinegar, with white vinegar, with cider vinegar. I like it best with cider vinegar, the white seemed a little "harsh" and the red wine did make a sweeter product. I finally settled on pressure canning because of that vinegar issue, I didn't like the flavor as well if I added a whole cup of whatever kind. If you like the red wine vinegar flavor (and it's 5%), and you think it's too sweet, I'd just leave the sugar out. "

This is my family's favorite - they are anxiously awaiting tomato season so I can make a LOT more this year!

In late summer I go out to a local farm that gives each person ten 10 lb bags and takes you around the fields to pick whatever is still available - I think it costs $10-15/person, less per person if you have a large group. I took both kids, both roommates, my sister and niece to pick, and we brought back tons of eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, corn, carrots, beets, onions, kohlrabi, potatoes, and pumpkin and corn stalks to decorate for fall. I didn't can it all though; I roasted and froze the peppers, onions and tomatoes, baked and pureed the smaller pumpkins for pie filling, and stored the root veggies in the garage since it had already cooled.

Jen

My reason mostly is that I also work full time outside home and have limited time to can. I need to be able to put up 20, 30 quarts of beans in one weekend. Same with pickling cukes...I need to do them all at once. I don't have the time to care for a garden large enought to get a batch ripe all at once!

Deanna