Storing up for winter

In between filling orders, I've been busy getting ready for the long winter months ahead.  I've been visiting my local farmer's market, and finally vended there this past week.  It's a great way to buy local produce and meet some really nice folks.

Two weeks ago, I bought some nice looking cabbage and started my sauerkraut. It's really easy! Just shred the cabbage, put it in the crock and sprinkle a couple tablespoons of salt on it, stir it up, and keep adding layers of cabbage and salt.   Cover it up and tuck in a clean breathable cloth and weight it down with a plate with something heavy on top.  Wash the cloth every day with hot scalding water and in about 5-6 weeks, you have sauerkraut ready to can. 

We found a wonderful farmer nearby and bought 130 ears of corn, fresh picked that day.  We blanched and froze some of it the other day, and today we canned 36 pint jars of cut corn.  You need a pressure canner for low-acid foods like vegetables, but it's very easy.  We cut the corn off the cobs...

Then raw-packed the jars, not too tight, added a half teaspoon of salt to each pint jar, then poured boiling water to 1/2" from the top.  Raw pack means you don't cook the contents first.  Hot packing means you add the hot cooked food to the jar.  You can do either with corn.  Once the jars are filled, you place the sterilized lid with tongs (put them in a pan with simmering water on the stove), then screw on the ring finger tight.  Then they go into the canner and processed at 10 lbs pressure for 55 minutes.   

Tomorrow I will probably make cole slaw and corn relish which can be processed in a simple hot water bath.  Since they are acidic and made with vinegar, they don't have to be pressure-canned.  It's a little less intense and can be done in a large pot only, without a pressure canner, which is an investment.  I'd love to find some inexpensive PA peaches, because they are sooo sweet and yummy around the holidays.  Nothing at all like canned peaches you find in the store.   And maybe I'll find some time to make spiced apple rings and harvest the my herb garden and dry my herbs for the cold months ahead. 

It's getting pretty chilly way up here in the north, and I have to order wood soon.  I'm really behind on that and should have had it so the girls could stack it for me when they were here last week.  Busy busy busy!