2010 July Canning Tips

Sent July 28, 2010

The corn is as high
As an elephants eye.
The produce is absolutely fabulous.
So come and see why
I have the greatest farm on Hwy 5.

Hello,

I'm hosting self-guided garden tours of my flower gardens At the Farm this summer. I love to share my beautiful gardens. I've had great success with this so far. Dozens of guests have enjoyed touring my gardens.

You can come to the barn and then stroll up to the flower gardens. Then sit a spell in my corn crib gazebo or on the chairs scattered about, and just enjoy the splendor, while you sip a glass of lemonade or ice water on Friday and Saturday 11 am to 2 pm

July Dates: 30-31
August Dates: 6-7, 13-14, 20-21

The Antique Loft will be open on these dates too! Don't miss a chance to purchase these treasures I've gathered.

NEWS FLASH! I have Rabbit Magic spray to keep rabbits from eating your plants. Stop in the barn and see me for this all-natural liquid you just spray on your plants. It works!

I'm Picking Fresh Daily . . .

Organic Slicing Tomatoes

Organic Heirloom Tomatoes

Organic Green Beans

Organic Yellow Beans

Organic Slicing Cucumbers

Organic Cabbage

Organic Leaf Lettuce

Organic Green Onions

Organic Eggplant

Organic Beets

Organic Kohlrabi

Organic Shallots

Organic Onions - Red and Yellow

Organic Carrots

Organic Zucchini

Organic Sweet Peppers

Organic Hot Peppers

Organic Potatoes

Organic Dill

Organic Cilantro

Organic Basil

Organic Parsley

You can order . . .

Organic Pickling Cucumbers and Dill

Organic Beets for Pickling

Green Beans for Freezing and Canning

Yellow Beans for Freezing and Canning

Peaches by the case for Canning

Time to Fill your Willow Basket with . . .

Home Grown Sweet Corn

Home Grown Baby Red Potatoes

Minnesota Garlic

Indiana Muskmelon

Indiana Watermelon

Washington Cherries

Washington Apricots

California Nectarines

California Plums

Michigan Blueberries

Organic Bananas

Illinois Peaches

Garlic from Gilroy, California, the garlic capital of the world!

NEW! Breads from MainStreet Bakery of Edina. The breads are fabulous, a lot of grains!

Honey from my farm by Scott's Bees & Honey

Local new crop Maple Syrup from East Bay Sugarbush of Waconia

NEW! Tea from Tea District - Natural and Organic - It's a Winner!

When you care enough to Eat the Very Best, ask Donna!

See you soon!
Donna

Canning Tomatoes

I need to share my knowledge with you about canning tomatoes. I do not like heirlooms for canning. They are too bland and have no acid flavor or 'zip'! You can add peppers and onions but that still doesn't really work.

In 2009 the growing conditions were awful! We had no 70 degree nights to help tomatoes ripen. You may think they were okay but they were just not right, no flavor. Hope 2010 is better. If you were not happy with your 2009 canning, try again. Re-think your direction . . . all tomatoes are not all tomatoes. And flavor is very important, cheap is not where its at! So if you buy tomatoes for canning, buy for flavor not price!

Use a hybrid tomato with good flavor for best canning results. Use a later variety of tomato. They don't have a lot of juice so they thicken better. I don't like the Early Girl variety because of this. The beefsteaks and Romas are better. Squeeze the juice out if your tomatoes are early. So then you will not just have pulp to cook.

Be careful of spoiled spots on your canning tomatoes. Some bruises are not too bad but smell the tomatoes to make sure they are okay.

Do you know about lemon juice? Add fresh lemon juice after putting the tomatoes in the jars to increase the acidity. Add 1 tablespoon to each quart jar or 1 1/2 teaspoons to each pint jar. Then seal.

When you care enough to Can the Very Best, Ask Donna!