Managed to get my current batch of meaty tomato sauce pressure
canned last night and today -- tomatoes and basil from the garden,
garlic, oregano and meat from the store. And that let me finally
make use of 16 of my Atlas 20oz (Classico) jars. Everything seems
to be fine. This is the first time I've processed anything in the
Atlas jars.
The first canner load had more "tomato essence" than usual in the
water, but the seals seem good. I was better with constant pressure
on this morning's run, and ended with clear water.
After that, I got a batch of dill relish made and processed:
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/dill_pickle_relish.html
It is much more garlicy than the commercial stuff, and my wife and
I like that. I gathered the dill just last week, and am eager to
see how much punch it has. (I love dill even more than garlic.)
Oh, this was my first BWB canning in years -- 21 quart canner and
covering pint jars. Man, that is a lot of water. It would help
if i'd grabbed something bigger than a 1 quart measure to fill it.
It seems to be a little watery again. I'm getting better at cucumber
management, but still ended up needing to use some that were more
mature than ideal. Maybe next year. I now know that what I planted
this year wasn't enough to expect pickles and relish. Probably
plant 2-3 times as much next year and pull the vines when I get
tired of picking them.
Next thing, hopefully, is dilly beans. I didn't get a chance to
check the beans today. That could happen soon.
Green beans are another thing that I only planted in eating quantity,
not canning quantity. I have a batch canned, but don't know if
that will happen again. Fingers crossed.
I think the tomatillos are close to ready, and need to check out
salsa recipes.
All in all, it's been a good garden/canning season so far, at least
for my expectations. I'll daydream about being in the George Shirley
class, but at the end of the day I'm fine with just being me.
--
Drew Lawson I had planned to be dead by now, but
the schedule slipped, they do that.
-- Casady