Putting it up: Canning total 2009

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I've counted the jars on my shelves and here are my canning totals so far...  (I'm going to make this a permanent feature on my blog, in the left sidebar (down a bit) and I'll try to keep it update with more preserving).

Putting it up! Preserving my garden: 2009

In the pantry:
-22 jars marinara sauce
-20 jars medium/hot salsa
-45 jars applesauce
-16 jars apple butter
-6 jars veggie pasta sauce
-23 jars salsa verde
-17 jars hot peppers
-35 jars sweet dill pickles
-24 jars sweet relish
-14 jars dilly beans
-16 jars tomato soup
-7 jars pasta sauce
-8 jars pizza sauce
-15 jars mild salsa
-29 jars stewed tomatoes
-6 jars gooseberry jam
-10 jars strawberry jam
-5 jars strawberry rhubarb jam
-6 jars peaches

In the root cellar:
-1 box apples in storage
-1 crock of sauerkraut fermenting
-6 pumpkins
-1 winter squash

In the freezer:
-1 1/2 chest freezers full. Will update this section soon, check the left side of my blog.

 Whew!  It's amazing to see the totals!

If you're wondering how I'm getting it done while taking care of my young sons, I'll tell you.  My oldest is in school all day, my middle son is in 1/2 day preschool, and my youngest takes a nap each afternoon.  I try to get a bit done each day.  I like to do big batches at once, so I may spend one day washing & chopping a 20 quart stock pot full of tomatoes.  Then I'll put it in the fridge until the next day, when I'll cook & can it.  This way I'm only spending a couple of hours each day canning/freezing and it's not interfering with my sons.

Once a month my parents have been taking the two oldest boys for the day, and on those days my husband and I team up and spend several hours canning together. It's amazing what 2 can get done. One washing/chopping and the other canning/freezing.

I still have a bunch of jars in the kitchen waiting to make their way down to the shelves to be counted.
I have 2 chest freezers almost full as well, and I hope to add my frozen foods to the total count soon.  Check the left sidebar on my blog for updates.  It will be neat to see how much I get put up!

Maybe this winter I'll take some time to put a dollar value on how much these organic foods would have cost had I bought them in the store!

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