Depending on the size of your garden, your usually limited to specific things to grow. Also, obviously not everything is cannable. Its always a good idea to concentrate on your favorites and grow enough of them to make it worth canning or freezing. Things like broccoli and string beans for me require small amounts of space, and my preserved harvests usually last until the next growing season. Perishables like cukes, tomtotoes and others are either canned, pickled, or frozen if possible. Lettuce for me is not something I buy much of, but if I grow it, I end up with a lot more than I can eat, and its not a preservable vegetable. When I go to the produce counter, its usually for fresh fruits and vegetables, where most are seasonal so they simply can't be planted on a continual basis.

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

Excellent question! Clearly there may always be some need for outside sources of a few things. How much all depends on the types of things you want to can - basics or fancy mixed recipes - and the amount of gardening room you have.

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

I'm totally in awe with the items y'all have said you've put up this year. It's just dreamy.

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.

Yes, sorry but like most vegetables, zucchini is a low acid so pressure canning would be required. However, no form of canning it is recommended or approved for any of the summer squashes, only pickling or freezing.

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

I had read that on the NCHFP site. Made me sad, but now you give me hope! I never thought about freezing the salsa itself. I figured it would ruin the consistancy. I may just give it a go.

Where can I find this *annie's salsa recipe?

Here you go, complete with Annie's comments, which I saved:

ANNIEÂS SALSA
8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained
2 ½ cups chopped onion
1 ½ cups chopped green pepper
3 Â 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

AnnieÂs 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).

ItÂs 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!

Suggest that you use the SEARCH feature here. Its very easy to type 'annies salsa recipe' and get the MANY info threads. Here is the search results.

Here is a link that might be useful: Annies salsa thread again

I tend to eat from the garden and preserve from the store, farmer's markets and pick-your-own. I'm always looking for sales, pears at $0.49/lb; berrys at $0.88/package; peaches and apricots at $0.67/lb; then prep for whatever jam I'm planning and freeze them. That way all I have to do is thaw and finish the recipe and can them when I have more time.

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

That is too cool Jen! Never have heard of that before! Reminds me of Ruth and Naomi in the Bible. Man I wish I knew of a place like that around here.

I also do "both". I grow things we especially like fresh or that don't preserve well like lettuce, radish, onion, snow peas, etc.
Some things we eat fresh and I preserve some: chard, cukes...
Things that I can in larger quantities I buy locally, obtain from friends, craigslist, wherever.
These are things like green beans, corn, carrots, pickling cukes.

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

I grow all the veggies I can or freeze. I grow most of my own herbs. I used to frequent the local orchards for most of my fruits, and buy them by the bushel. Many of the orchards are now defunct, as the elderly orhardists retired or expired, and their children chose not to continue with the craft. So, over the years I have been planting my own fruit and nut trees, and have finally got enough going I am pretty self-sufficient for all my canning and in-season food supply. We even have our own flock of chickens, and butcher our own beef. I want a pig, and some dairy goats.........My husband says "you want everything". LOL. But, it usually has to do with food and after I get it, he appreciates eating it.