Let’s Talk SOUP!

Good morning everyone! We’d like to welcome you all back this morning to today’s column of Coverin’ the Bases! Thanks for coming! Thanks for stopping in!

Well, you guys know that our reader participation to our Ridin’ Out the Recession site has been absolutely outstanding! Hats off to you guys!

In regards to exactly that we have a real treat for you guys today, so hang around, and check it out! We have an idea you’re gonna’ love this!

Our Good Friend From the Mountaintop:

That being said, we have one young lady in particular, who stops in and visits with us from time to time. We love her to bits, and what a knowledgeable person she is in regards to gardening, canning, life in general, even tanning hides!

On top of all these attributes she’s simply one great person to boot!

Like us all, time seems to always be an issue in our projects. We’d like to spend more time doing this or that, but on account of other things that come up through life, this young lady seems to really have her hands full in trying to allocate her time. I guarantee you, though we’ve only known her a short time…there ain’t no grass growin underneath her feet!

Just a quick example of this…

Hi Guys,
No, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth! Between kids, grandkids, volunteer work, taking both myself and my sister to our doctor’s appointments, and doing the research and writing for my political e-group, I have no TIME anymore! When I was working full time I kept things in better order around here and had leisure time to spare. Retirement? Apparently not in the cards for me.

I hope things are going jolly good for you two down that way. Me and Ol’ Graybeard are still loping along. Today I’m going to get some seeds in the flats. Hopefully, our spring and summer WILL come again someday. This morning it was only 27 degrees, so we are watching for spring! It really is not safe here to put out plants prior to May 15th. Been there, done that, and re-planted after a hard freeze that came late.
 
Gotta’ run. Steve is by himself at the thrift store where we volunteer today so I could stay home and get caught up with myself a little.

See, that’s but one example. She makes me tired by just reading about what she’s been up to!

Her name is Bonnie, and she lives in North Carolina, and what one great lady she is!

She’s sure made my life easier today, because our column is in reality…Bonnie’s column. Thanks my friend!

Deb and I both do a considerable amount of canning, and actually can most anything. A lot of your questions we can answer, and even feel comfortable enough to advise you guys in many different ways, BUT, compared to Miss Bonnie…we’re mere humans!

Without me wasting your time this morning any longer, let me turn this over to…”The Master!”
 

Let’s Talk SOUP!

First, just to let you know what a real cheapskate I am, let me tell you how we make soup instead of opening a jar of home-canned soup. This came about many years ago after the kids had all “grown and flown”. I found it increasingly hard to make a good pot of soup for just two people, at least not the kind of soup we like. It occurred to me that I had thrown out enough dibs and dabs to make a full pot of soup, just be ditching the few leftovers. I started putting things in a gallon freezer bag that I would have normally thrown out; a few tablespoons of corn, a half-cup of green beans, a quarter-cup of peas, etc.! I have even been known to tear up in little bits a couple of leftover sausage patties or throw the leftover hash browns in my “soup bag”. When the bag is half full or more, I dump it in a pot with a quart of tomatoes, bring to a boil, and it is yummy. Want veggie beef soup? Cube up leftover roast and add some water instead of tomatoes, a couple of beef bullion cubes, and it’s great. Leftover chicken or turkey in some chicken stock or a couple of chicken bullion cubes and it is also yummy. Never exactly the same, but always good! So, you see what a cheapskate I am!

Canning soup! First, I have to use a higher pressure than you guys. The higher elevation you live in the higher the pressure has to be for safe canning. Why? I have no idea! Anyway, the length of time you pressure your soup depends on what you put IN your soup. Example: while you can safely can green beans in 25 minutes while fresh green LIMA beans take 50 minutes. However, I cheat! Fresh green peas takes about 40 minutes to process safely, as does okra, but I do love green peas in a good veggie soup.

When I have extra green peas in the garden I just say, “Dammit!” and put them in and process it 40 minutes. It is imperative that you process the soup for the longest time called for according to what you have in it. Green beans take only 25 minutes, but if you put carrots in, they call for 30 minutes, so you must process it for 30 minutes. Now, I had a wise old mountain lady in her 80’s tell me that you can cut the processing time for veggie soup if you make it TOMATO based. Why? Because the acidity of the tomatoes helps to also preserve the other things and you can cut the processing time by about 10 minutes for the peas and limas if they are in a fresh tomato soup. Fresh corn in soup? Never! (This is where I cheat!) Corn takes longer to process than any other veggie with the exception of greens. (I put fresh corn in my soup many years ago and only did that the ONE time. By the time the corn timing was over, the other veggies were mush! By using already cooked and processed corn, the time on it is a moot point. I don’t like canned greens anyway, so I just cook and freeze them. As for the corn in my soup (and every GOOD veggie soup has corn in it in my opinion), I use already-canned, store-bought corn. My favorite is the whole kernel corn in a glass jar put up by Aunt Nellie, but any good canned corn will do. As for my veggie to tomato ratio, I like to have about ½ to 2/3 of the pot in veggies and the rest in tomatoes. That is just our taste, and others may like other ratios or different veggies. Of course like a lot of other “old codgers”, I also have my favorite pots. My biggest one, when I have all of the veggies in and start adding tomatoes, I just keep adding till it is full up to the bottom of the handle rivets, and I know I have the right amount for 7 quarts and 6 pint jars of soup.

Canning ANYTHING!

Do NOT cut short the vent time of your pressure cooker before putting the jiggler on, and do not start timing before the jiggler rattles. THEN the pressure is up to what it should be. Never try to hurry the cooling process. If you cheat by trying to tilt the jiggler a little to let steam out, the back-pressure will draw the liquid out of your jars.

Tomato Talk!

I can lots and lots of tomatoes each year. About ten years ago the USDA decided that even tomatoes MUST be pressured to be safe. NOT! I pressured 7 quarts for only 8 minutes with only five pound of pressure and they were AWFUL. I had tomato pulp at the top of the jar and pink liquid at the bottom of the jar. I believe they decided on that because science and mankind have literally ruined the good old tomato from yesteryear! They have hybridized them to death with part of that being to eliminate the acid content. What a crime! Now, I do put a little lemon juice in my canned tomatoes, or tomato based soup just for the acidity. I no longer even grow the “new, wonderful, one-slice-covers-a-slice-of-bread tomatoes. To me, they just don’t even TASTE like a good, old-fashioned tomato! I grow Homestead and/or Rutgers, the “golden oldies”.

Unfortunately, even the old heirloom varieties no longer have the great for canning acidity. Our soils are leached by years of planting, and many soil enhancers that farmers used to have available to replace the nutrients taken out of the soil by growing vegetables have been taken off the market by the government and the EPA. Daddy used to burn his fields off every year. The potash helped to restore the soil for the next crop and also helped to kill off fungus and insects that wanted to dwell there. Now, that is a no-no! The moral of that story is that NONE of our crops have the nutrients they used to have in them. I do rotate two of my crops. Corn robs the soil of nitrogen and field peas (we love green black-eyed peas with snaps) puts nitrogen into the soil, so those two crops change spots in our little garden every year.

I still water-bath my tomatoes, pints 8 to 10 minutes and quarts 10 to twelve minutes. I dice some of them and leave some in quarters after I slip the skins. I have never lost a jar of tomatoes. For non-tomato-based soups, again, just process your veggies for the longest time called for depending on the veggie. If I am doing just veggies without the tomatoes, I fill the jars with chicken stock after the veggies are put in. In both just veggies or tomato veggie, I also put a pinch of sugar. (Hangover from my Mama.) It’s true, though, that the sugar content in most veggies starts turning to starch the minute they are separated from the mother plant.

I truthfully don’t remember if I told you, but I also look for ground chuck or lean beef on sale and can pint jars of it. Ditto for potatoes if we have an excess. Always good to have on hand!

Time is the one commodity that I don’t seem to find a lot of around here lately, so if I’ve simply raised more questions, let me know.
Bonnie

Alright guys…how bout them apples? This lady has forgotten more than I’ll ever possibly know…that’s a fact!

You got you a “good schoolin,” this morning, didn’t you? If not, just drop back and read it again.

Thank you some much Bonnie, you have no idea how much we appreciate you sharing this with us this morning!

So you see guys, by taking pen in hand from time to time, and you sharing your own knowledge and skills, look what a help you can be in regards to your friends and neighbors!

Thank you all for visiting with us once more.

God Bless you all, and remember to keep your eyes open, and your nose in the wind!

Dub and Deb

This entry was posted in Covering the Bases. Bookmark the permalink.

7 Responses to Let’s Talk SOUP!

  1. Kunoichi says:

    re: soil, have you considered using the three field system? Rotate the fields between having one section lie fallow, a second planted with legumes, and the third planted with everything else.

    I haven’t had a chance to try it myself, but “lasagna gardening” is supposed to be a great way to build up healthy soil, and would be ideal for your raised beds.

    http://organicgardening.about.com/od/startinganorganicgarden/a/lasagnagarden.htm

    • admin says:

      Hello Kunoichi, how are you? Thanks for your input once more! I believe you’re 100% correct in the rotation of your garden vegetable, especially with corn. You may want to follow up behind your corn with a next planting being peas. Corn saps the nitrogen in your soil, peas replace nitrogen. We plant our corn, and other veggies in our spring garden, then in our fall garden, we plant the whole garden in peas. Didn’t know I was doing it correctly when we started it, but ended up I was doing something right for a change!! This definitely isn’t how it usually works out for me, but the old saying is that the law of averages…

      Lasagna Gardening? Sounds promising as you say in like the raised bed gardens! We’ll be doing a little write up on that sometime this week. Thank you once again!Great input as always, and please keep coming back and pointing us in the right direction!

      D&D

    • Bonnie Hollingsworth says:

      Hello Kunoichi!
      An informative post, and appreciated. You are totally right, as you know! Some of our “Georgia farmer” friends and relatives did exactly that; let one field lay fallow while others were planted. Some planted winter “ground cover” crops and grasses, but I have no idea what they were. They also rotated the crops. I always wished chufas were a cold weather crop as I dearly loved them, but alas, they are not! Did you ever wonder how the old-timers, many without even a formal education got so wise about such things? I sure have. My mama was raised in the Okeefenokee Swamp, educated herself after she was grown and married, and was sharp as a tack! Anyway, back to crops.

      I don’t have a large space here, and to let anything lie fallow would mean I just didn’t grow a garden that year! We do add a little lime, and we mulch quite heavily to save water, time, and work. I guess Heaven smiles on us as we are usually quite successful with our garden. Great information that you posted; I enjoyed reading it and am in total agreement for those who have enough land and space. I will try to watch for more from you. Thanks for posting this. I am now hopeful that our winter in this area is over for the year. Yesterday I noticed that I have asparagus up all over the bed. It was a pleasant surprise, as I had not paid attention because of all the cold weather here the last few weeks. Easter usually brings us a little more cold and/or bad weather here. I think I’ll be adventurous this year and go get some peas planted today!

  2. Sandy Grant says:

    Questions for Bonnie the expert for sure………Canned ground chuck? How much do you put in a jar and do you add any liquid, seasoning etc?
    Potatoes……After you can them, how do you use them, mashed potatoes? Mine always seem to be mushy…….over cooking?
    Could you explain “water-bathing” your tomatoes.
    If you cooked a large amount of soup and want to keep the leftovers………do you just put it in jars and pressurize it long enough to seal it or would it be best to freeze it?
    I sound as though I am going to have an industrious week but these questions just keep popping up.

    • admin says:

      Hey Sandy, good hearing from you! Boy, you sure hit the nail on the head in regards to Bonnie! She’s extremely knowledgeable, and a great lady to boot! We’ll get you headed down the right road, just hang on!

      Thanks for continuing to visit, and see you next time!

      D&D

  3. Bonnie Hollingsworth says:

    Hey Sandy; apologies………..I should have answered your questions in full. As for the leftover soup, you can most certainly re-can it and it will be fine. I usually freeze mine, but you have to also accept the fact that after freezing, if you have potatoes in it, the texture of the ‘taters will change a little. They’re not bad at all, just a little change in texture.

    I think somewhere in Ridin’ Out The Recession “water bathing” has already been explained. It’s just a term for canning tomatoes in a big old pot so your jars are completely covered with water, and then boiling for a little while to complete the process. You need at least one inch, but preferable two inches over your lids. Now, the government (USDA) would have you believe that it just isn’t “safe” to water bath to can anymore. What has changed? Not a darned thing except that maybe because of less acidity in the tomatoes you might add a little lemon juice to your jars! Gosh! If they scare people away from home gardening and canning, what a boon for the farmers that the feds pay to NOT grow crops! OOPS! Politics sneaking in here, so I guess I’ll just sign off for now. Be clean, be informed, and happy canning to ya!

  4. Sandra says:

    I am a little behind on my reading all the posts. Remember Dub telling me to meet Bonnie. Met her before this in a couple of places. This is really a great intro to Bonnie. Adrenalin junkie just like me! Always looking for something more to do.
    Son’s diagnosis for my Adrenalin malady is Anxious. Said they make pills for that.
    Said I “no” just think of all the life and knowing how things work I’ll miss if I do that. Not well quite some time ago. Went to the Doctor and the Doctor said “What’s the problem?” and I said my adrenometer is empty. Ha. Doctor said we’ll just have to fix that. She knows me quite well. HELLLOOO Bonnie. Thanks for much.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>