You all know I've been working on my health and have experienced gut problems over the past few years…ARMRA is the first product that's really helped relieve that, that's why I like it so much. Thanks again to ARMRA for sponsoring this video! Remember to click here tryarmra.com/epic15 for 15% off your first order
I NEED TO SEE MORE CANNING AND FREEZE DRYING PLEASE! Sorry I’m yelling, I am *very* excited to see someone go through newbie canning, so I don’t feel as scared when I finally get to start it up!! I usually just end up seeing a lot of people who have been canning for years. Newbie canning is going to be so much fun to watch!!
I had a bumper crop of eggplant a few years ago and figured out a way to save them. I cut them into cubes, add some olive oil, a little salt and roast them at 425 degrees until they are golden brown and soft. I freeze them in portions. They are good used for pasta sauces, soups etc. I always look forward to your videos!
So I have watched Becky for so long I’m so glad you guys are new friends! I’ll have to go check out the podcast and I am a newbie canner too so I hope you film a lot of your learning process so I can learn alongside you!
As a mother who breastfed, I heard colostrum, thought what a ridiculous name for a product...and then it's ACTUALLY colostrum. The more you know! Glad you found something that works for you, and I definitely learned something new today 🤯
So glad you had Becky on the pod cast, I watch her episodes while I cook, now I will have to check your podcast. I can't wait to see the new layout for your inground garden next spring, as well as your use of the pressure canner. I used mine for the first time this year after watching Becky. Good luck!
Canning is fun. This my second year. Tomatoes are so versatile. This year I made salsa, corn salsa, BBQ sauce, spaghetti sauce, tomato basil soup, a V8 type soup, bruschetta, tomato jam, many many diced tomatoes, and the ketchup - though mine ended up more like a cocktail sauce. I love "putting up" my jars also and seeing the collection. Great onions BTW. We go through ours so fast.
For the eggplants; Have you tried “melanzzane sotto d’olio”? It’s delicious! Italians preserve eggplants that way. Is like pickled eggplants swimming in olive oil. Try it! Blessings to you both 🌼
A good way to preserve aubergines is as aubergine salad: first cook over an open flame until the skin is completely charred and they're cooked through, then leave on an inclined plane for any bitter juices to flow out. Once they're cool enough to touch, remove all the charred skin, chop and mix until a fairly even texture, add a little bit of chopped onion, salt and sunflower oil to taste, mixing in. The end result is really nice fresh, on crispy bread, but you can also freeze it in smaller amounts and it lasts over winter.
Canning is amazingly satisfying...I've put up about 50 pints of tomato sauce alone and every time I look at that bookshelf (that i had to buy when my kitchen filled up) it makes me happy. Learned it from RUclips. 😊
I'd love to see you guys get into canning. That, to me, is the ultimate preservation method. It's not that expensive and can last for years. Most people can't afford a freeze dryer and you can only dehydrate so much. I love canning and this year, I've done a huge amount of pickles and relish.
Just came from catching up on Acre Homestead videos and was so excited to hear you shout her out! Becky was the first to get me looking into how to grow and preserve all of your own food for a whole year.
That Leek was epic! Seeing as how Rolly pollies are isipods it only makes perfect sense they would break down rotting plant material.I used to raise springtails for my reptile tanks to keep them clean.Many peeps use Rollies as well. Great cleaner uppers!
ahh i can never get over how much i LOVE this dynamic duos chaotic energy, and the cheeky editors just enhance it. Also love a good crossover - I just watched jess from roots and refuge's last video, then came here, and becky's last video is the last on my list tonight. I made a roasted tomato soup on a whim with a huge bunch of tomatoes and some basil from the garden once i saw how many ripe tomatoes I had (end of season really does start to wear you down haha).
Roast eggplant, peel it, and then store the pulp in vacuum bags in the freezer for hot dips all winter. I’ve done it that way for two years and it’s so nice for winter, but it actually gets cold where I live.
Putting up jars of produce. It’s so satisfying! When you eat what’s in the jar. You remember what was going on when you were canning. It’s like opening a jar of summer!
To store eggplant make melansani salata: roast the eggplant whole until very soft, (ideally over an open flame until skin is black), peal and make a mash, add crushed garlic salt and olive oil. Fill in jars and can. Make sure there is enough oil such that the paste is covered by a bit of oil on top.
I love Becky, and it made my heart so happy to hear you guys talk about her! I've followed her journey from the beginning! Love you as well, and you give me so much inspiration.
Something I know a lot of us northern gardeners are facing right now is utilizing green tomatoes! We are hitting our first frost days and I know a lot of folks are perplexed by what to do with tomatoes that don’t have a chance to ripen so it would be cool to see you fellas dive into some green tomato recipes!
I just canned for the first time this past weekend!! I pickled zucchini and my friend love it!! Got advice from my grandma and the zucchini from my aunt
I wonder if Jacques has ever tried making lyutenitsa since it's something that us bulgarians have been doing with the majority of our tomato harvest every year. It's a perfect way to utilize most of the peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and onions at the end of summer. As for preserving eggplant, dehydrating it is great. Makes a good pizza topping.
I'm so jeaouls of the endless hauls! This year, the Canadian wildfires brought smoke across Lake Michigan and into Northwest Indiana. We had few pollinators and gross, hazy days! I'm hoping for a much more successful garden next year!
Love that you had Becky on the podcast! You, her and Roots and Refuge are my favorite channels! Jess Sowards at Roots and Refuge also has a podcast, you guys would be great to get together and be guests on each others’ shows!
I'd love to see a sweet and savoury potato leek soup. 🥔 🥕 🧅 🍗 🧂 Liquefied potato base (boiled up for a bit and then mixed with an immersion blender), leek tops and bottoms, chopped carrots, yellow or white onion, chicken (rotisserie-style chicken works really well), then salt and pepper to taste. Maybe add a pinch of Dill. Turns out to be both sweet and savoury, a surprising and delicious combination especially for Fall.
Idea for a couple of onions... ferment them. I slice thinly and ferment with garlic, dill, and peppercorns. S couple of bay leaves keep it fresh and crisp.
Did anyone else see Kevin's face at 8:03...under the tomatoes? "Look what's down there." So hilarious. I love your editor. I have a Ball electric canner for water bath canning. I can't can on my stove so that's why I got it, but I also love that I have the stove free and not a huge canner in the way of the other burners. Last season, I canned balsamic onion jam..recipe from the Ball book. I put it over pork tenderloin before baking it. Amazing. I think there's a recipe in the book on how to turn it into a salad dressing.
Congratulations on getting a pressure canner. Now you can preserve that eggplant. Every year I make ratatouille with eggplant, tomatoes, summer squash and onions. I have to buy mushrooms for it but the rest all come from the garden. Pressure canning is so versatile because you can put recipes together of low acid veggies and not have to pickle them. You're going to love it.
Love the onions! My goal for next year. What about trying a freeze dryer and recording the journey? Compare it with regular freezing, canning, dehydrating, etc.
I remember watching you at other homestead, You guys are funny and make gardening fun and easy, glad this video came on my feed.I know it is hard work but the bantering makes you guys a comedy team! Love it!
The next quest for the Epic Homestead is learning to can! Canning to preserve your harvest is SO useful! Plus I KNOW Jacques wants to have tomato sauce all year round!
I’m in no way a preserving expert, but I have a suggestion for the eggplants: maybe cook them then freeze them. For example, I think Alison Roman’s little eggplant parm will freeze pretty well. Or if you like to add mushy eggplant in random dishes, cook the mush and freeze.
The bacteria in the colostrum is correcting your gut biome. Thank you for the suggestion. I’m going to definitely look into this more. I’ve been on a pro biotic but it isn’t consistent
My fav tomato preservation these days is a short steam to loosen skins, run through food mill, freeze. The passata I get is also the most useful form for me, most versatile.
Make eggplant parm and freeze it. Put it in the casserole plate in the freezer for a few hours so it firms up then slice individual size portions and put in freezer bags
I slice and freeze onions. Use my food processor and it goes quickly. I bag them up in sandwich size baggies which go into a gallon freezer ziplock. I've also done chopped onions that way. It speeds up meal prep a lot. They don't work as raw onions otherwise are great. I also do pickled red onions which I keep in a jar in the fridge. You could probably can them but I don't bother. yesterday, I chopped up a lot of onions, filled up my slow cooker, added some oil, and cooked them on low until they were caramelized. It took a long time in my cooker (24 hours) but that was unsupervised except for my occasional stirring. They cook down a lot, 8 large onions yielded about 5 cups of caramelized onions which I froze in one cup batches. Now they are ready for French onion soup or anything else that uses caramelized onions.
cleaning out my garden too. Thanks to the weather finally not so dang hot. Next year going to plant the giant sunflowers hoping will be big like yours.❤❤❤❤
Canned Caramelized Onion Jam by Epic Gardening's Plant Daddy & The Garden Hermit hitting store shelves is what I envision with all those onions. Also, the friendly trash talking between Jacques and Kevin is what I subbed for. 😂
Momma B is back to sort some things out. If you have "to much" food at harvest, donate it to a food bank, or a soup kitchen. Or post for a produce swap, for something you didn't grow, but would like to have. Canning is great, been doing it forever, but also get a dehydrator. I have several. The Cosori is by far my favorite. Its much less expensive, and easier to use than an excalibur. A freeze dryer is great too. Use mylar bags, and oxygen absorbers for long term storage, of both dehydrated and freeze dried goods. Canning is a must, but also has its place in food storage. It takes up a lot of storage space, and needs to be in a cool dark place. It's good for 2 to 5 years, depending on the food. A costly start up for the canner and jars if your on a tight budget. Freeze drying takes up less food storage space, and lasts for 25 years, if properly stored, but costs much more, requires more maintenance work, uses more electricity, and it isn't a small appliance. You have to freeze dry a serious amount of food, just to make back the investment cost. Dehydrating takes up less space, and costs less, but is only good from 2 to 5 years, and the food isn't quite as attractive when reconstituted. This being said, since I have several types of all 3 devices, for home use, a canner, and a dehydrator, make more sence.
ooo thank you for sharing your advice! im gonna save up for the pressure canner but definitely will look into getting a dehydrator first since it's more accessible. freezing is also very convenient for me 😆 the only thing about canning that makes me paranoid is messing up (def don't recommend reading up about botulism at 3 am 😂😅)
@@ro2974 😁🤣😂, 3am, that's when I read the most. I'm a biochemist, I've read about it. 😁👍 Lots of great info on canning properly. Lots 0f great info on canning that isnt "appoved" of because it hasn't been tested by the fda yet, as well. Most veggies should be water bath canned, notvpreasure canned. High acidic need to be preasure canned. Dehydrating is safe, reasonably fast, not noisy, uses very little electricity, and has a hood long shelf life. I recommend both canning and dehydrating. Freezing is a greatcoptuon, but space is a factor, it should be vaccuum sealed for longer freezer life, and you need to consider power outages, and losing your frozen goods. Canning and dehydrating dont mind if the power goes out at all. Happy canning. 😁👍❤
I would love to see more preserving using non-powered methods, when people did not have freezers and dehydrators and freeze dryers. I would love to see more salting, sugaring, fermenting, burying, sun-drying, or just air drying. Or saving in pots in the dark or in cool cellars. Or how long things can be left in the ground before using.
I've had ongoing gut issues for a while now and I find that slow cooked bone broth with a little apple cider vinegar added at the start of cooking it down has really helped me out. Would also love to see you guys do either dehydrated or freeze dried onion and garlic powder. Although I'm saying that it is what can also upset certain people's stomach issues. I try as best as I can to follow the FODMAP diet which might be worth exploring for you.
I make homemade ketchup because my family prefers it to storebought. It is a different flavor profile, however. It is absolutely worth the effort if you like the homemade versions. I have the regular version and one that uses chili peppers. I divert some of the sauce I'm making anyway and add the sugar and spices.
My determinates were out.of.control. this year. I started them what I thought was way too early but they seemed to love it. We're also having a long growing season (4b Canada) and they are still going strong!
Becky is the freaking coolest person. Did that episode come out yet? I haven't seen it. She has done all kinds of stuff I couldn't even imagine making from scratch~Sriracha, cayenne pepper hot sauce, canned bruschetta, homemade ketchup.
i do about 500 jars of can goods( sauces, soups, beans, pickles) and freeze alot of veggies and make ahead meals. Always looking for new ideas. Becky's youtube videos are great
Instead of canning a lot I am into saving onions, sweet potatoes and seminole pumpkins all of which can last a long time without the extra work. I do process all of my tomatoes into sauce and freeze it. I would like to learn to freeze dry because the herbs on Becky's channel look like they preserve really well and stay a good color but it gets expensive. Your mammoth sunflower heads and onions are truly amazing. Florida Gardener Zone 9a
I can't afford a freeze dryer, but I like to dehydrate my herbs gently in my old school gas oven with a pilot light, then grind and bag and pop in the freezer to keep the flavor.
Love your videos. Watch them on repeat. 💚 As someone with several chronic illnesses myself, I understand wanting to try anything that might help too. But cow based products are not good for you over time. They can lead to additional issues. Also, as a mom, there is no such thing as “waste” colostrum. A mom’s body makes as much as is needed for the baby.
I had 2 gallon bags of San marzanos i had frozen that I made into 4 jars of salsa!! It was fun, but very messy. I was just tired of paying $5+ for a jar of salsa and needed to preserve my harvest!! I just moved in June, so didn’t have too big of a harvest of anything, but tomatoes, okra, and jalapeños. I’m looking forward to planning next years garden already!!
I also forgot I made a reaper hot sauce for my fiancé because he loves to add just a drop or two to his ramen noodles or whatever 🤣 it was fun to make too but I should’ve got a gas mask 😆
Just came here to say maybe make baba ghanoush with your spare eggplants, portion them, then freeze them? It'll at least give you an excuse to grill them outdoors
What type of sunflower was that humongous specimen that you cut down at the beginning of the video? Wowza! Never seen a stalk (or flower head) that thick and huge before!
Egg0ant - I saw on another channel that you can freeze eggplant. Large ones, slice, roase, wrap in parchment paper and stick in a bag. Long ones, pierce several times , roast, scraoe out the center to make hummus or bab ganouch.
Awesome and fun garden video, huge onions and lovely corn-silk. Just make ketchup as a ferment and don't can it...way better than store-bought... try the Homesteading Family recipe .
Preserving your food sounds awesome I preserve food as well that comes out of my garden. I basically do what Jacques does freeze it. anyway your onion harvest looked great I don't think I've ever seen onions that big before the only thing I can actually think to do Is pickle them. of course you want to save some aside and eat them fresh
You Guys are growing so much fruit - !! - how about having a jam session? Filling 8 oz. labelled jam jars with your home grown peach, strawberry, loquat or apricot jam - or citrus marmalade - makes nice Christmas presents for friends and distant cousins. And it will all be ready well before December - taking a load off your budget and time! You already bought the pressure canner - so now you need just a few more items. The tastiest recipes are actually found in the Sure Jell pectin boxes that you need for the final products. My 3 sisters and I have been the Jammin' Sisters for several years and our friends and family all look forward to the sweet taste of summer in mid-winter. 🌞 🌞 🌞
Stoked for you that you are feeling better! I will say that after looking into the nutrition of preserving I've committed a lot more of my time to fermentation over canning. Still a ton of shelf life but so much more support for you're microbiome! Also way faster than canning recipes 😂
We planted butternut seeds from a Trader Joe's butternut two years ago. This year we planted the seeds from the butternut that grew from the first crop. I planted them all in one lump with the inside butternut flesh. It grew so expansively we had to trellise it. Now we have about 20 huge butternuts at least a foot long on the vines with more small ones even starting now (September 16, 2023). We live in North San Diego County. These will store in the house for months - up to the time to plant again, if necessary. When putting the vines on the trellis a couple of weeks ago, one green butternut fell off. I found online that you can eat them green. I sliced and sauteed them with garlic. We found out why they are called butternut because they have a buttery flavor when green. We also have some sweet potatoes that won't be harvested for two to three months that will also last a very long time in the garage in cardboard boxes.
I roast and freeze eggplant, also tried dehydrating it. Frozen stuff was so good for baba ganoush. Havent tried the dried yet. But tomato sauce with eggplant cooked down with it and puréed is the best sauce ive ever had. Lasagna anyone?
I keep rolly pollies as pets (Porcelia vulgaris sowbug), and I can vouch for them eating plants. Mine eat moss, and they love apple, and will eat oat groats. They also like dead oak leaves and spongy wood. In the wild, they eat my strawberries. :( The exact species of isopod may account for some of the differences in what people think they eat. Different species have different diets.
Hey you guys haven't frozen eggplant. I have one small bag of frozen Japanese eggplant that I grew from last season and all I did was saute it in a dish and it came back to life and took on the seasoning of my stir fry dishes. I wasn't successful growing it this year due to watering/drought and travels so I gave up this year.
Becky is awesome! I don’t know how I stumbled upon her but I did and I’m glad I did she is inspired me in so many different ways! I can’t wait to see what you guys do!
💚 Love you guys ! You guys give me motivation to keep my own garden in top shape... please never stop making these great videos... !!! Truly awsome duo !
This year I froze most vegetables as I didn’t want to pull out the canner. It’s just easier to blanch. And onions and peppers are even easier-just chop and freeze. I did break out the P. canner for a couple fresh jars of crushed tomatoes as I had so many, but sauces I froze. I’ve made ketchup, ect. The reason it doesn’t taste the same is there is not as much sugar in at least my homemade ketchup and I think most acquired a taste for store bought. I just can the basics and use them in various recipes later. Sometimes canning changes flavors. I’m trying a couple cover crops for first time-buckwheat and the pea/oats. Lol, understatement about we are just done with it for now-burned out. This extreme drought I’ve dealt with was enough for awhile. Just started a root cellar because I have potatoes, rutabagas, carrots, onions, squash and flower bulbs that need a home for winter. It is a test and we will monitor temps and see how it goes.
We never saw much summer here. My tomatoes never ripened on the vine. I got a few beans which was better than last year, never got the zucchinis to go. Another weird weather year. Sad.
Last year I had quite a few monarch caterpillars on my milkweed (the only plant monarchs lay their eggs) last year, but this year I didn't see one. I also planted parsley for the swallowtails and didn't see any of them either. Weird.
The Sicilian eggplant appetizer called caponata freezes beautifully. The main ingredient is eggplant, but it's actually a whole lot of unlikely bedfellows that create magic in combination. Eggplant, tomatoes, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, olives, raisins, capers, a little brown sugar, all simmered to a jam-like consistency. Delicioso! Also, the editing in your videos just keeps getting better. Jacques' little dance at the end put me over the edge. ~ Lisa
@@domesti-city Yes, at the risk of dating myself, I remember buying Progresso caponata in the much-too-small blue cans back in the day. It must need to be pressure canned, right? For how long, do you know? I'd love to be able to use my own recipe, which is based on the Progresso. ~ Lisa
@@LB-vl3qn I had no idea you could buy it commercially! It has been years since I made it, and I don't remember if I used the pressure canner, but I thought it was a water bath. You'd probably have to search for a reliable recipe.
@@domesti-city Thanks for your reply. It used to be sold back in the 70s and earlier, possible even into the 80s, but Progresso stopped selling it around then. It seems acidic enough to water bath but I'll definitely do some research first. It took a few tries for me to develop a recipe that was as close as possible to the Progresso and I finally succeeded so I hope I can use my own recipe, or something close to it. Thanks again. ~ Lisa
learn onion bacon jam. your burgers will never be the same! I have learned how to make jams low sugar. I now use them all over the place. Specially pepper jams. they make FANTASTIC marinades!
It may be time for some salsa, and for making freezer meals which is less about individual components and more about saving time later by batch prepping whole meals
I too winced in the garden this afternoon! Why did I plant like 40 tomato plants!? And why are my beans still pumping out 2-3 lbs of beans every 2 days??! *wince* I don’t have enough friends or family that will take them 😂
Freezing isn't such a bad idea on the sauce tomato preservation. The cons of the ice crystals making mush of the cell walls and fruit doesn't impact the final product since they are destined for sauce anyways.
Could you make tomato paste like they do in Sicily? I think I saw it on Pasta Grannies, but they dry the tomato puree in the sun on wooden tables until it is paste consistency.
My homemade ketchup "put up" in 8oz jars is excellent. Even my adult kids now prefer it. A little different, sure. The same way homemade mayo isn't Best Foods. A fun thing to try is sweeten your ketchup with a few dates instead of processed sugar
You all know I've been working on my health and have experienced gut problems over the past few years…ARMRA is the first product that's really helped relieve that, that's why I like it so much. Thanks again to ARMRA for sponsoring this video! Remember to click here tryarmra.com/epic15 for 15% off your first order
I’ve been using it since February & love it!
Buy a freeze dryer... Soooo many options and not the same food poisoning risks as with canning.
I NEED TO SEE MORE CANNING AND FREEZE DRYING PLEASE!
Sorry I’m yelling, I am *very* excited to see someone go through newbie canning, so I don’t feel as scared when I finally get to start it up!! I usually just end up seeing a lot of people who have been canning for years. Newbie canning is going to be so much fun to watch!!
Canning meals/stews instead of just single ingredients would be great. I see that on some channels, and it would be so much more useful.
I had a bumper crop of eggplant a few years ago and figured out a way to save them. I cut them into cubes, add some olive oil, a little salt and roast them at 425 degrees until they are golden brown and soft. I freeze them in portions. They are good used for pasta sauces, soups etc. I always look forward to your videos!
So I have watched Becky for so long I’m so glad you guys are new friends! I’ll have to go check out the podcast and I am a newbie canner too so I hope you film a lot of your learning process so I can learn alongside you!
I love that my two favorite channels crossed paths :D I felt proud to hear you mention Becky, been following her journey since the beginning!
She's awesome
Same here.... I know something was coming when she mentioned about the seeds that she got from epic homesteading ❤
What is Becky’s RUclips channel?
@@lorimalone3210 Acre Homestead
As a mother who breastfed, I heard colostrum, thought what a ridiculous name for a product...and then it's ACTUALLY colostrum. The more you know! Glad you found something that works for you, and I definitely learned something new today 🤯
Yeah it’s been amazing!
So glad you had Becky on the pod cast, I watch her episodes while I cook, now I will have to check your podcast.
I can't wait to see the new layout for your inground garden next spring, as well as your use of the pressure canner. I used mine for the first time this year after watching Becky. Good luck!
Canning is fun. This my second year. Tomatoes are so versatile. This year I made salsa, corn salsa, BBQ sauce, spaghetti sauce, tomato basil soup, a V8 type soup, bruschetta, tomato jam, many many diced tomatoes, and the ketchup - though mine ended up more like a cocktail sauce. I love "putting up" my jars also and seeing the collection. Great onions BTW. We go through ours so fast.
For the eggplants;
Have you tried “melanzzane sotto d’olio”? It’s delicious! Italians preserve eggplants that way. Is like pickled eggplants swimming in olive oil. Try it!
Blessings to you both 🌼
I have about 20 something swallowtail caterpillars in an enclosure that I raise to butterflies. I also raise Monarch butterflies, too.
A good way to preserve aubergines is as aubergine salad: first cook over an open flame until the skin is completely charred and they're cooked through, then leave on an inclined plane for any bitter juices to flow out. Once they're cool enough to touch, remove all the charred skin, chop and mix until a fairly even texture, add a little bit of chopped onion, salt and sunflower oil to taste, mixing in. The end result is really nice fresh, on crispy bread, but you can also freeze it in smaller amounts and it lasts over winter.
Sooo excited that you’ve had Becky on your show! I’m such a huge fan of you both and her channel is so winsome and inspiring. Thanks!❤
Canning is amazingly satisfying...I've put up about 50 pints of tomato sauce alone and every time I look at that bookshelf (that i had to buy when my kitchen filled up) it makes me happy. Learned it from RUclips. 😊
I'd love to see you guys get into canning. That, to me, is the ultimate preservation method. It's not that expensive and can last for years. Most people can't afford a freeze dryer and you can only dehydrate so much. I love canning and this year, I've done a huge amount of pickles and relish.
Just came from catching up on Acre Homestead videos and was so excited to hear you shout her out! Becky was the first to get me looking into how to grow and preserve all of your own food for a whole year.
That Leek was epic! Seeing as how Rolly pollies are isipods it only makes perfect sense they would break down rotting plant material.I used to raise springtails for my reptile tanks to keep them clean.Many peeps use Rollies as well. Great cleaner uppers!
ahh i can never get over how much i LOVE this dynamic duos chaotic energy, and the cheeky editors just enhance it. Also love a good crossover - I just watched jess from roots and refuge's last video, then came here, and becky's last video is the last on my list tonight. I made a roasted tomato soup on a whim with a huge bunch of tomatoes and some basil from the garden once i saw how many ripe tomatoes I had (end of season really does start to wear you down haha).
kevin’s face on one of the marzanos got me 😂
I know he said, “Look what’s down there” and I thought my mind was playing tricks on me 😂
Roast eggplant, peel it, and then store the pulp in vacuum bags in the freezer for hot dips all winter. I’ve done it that way for two years and it’s so nice for winter, but it actually gets cold where I live.
Your sunflowers look like the sunflowers always look in ND. They are huge! Imagine seeing 200 acre fields of those, everywhere. Yeppers, all over ND.
As a bachelor my husband used to live near huge acreage of sunflowers in Western Missouri near Kansas border. Soooo many amazing sunflowers.
Putting up jars of produce. It’s so satisfying! When you eat what’s in the jar. You remember what was going on when you were canning. It’s like opening a jar of summer!
To store eggplant make melansani salata: roast the eggplant whole until very soft, (ideally over an open flame until skin is black), peal and make a mash, add crushed garlic salt and olive oil. Fill in jars and can. Make sure there is enough oil such that the paste is covered by a bit of oil on top.
I love Becky, and it made my heart so happy to hear you guys talk about her! I've followed her journey from the beginning! Love you as well, and you give me so much inspiration.
BTW, your editor is really good!!! I really enjoy their work (being a professional editor myself).
Something I know a lot of us northern gardeners are facing right now is utilizing green tomatoes! We are hitting our first frost days and I know a lot of folks are perplexed by what to do with tomatoes that don’t have a chance to ripen so it would be cool to see you fellas dive into some green tomato recipes!
Find a recipe for green tomato chutney, so good. My dad used to pickle green tomatoes, those are good too.
I just canned for the first time this past weekend!! I pickled zucchini and my friend love it!! Got advice from my grandma and the zucchini from my aunt
I wonder if Jacques has ever tried making lyutenitsa since it's something that us bulgarians have been doing with the majority of our tomato harvest every year. It's a perfect way to utilize most of the peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and onions at the end of summer.
As for preserving eggplant, dehydrating it is great. Makes a good pizza topping.
I'm so jeaouls of the endless hauls!
This year, the Canadian wildfires brought smoke across Lake Michigan and into Northwest Indiana. We had few pollinators and gross, hazy days! I'm hoping for a much more successful garden next year!
Becky and Acre Homestead is the best! She is the sweetest! Canning, freezing and freeze drying are the way to go!
I've actually met Becky. She's incredible when it comes to food preservation and cooking!! That's so cool she made it on your podcast!!!
Love that you had Becky on the podcast! You, her and Roots and Refuge are my favorite channels! Jess Sowards at Roots and Refuge also has a podcast, you guys would be great to get together and be guests on each others’ shows!
I'd love to see a sweet and savoury potato leek soup. 🥔 🥕 🧅 🍗 🧂
Liquefied potato base (boiled up for a bit and then mixed with an immersion blender), leek tops and bottoms, chopped carrots, yellow or white onion, chicken (rotisserie-style chicken works really well), then salt and pepper to taste. Maybe add a pinch of Dill. Turns out to be both sweet and savoury, a surprising and delicious combination especially for Fall.
I wonder if you could freeze-dry this after making up a batch? It seems it would take well to reconstituting later.
@@domesti-city I don't know about that personally. Because of the starches in the potato it's definitely a thicker soup. It might be potable though.
dried onion is really good for soups :) specially if you oven dry them, and they get slightly brown. gives a great caramelized taste to the soup
Idea for a couple of onions... ferment them. I slice thinly and ferment with garlic, dill, and peppercorns. S couple of bay leaves keep it fresh and crisp.
Did anyone else see Kevin's face at 8:03...under the tomatoes? "Look what's down there." So hilarious. I love your editor.
I have a Ball electric canner for water bath canning. I can't can on my stove so that's why I got it, but I also love that I have the stove free and not a huge canner in the way of the other burners.
Last season, I canned balsamic onion jam..recipe from the Ball book. I put it over pork tenderloin before baking it. Amazing. I think there's a recipe in the book on how to turn it into a salad dressing.
Congratulations on getting a pressure canner. Now you can preserve that eggplant. Every year I make ratatouille with eggplant, tomatoes, summer squash and onions. I have to buy mushrooms for it but the rest all come from the garden. Pressure canning is so versatile because you can put recipes together of low acid veggies and not have to pickle them. You're going to love it.
Love the onions! My goal for next year. What about trying a freeze dryer and recording the journey? Compare it with regular freezing, canning, dehydrating, etc.
Will do. I have one!
I also would like to see a comparison between dehydrated and freeze dried onions! Wonderful harvest!
I remember watching you at other homestead, You guys are funny and make gardening fun and easy, glad this video came on my feed.I know it is hard work but the bantering makes you guys a comedy team! Love it!
The next quest for the Epic Homestead is learning to can! Canning to preserve your harvest is SO useful! Plus I KNOW Jacques wants to have tomato sauce all year round!
I’m in no way a preserving expert, but I have a suggestion for the eggplants: maybe cook them then freeze them. For example, I think Alison Roman’s little eggplant parm will freeze pretty well. Or if you like to add mushy eggplant in random dishes, cook the mush and freeze.
Amazing idea
The bacteria in the colostrum is correcting your gut biome. Thank you for the suggestion. I’m going to definitely look into this more. I’ve been on a pro biotic but it isn’t consistent
My fav tomato preservation these days is a short steam to loosen skins, run through food mill, freeze. The passata I get is also the most useful form for me, most versatile.
Make eggplant parm and freeze it. Put it in the casserole plate in the freezer for a few hours so it firms up then slice individual size portions and put in freezer bags
I slice and freeze onions. Use my food processor and it goes quickly. I bag them up in sandwich size baggies which go into a gallon freezer ziplock.
I've also done chopped onions that way. It speeds up meal prep a lot. They don't work as raw onions otherwise are great. I also do pickled red onions which I keep in a jar in the fridge. You could probably can them but I don't bother.
yesterday, I chopped up a lot of onions, filled up my slow cooker, added some oil, and cooked them on low until they were caramelized. It took a long time in my cooker (24 hours) but that was unsupervised except for my occasional stirring. They cook down a lot, 8 large onions yielded about 5 cups of caramelized onions which I froze in one cup batches. Now they are ready for French onion soup or anything else that uses caramelized onions.
You can dry the sunflower stalks and use them as firewood kindling or for structure in the garden.
cleaning out my garden too. Thanks to the weather finally not so dang hot. Next year going to plant the giant sunflowers hoping will be big like yours.❤❤❤❤
I am so glad that ya'll are talking to Becky at Acre Homestead! I've been watching epic gardening and her channel for years
The mind of your editor is just so wonderfully chaotic, I died at 12:12 and replayed it far too many times. Double their pay!!
That was good, but you didn't rewatch 8:02 ?
@@CS-pz8wq Kevin Marzano I only saw after a second viewing, too many Easter eggs to keep up with 🤣
@CS-pz8wq Hahaha! At first I thought it was my imagination, but then saw his face when I stopped the video on the second go round.
Canned Caramelized Onion Jam by Epic Gardening's Plant Daddy & The Garden Hermit hitting store shelves is what I envision with all those onions.
Also, the friendly trash talking between Jacques and Kevin is what I subbed for. 😂
Honestly we should drop a jam line
Oooh! Hollar Homestead recently made a balsamic onion marmalade that looked amazing!
Momma B is back to sort some things out. If you have "to much" food at harvest, donate it to a food bank, or a soup kitchen. Or post for a produce swap, for something you didn't grow, but would like to have. Canning is great, been doing it forever, but also get a dehydrator. I have several. The Cosori is by far my favorite. Its much less expensive, and easier to use than an excalibur. A freeze dryer is great too. Use mylar bags, and oxygen absorbers for long term storage, of both dehydrated and freeze dried goods. Canning is a must, but also has its place in food storage. It takes up a lot of storage space, and needs to be in a cool dark place. It's good for 2 to 5 years, depending on the food. A costly start up for the canner and jars if your on a tight budget. Freeze drying takes up less food storage space, and lasts for 25 years, if properly stored, but costs much more, requires more maintenance work, uses more electricity, and it isn't a small appliance. You have to freeze dry a serious amount of food, just to make back the investment cost. Dehydrating takes up less space, and costs less, but is only good from 2 to 5 years, and the food isn't quite as attractive when reconstituted. This being said, since I have several types of all 3 devices, for home use, a canner, and a dehydrator, make more sence.
ooo thank you for sharing your advice! im gonna save up for the pressure canner but definitely will look into getting a dehydrator first since it's more accessible. freezing is also very convenient for me 😆
the only thing about canning that makes me paranoid is messing up (def don't recommend reading up about botulism at 3 am 😂😅)
@@ro2974 😁🤣😂, 3am, that's when I read the most. I'm a biochemist, I've read about it. 😁👍 Lots of great info on canning properly. Lots 0f great info on canning that isnt "appoved" of because it hasn't been tested by the fda yet, as well. Most veggies should be water bath canned, notvpreasure canned. High acidic need to be preasure canned. Dehydrating is safe, reasonably fast, not noisy, uses very little electricity, and has a hood long shelf life. I recommend both canning and dehydrating. Freezing is a greatcoptuon, but space is a factor, it should be vaccuum sealed for longer freezer life, and you need to consider power outages, and losing your frozen goods. Canning and dehydrating dont mind if the power goes out at all. Happy canning. 😁👍❤
Bekki x Kevin is the crossover my heart has been begging for 💕
I would love to see more preserving using non-powered methods, when people did not have freezers and dehydrators and freeze dryers. I would love to see more salting, sugaring, fermenting, burying, sun-drying, or just air drying. Or saving in pots in the dark or in cool cellars. Or how long things can be left in the ground before using.
I've had ongoing gut issues for a while now and I find that slow cooked bone broth with a little apple cider vinegar added at the start of cooking it down has really helped me out. Would also love to see you guys do either dehydrated or freeze dried onion and garlic powder. Although I'm saying that it is what can also upset certain people's stomach issues. I try as best as I can to follow the FODMAP diet which might be worth exploring for you.
I make homemade ketchup because my family prefers it to storebought. It is a different flavor profile, however. It is absolutely worth the effort if you like the homemade versions. I have the regular version and one that uses chili peppers. I divert some of the sauce I'm making anyway and add the sugar and spices.
My determinates were out.of.control. this year. I started them what I thought was way too early but they seemed to love it. We're also having a long growing season (4b Canada) and they are still going strong!
Becky is the freaking coolest person. Did that episode come out yet? I haven't seen it. She has done all kinds of stuff I couldn't even imagine making from scratch~Sriracha, cayenne pepper hot sauce, canned bruschetta, homemade ketchup.
i do about 500 jars of can goods( sauces, soups, beans, pickles) and freeze alot of veggies and make ahead meals. Always looking for new ideas. Becky's youtube videos are great
Love Becky! So glad you are working with her. I’ve learned so much by watching you and watching her channel as well
I have been following Becky from Acre Homestead for years. She will show you everything you need to know about canning!
Instead of canning a lot I am into saving onions, sweet potatoes and seminole pumpkins all of which can last a long time without the extra work. I do process all of my tomatoes into sauce and freeze it. I would like to learn to freeze dry because the herbs on Becky's channel look like they preserve really well and stay a good color but it gets expensive. Your mammoth sunflower heads and onions are truly amazing.
Florida Gardener
Zone 9a
I can't afford a freeze dryer, but I like to dehydrate my herbs gently in my old school gas oven with a pilot light, then grind and bag and pop in the freezer to keep the flavor.
Love your videos. Watch them on repeat. 💚
As someone with several chronic illnesses myself, I understand wanting to try anything that might help too.
But cow based products are not good for you over time. They can lead to additional issues.
Also, as a mom, there is no such thing as “waste” colostrum. A mom’s body makes as much as is needed for the baby.
I had 2 gallon bags of San marzanos i had frozen that I made into 4 jars of salsa!! It was fun, but very messy. I was just tired of paying $5+ for a jar of salsa and needed to preserve my harvest!! I just moved in June, so didn’t have too big of a harvest of anything, but tomatoes, okra, and jalapeños. I’m looking forward to planning next years garden already!!
I also forgot I made a reaper hot sauce for my fiancé because he loves to add just a drop or two to his ramen noodles or whatever 🤣 it was fun to make too but I should’ve got a gas mask 😆
The editing of the videos with you two together just gets better and better! I chuckled at a few scenes 😂
Just came here to say maybe make baba ghanoush with your spare eggplants, portion them, then freeze them? It'll at least give you an excuse to grill them outdoors
What type of sunflower was that humongous specimen that you cut down at the beginning of the video? Wowza! Never seen a stalk (or flower head) that thick and huge before!
Egg0ant - I saw on another channel that you can freeze eggplant. Large ones, slice, roase, wrap in parchment paper and stick in a bag. Long ones, pierce several times , roast, scraoe out the center to make hummus or bab ganouch.
Awesome and fun garden video, huge onions and lovely corn-silk. Just make ketchup as a ferment and don't can it...way better than store-bought... try the Homesteading Family recipe .
Preserving your food sounds awesome I preserve food as well that comes out of my garden. I basically do what Jacques does freeze it. anyway your onion harvest looked great I don't think I've ever seen onions that big before the only thing I can actually think to do Is pickle them. of course you want to save some aside and eat them fresh
As someone who cooks with a lot of onion I’d say dice and freeze is the easiest way to go! :)
Beautiful harvest,we dont want it to end.
You Guys are growing so much fruit - !! - how about having a jam session? Filling 8 oz. labelled jam jars with your home grown peach, strawberry, loquat or apricot jam - or citrus marmalade - makes nice Christmas presents for friends and distant cousins. And it will all be ready well before December - taking a load off your budget and time! You already bought the pressure canner - so now you need just a few more items. The tastiest recipes are actually found in the Sure Jell pectin boxes that you need for the final products. My 3 sisters and I have been the Jammin' Sisters for several years and our friends and family all look forward to the sweet taste of summer in mid-winter. 🌞 🌞 🌞
Stoked for you that you are feeling better! I will say that after looking into the nutrition of preserving I've committed a lot more of my time to fermentation over canning. Still a ton of shelf life but so much more support for you're microbiome! Also way faster than canning recipes 😂
We planted butternut seeds from a Trader Joe's butternut two years ago. This year we planted the seeds from the butternut that grew from the first crop. I planted them all in one lump with the inside butternut flesh. It grew so expansively we had to trellise it. Now we have about 20 huge butternuts at least a foot long on the vines with more small ones even starting now (September 16, 2023). We live in North San Diego County. These will store in the house for months - up to the time to plant again, if necessary. When putting the vines on the trellis a couple of weeks ago, one green butternut fell off. I found online that you can eat them green. I sliced and sauteed them with garlic. We found out why they are called butternut because they have a buttery flavor when green. We also have some sweet potatoes that won't be harvested for two to three months that will also last a very long time in the garage in cardboard boxes.
Pickle to onion and chili, make antipasto from the Eggplant preserve in oil. Heaps to do.
I roast and freeze eggplant, also tried dehydrating it. Frozen stuff was so good for baba ganoush. Havent tried the dried yet. But tomato sauce with eggplant cooked down with it and puréed is the best sauce ive ever had. Lasagna anyone?
I've been watching you none stop for a couple of years now. How did I not know you had a podcast?
I keep rolly pollies as pets (Porcelia vulgaris sowbug), and I can vouch for them eating plants. Mine eat moss, and they love apple, and will eat oat groats. They also like dead oak leaves and spongy wood.
In the wild, they eat my strawberries. :(
The exact species of isopod may account for some of the differences in what people think they eat. Different species have different diets.
Can the things you know you will eat! That is the best use of your time! I overdid it on pickles a few years ago….we just don’t eat a lot!
Hey you guys haven't frozen eggplant. I have one small bag of frozen Japanese eggplant that I grew from last season and all I did was saute it in a dish and it came back to life and took on the seasoning of my stir fry dishes. I wasn't successful growing it this year due to watering/drought and travels so I gave up this year.
Becky is awesome! I don’t know how I stumbled upon her but I did and I’m glad I did she is inspired me in so many different ways! I can’t wait to see what you guys do!
💚 Love you guys ! You guys give me motivation to keep my own garden in top shape... please never stop making these great videos... !!! Truly awsome duo !
You can can eggplant. Everybody knows about Italians canning tomato sauce in the fall, but canning eggplant is also common.
This year I froze most vegetables as I didn’t want to pull out the canner. It’s just easier to blanch. And onions and peppers are even easier-just chop and freeze. I did break out the P. canner for a couple fresh jars of crushed tomatoes as I had so many, but sauces I froze.
I’ve made ketchup, ect. The reason it doesn’t taste the same is there is not as much sugar in at least my homemade ketchup and I think most acquired a taste for store bought. I just can the basics and use them in various recipes later. Sometimes canning changes flavors.
I’m trying a couple cover crops for first time-buckwheat and the pea/oats.
Lol, understatement about we are just done with it for now-burned out. This extreme drought I’ve dealt with was enough for awhile. Just started a root cellar because I have potatoes, rutabagas, carrots, onions, squash and flower bulbs that need a home for winter. It is a test and we will monitor temps and see how it goes.
I would love to see you guys experiment more with fermentation, and especially vacuum-fermentation.
We never saw much summer here. My tomatoes never ripened on the vine. I got a few beans which was better than last year, never got the zucchinis to go. Another weird weather year. Sad.
I'm moving away from canning and moving to freeze drying and fermenting. I still do some pickles and fruit with a steam canner.
Last year I had quite a few monarch caterpillars on my milkweed (the only plant monarchs lay their eggs) last year, but this year I didn't see one. I also planted parsley for the swallowtails and didn't see any of them either. Weird.
The Sicilian eggplant appetizer called caponata freezes beautifully. The main ingredient is eggplant, but it's actually a whole lot of unlikely bedfellows that create magic in combination. Eggplant, tomatoes, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, olives, raisins, capers, a little brown sugar, all simmered to a jam-like consistency. Delicioso!
Also, the editing in your videos just keeps getting better. Jacques' little dance at the end put me over the edge. ~ Lisa
You can put caponata up in jars also, and it is wonderful to pull out of the cupboard in winter.
@@domesti-city Yes, at the risk of dating myself, I remember buying Progresso caponata in the much-too-small blue cans back in the day. It must need to be pressure canned, right? For how long, do you know? I'd love to be able to use my own recipe, which is based on the Progresso. ~ Lisa
@@LB-vl3qn I had no idea you could buy it commercially! It has been years since I made it, and I don't remember if I used the pressure canner, but I thought it was a water bath. You'd probably have to search for a reliable recipe.
@@domesti-city Thanks for your reply. It used to be sold back in the 70s and earlier, possible even into the 80s, but Progresso stopped selling it around then. It seems acidic enough to water bath but I'll definitely do some research first. It took a few tries for me to develop a recipe that was as close as possible to the Progresso and I finally succeeded so I hope I can use my own recipe, or something close to it. Thanks again. ~ Lisa
learn onion bacon jam. your burgers will never be the same! I have learned how to make jams low sugar. I now use them all over the place. Specially pepper jams. they make FANTASTIC marinades!
The banter between you two are always music to my ears 🤣
It may be time for some salsa, and for making freezer meals which is less about individual components and more about saving time later by batch prepping whole meals
I too winced in the garden this afternoon! Why did I plant like 40 tomato plants!? And why are my beans still pumping out 2-3 lbs of beans every 2 days??! *wince* I don’t have enough friends or family that will take them 😂
Freezing isn't such a bad idea on the sauce tomato preservation. The cons of the ice crystals making mush of the cell walls and fruit doesn't impact the final product since they are destined for sauce anyways.
Could you make tomato paste like they do in Sicily? I think I saw it on Pasta Grannies, but they dry the tomato puree in the sun on wooden tables until it is paste consistency.
I can't wait to see a canning video with you two. That is going to be great
Oh my gosh the face on the tomato plant 😂😂 I had to rewind it because I thought I imagined it 😂 Love the little extra things you guys add in!
I would like to see a follow-up video on the trees you and Jacque planted
That little chopper at 6:00 scares me
I'm just imagining horrible things happening to fingers since that thing sounds torquey
My homemade ketchup "put up" in 8oz jars is excellent. Even my adult kids now prefer it. A little different, sure. The same way homemade mayo isn't Best Foods. A fun thing to try is sweeten your ketchup with a few dates instead of processed sugar
I adore Becky at Acre Homestead! 👍