Pickled & Preserved: My 2020 Canning Cupboard and Other Ways to Save the Harvest

My canning cupboard is officially full. I’ve had to requisition a kitchen shelf for the rest.

This is the list of what I’ve made this year:

Dehydrated Fruits and Vegetables:
Dehydrated (sun-dried) Cherry Tomatoes
Dehydrated Corn
Dehydrated Blueberries
Dehydrated Strawberry Slices

Chutneys:
Mango Chutney
Madras Eggplant Chutney

Salsas:
Tomatillo Salsa
Smoky Tomatillo Salsa (I barbecued the tomatillos)

Pickles:
Kosher Dill Pickles
Kosher Dills and Carrots
Pickled Corn and Cherry Tomatoes
Pickled Carrots
Pickled Roasted Red Peppers
Pickled Red Peppers
Spiced Golden Beets
Pickled Cauliflower and Zucchini Ribbons
Spiced Zucchini and Cucumber Pickles

Pressure Canned Preserves:
Pressure-Canned Corn and Cherry Tomatoes
Pressure-Canned Carrots and Mint
Pressure-Canned Roasted Red Peppers

Jams, Jellies and Compotes:
Peach Jam
Sunshine Red Currant Jelly
Cinnamon Applesauce

Mostarda (sweet fruit and mustard pickles):
Blueberry-Black Currant Mostarda

Fruit-Infused Alcohol:
Blueberries in Rum

Ferments:
Water Kefir
Scotch Bonnet Kimchi
Dill Sauerkraut

Most of the recipes came from my preserving cookbooks. I highly recommend these ones:

Marisa McLellan’s Preserving by the Pint

The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving:

Sandor Katz’s Wild Fermentation:

Preservation Society Home Preserves:

The Preservation Kitchen:

And Oded Schwartz’s Preserving:

And if you’re a beginner, I REALLY recommend canning with someone who knows what they’re doing the first time, and/or taking a Zoom course with Camilla Wynne of Preservation Society.

Please don’t just stick things in jars willy-nilly. That’s a great way to waste a lot of food and your time and potentially make yourself very sick. Not everything can be water-bath canned or dehydrated and some things are better as pickles than as ferments.

BUT, please do let me know if you’re interested in a particular recipe here by leaving a comment and I’ll definitely get back to you with where it came from or any recommendations I have. Got questions about specific recipes you’ve made or are planning to make? Leave a comment!