2012 was our most successful garden year to date. We planted 28 tomato plants and ended up canning 21 pints of tomato sauce from them. The last batch I canned today, yes, in December, thanks to freezing the tomatoes whole in gallon sized bags in our deep freezer. I will definitely do this method again next year. It wasn't the best year for tomatoes, so I was glad I planted so many of them. We grew many different varieties as an experiment, and some didn't do very well. Next summer we will know what does well in our area and can hopefully grow more!
Back in June, I was able to buy 6 or so pints of blueberries for just 99 cents each. I made blueberry jam for the first time from them, and ended up with 10 or so half pints of blueberry jam. It is so yummy, and nice to get a taste of summer in the middle of winter! We love it with toast or peanut butter on bread.
I had planned on canning more applesauce, apple butter and some more jelly, but the apple sales never materialized and I figured we had enough jelly as it was. The lowest the apples ever went was $0.99 lb, a far cry from the 49 cents the previous year. It was a bad year for apples though, and Michigan lost most of their crop. It was a bad year for farmers too - the corn here withered into nothing in many areas from the long, hard drought. I did end up stocking up on canning jars anyway, and that will help me with next years canning. I'm hoping to acquire a pressure-canner and can other vegetables such as green beans and maybe peas.
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