Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Happy Saturday! Instead of posting just a couple days of the Pantry Challenge in order to keep to my regular Saturday schedule, I'll be posting a full week on Wednesday afternoon. See you then!
Carter
112 - 13
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with friends and family. I am so ready for 2025. I hope you are as well!
As you're working on your goals/priorities/resolutions for 2025, resolve to put some meals in jars on your shelf this year. I woke up to these two awesome comments this morning on one of my Soup Sampler videos:
"Hello Carter. OMG I have tried all your soup can recipes and are so delicious! I never canned soups and now my pantry is full of your cans every week! So easy to get home after work and warm it up with some bread, YUM! Thanks"
and
"You have sold me on meals in a jar. I vegged out after Christmas and watched your videos most of the day. First time ever and it felt sooooo good! Thanks so much."
I'll see you next week for my first installment in the 2025 Pantry Challenge!
Carter
20 - 6
Do you have any questions? I've never done a Q&A video, but I thought it might be fun. I've had a few questions lately in comments and through email that I've set aside for a video, but if you have questions, please post them here.
58 - 51
I've had a couple of folks share their concerns that these jars are made in China. I called Azure to see if they could explain why they made this choice. I was personally quite satisfied with their answer, but they agreed to let me share it with you so you could make your own decision. While on the phone with them, I also asked whether there was any lead content in the jars. She said, "absolutely no lead".
Here's the follow-up email she sent me:
Here is the statement we discussed by phone:
We did extensive due diligence on where we could source glass jars that fit our stringent specifications. They are made in Asia (by a Taiwanese company who has a plant just across the border in China) because they needed to meet the rigorous specifications for commercial canning, not just home canning, as we are using the glass in our own canning facility. There are no US manufacturers who were able to meet the specifications we required for commercial canning. We were looking for zero breakage in shock tests for a 150° change in temperature. Down the road, our intent is to find a glass manufacturer who can meet the requirements we have. Right now, the only US company we found who may be able to meet the jar specs in the future is not able to discuss potential production until 2026. However, we will likely continue to have jars that are made in Asia, too, due to the extreme cost variants between US made and Asian made glass.
Yours in Healthy & Abundant Living,
Jessica H.
Azure Customer Care Team
Azure Standard 79709 Dufur Valley Rd
Dufur OR 97021 Ph. 971-200-8350
www.azurestandard.com
If you are interested in the jars, here is the direct link: www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/household-famil…
146 - 42
If you've been thinking about getting the Presto Electric Canner, it is on sale (as of 8/13/2024) for $266.44, down from the $329 I paid for it. I've had mine since November 2022, and it is by far my go-to pressure canner. I choose it time and time again over my All American. Here's the link: amzn.to/3Al9dOr
90 - 45
Hey folks! We are closing out July and heading into the Every Bit Counts Challenge for August 2024. This is the challenge that started my channel two years ago and will always be my favorite challenge.
I am planning to participate this year and post a video each Saturday. However, I do have a couple of close family members with significant health issues who need to be my first priority. I know that each and every one of you understands this. July has been a challenge to meet all of my obligations, and I have no idea what August will bring. I do expect I will need to travel, perhaps more than once. To that end, I have started my challenge several days early so that I can fill in for any days I may miss in August.
My favorite part of the challenge last year was the second weekly video all about your preservation accomplishments. I love seeing those emails come in. All the pictures of the beautiful jars, the neatly stacked pantries and freezers. That is the whole reason I started this channel...to promote and celebrate the skills and love for growing and preserving our own food. I am so sorry to say that I can't commit to that second weekly video this year. I do hope that you will continue to email me (carter@growandpreserve.com) with your pictures and lists of accomplishments. They make me smile, and I love knowing that you find as much joy in food preservation as I do.
With that big bummer, let's get on with the challenge. Food doesn't stop pouring in from the garden because I have other things on my plate! I will see you on Saturday for Opening Week.
xoxo,
Carter
179 - 41
Remember to harvest your peppers (especially the hot ones!) early and often to encourage more production. The 3 jalapenos on the left are Jedi from Johnny's Seeds. The other 4 are Paquime from Totally Tomato. The cherry tomato in the center is a Sun Sugar from TrueLeaf Market. It was also the first cherry tomato to ripen in last year's garden.
Although last weekend's storms blew off the smaller peppers here, the rest were ready to be harvested today. Middle Tennessee and May 28 appears to be the opening day of the 2024 Summer harvest. Looking back at my 2023 notes, my first harvest (also jalapenos) was May 29, 2023.
I know my more Southern friends have been harvesting Summer crops for some time now. Do you remember roughly the date it started? Anyone else just starting to harvest this week? What about those of you in more northern climates...do you have a target date for the first Summer harvest? Leave it in a comment below.
Carter
56 - 22
10 minutes, one pan. Sausage hash for dinner. Canned Hot Italian Sausage, canned hash browns, frozen peppers from last year's garden, dried cherry tomatoes from last year's garden, and shallots, green onions and basil from this year's garden.
Leftovers for breakfast tomorrow with a fried egg on top!
What's for dinner at your house tonight?
xoxo,
Carter
119 - 26
Happy Saturday, all! I clicked a new button option when posting today's video, and now it's not showing up in subscription feeds. Sorry! Here it is. Enjoy your weekend!
Carter
11 - 0
My week in jars! This is what came out of my dishwasher this week. Every now and then I like to let the clean jars pile up to get a visual of how much we're eating from the pantry. Looks like 25 jars this week, and I was out of town for a couple of those days! Do you know how many jars you went through this week?
138 - 25
Welcome to Grow and Preserve. I'm Carter, and I'm thrilled you're here. We cover several topics here. I hope you'll join the conversation so we can all learn from each other.
Gardening, specifically growing food. I have a tiny suburban lot with 8 raised beds and a few barrels and pots. Just over 250 square feet produce a ton of food!
Preserving. Growing the food is only half the battle. Eating fresh from the garden is great, but we also want to preserve our harvests (or farmer's market or grocery store hauls) for later in the year. We can can it. We can freeze it. We can ferment it. We can dehydrate it. We'll do all of that together.
Building a Well Stocked Pantry. How many meals can you make from your pantry (including fridge and freezer) right now? How long will this last you? If the power goes out, can you still keep your food fresh? Can you still cook your food? A deep and broad working pantry can make your life so much easier. Let's stock our pantries together!
xoxo,
Carter