I've also been looking into canning. I have 2 squash and 2 pepper plants that are just starting to flower so I wanted ideas on preservation since I know my bf and I will not eat everything. I found some videos on YouTube that really demystified the process and now I'm not too scared about it. I just have to get the equipment now.

Best re-think zucchini. There are not tested recipes for canning it. Check your sources online for the most up-to-date information. Several books a few years ago said it was ok. But their recipes do not test out.

Just canned some strawberry jam this weekend with a friend & it was fun. It's true- once you've done it once, it's much easier the 2nd time around! Seems like a pain & then all that work & you don't get much... but tasting that jam on Monday morning on top of freshly made biscuits... YUMMY!

My mom grew up canning and doesn't do it now partly out of dislike but also because her current stovetop can't take the high heat needed to can. I have no idea about the veracity of this claim, but I wanted to pass it on just in case. She has the electric smooth-top kind.

Please feel free to correct me if you find any information that says differently!

@graciela: don't fall too hard for the expensive equipment; thrift mason jars if you can, but buy NEW lids and rings. you'll need a large pot (think stock pot), and i think jar tongs are helpful but not necessary. see my post here: http://sustainablediet.blogspot.com/2008/08/home-court-disadvantage.html

@tallsarah: i read one recipe for a pickled garden variety from the ball book (newest edition), which included zucchini. i'll give it a try and report back! and i've got jams and marmalades on the brain, too!

@erica in DC: i haven't heard that about electric stovetops; in fact, the photo above was taken in my mom's kitchen, and she has one of those smooth electric stovetops as well. it does get hot in the kitchen, but the stove can handle it as long as we can. (no pun intended!)

we have a few grapevines we planted this year. they are still small so aren't producing yet, though we do plan to pickle the leaves for dolmas!

our first go at canning was last summer. not something we planned at all, but after coming in with mounds and mounds of tomatoes, we had to do something.

at first, we couldn't find a canner - just jars on sale at target. we used a big pot, kitchen tongs, and a lot of patience. about a month later, i finally found a big old canner at a garage sale for $5 - which makes the whole process much, much easier.

we stuck to high-vinegar things because the whole botulism thing is a little scary: pickled green tomatoes (great in tofu scramble or homemade mac n cheese), pickled jalapenos, mexican pickles, salsa, tomato sauce, hot sauce, a gardinera. things like green beans and corn were frozen.

I've done fruit, jam, and pickles, but have never been inspired to can vegetables. It just sounds yucky. Maybe it's a texture thing.

Any veggie success stories? And what kinds of tasty things do you cook with canned veg? I would love to overcome my phobia.

@Tallsarah, you don't get much jam? Seriously? My recipe says it makes 8 pints and I usually get 10 or eleven. I gave a jar to my folks, my grands, my aunt and uncle, jars to friends and two jars to friends that just bought a house to start their pantry off right. All that in a couple hours. And I get to eat the foam skimmed from the top. Yum! Then again, I usually go with a half flat and work from there.

I want to try canning peaches this year. My mom always did and I loved them.

@pedalpowered, acidic things like tomatos and most fruits aren't a problem to can without pickling. Things like veggies had best have acid added though. And I will NEVER can meat.

I've actually been canning for a couple years - one of the booths at my local farmer's market has a "summer canning special" at some point, where they sell a whole bushel basket of tomatoes for ten bucks. I haven't had to buy canned tomatoes in a supermarket in a year and a half.

My problem with canning is that I get so caught up in "ooh, I can CAN things" that I just go nuts buying things specifically to can them, but....then I end up realizing, much later, that ".....wait. I never EAT brocolli anyway." Same problems with jam -- I have all sorts of jam at home, but...I just plain don't eat toast that fast. So then I have a few jars at home, even after giving some away to people, that I just plain don't know what to do with.

That's why I really am into Eugenia Bone's new canning and preserving book, because she only has recipes for a few things, but then for each preserved item, she also has recipes for things you can use them IN. I have been avoiding making preserved lemons for a long time, because I wasn't really sure what I could use them for, but then she had a recipe for broiled bluefish with preserved lemons and DAMN, I wanna try that.

I've made zucchini relish... threw a beet in for color. yum.

I just canned a bunch of cherries from the tree yesterday.

This Youtube video series was a BIG help. Watch the woman even can CHICKEN.

@erica in dc - my mother in law has the flat electronic stove and does canning with it all the time.

Re: the smooth electric stovetops - look in your owner's manuals. I think it's just the older stoves that were not ok with it (the problem is less the high heat than the heat difference between areas of the stovetop, which could cause them to shatter).

In any case, your owner's manual should say whether it's ok - at least, mine specifically says that canning is fine.

@Tiamat_the_red I canned peaches last year using white grape juice and wasn't a huge fan, but I'm going to try them in water this year instead. Great with yogurt for breakfast. I also made peach jam and peach butter that were AMAZING!

@graciela I bought a canning kit (jar tongs, wide mouth funnel etc.) and it was only $7 and totally worth it. I made great use of it and didn't have to worry about dropping the very hot jars. I recommend it.

@empresscallipygos - Thanks for the tip on the Eugenia Bone book. Looks great. Here in Slovenia, when the winter hits the only fruits you can find are local apples and imported bananas. So, though, I am not a big jam and toast person, I will be glad to have it when I am faced with months of no variety.

@kitchengraffiti - did you get the canning kit online? link please! i was trying to fish something out of the canner yesterday and wishing i had tongs!

@amber77 - I have to say that here in Slovenia, we reuse old jars to no ill effect. I know there are tons and tons of warnings but I've never gotten sick.

@jeangenie: I think that re-using the jars themselves when canning is just fine. It's the LIDS you're not supposed to re-use.

I, too, am one of those overzealous buyers who ends up with way too much of one canned item and then is too burned out to put away anything else.

This summer it's been strawberry jam. SO much strawberry jam, and I don't even like jam! I wish I knew other canners so we could arrange a swap. The one good thing, I guess, is that jam makes a great hostess gift.

I documented my jam extravaganza here:
http://alwaysentertaining.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/just-texan-enough/

Canning is WONDERFUL - just make sure your acidity is high enough. You cannot can EVERYTHING. Safety first.

That said - I'm a junkie. No gear - except I recommend the jar tongs, but other than that you just need a stock pot, jars and lids.

Most recently I did tomato soup & habanero pepper jelly. I'm still getting requests for another batch. They are great gifts too.