Preserving Galore

Yesterday and today has been very tiring because I spent most of my time trying to preserve much of summer's bounty (not my homegrown fruits and vegetables, but those purchased from the farmer's market).  I purchased A LOT of tomatoes (at least one box full of romas for $13.00--a great bargain) and lots of peppers.  I started canning and preserving about a week ago, but I decided that I wanted to preserve more so that I would have enough to last through the early part of spring.

So what did I preserve?  Well, I made lots of dill pickles.  Much of the cucumbers were preserved in vinegar, but I did make a batch of the fermented dill pickles. 

I also preserved a lot of tomatoes in water and made about two quarts of tomato sauce.  I still have a lot of tomatoes left and at this point, I'm tired of canning and will throw much of the tomatoes into the freezer.  At some point later in time, I will turn it into sauce.

I also pickled all of my jalapeno peppers, resulting in a gallon's worth of pickled peppers.  About a week ago, I pickled a little more than a half-gallon of pickled peppers, but today my brother just used much of it in making his jalapeno peppers.  I think I'm going to have to buy and pickle more jalapeno peppers.  Hopefully, it won't be too late in the season and that there will be more at the farmer's market.

I think the most tiring aspect of preserving is all the cleaning.  I actually don't mind the prepping and canning, but there are just so many dishes, pots, and pans to wash.  Oh my . . . .  Next weekend, I'm going to have to fit in making blueberry jam. 

So how is your summer coming along?  Are you canning or preserving anything?