Pressure Canning Pulled Pork

When it comes to Pulled Pork, look for either Pork  Shoulder or Pork Butt (pork butt is actually part of the shoulder, not the butt. The actual butt of the pig is the "ham"). I had to read a lot about pork before committing to buy because I always used to buy center cut pork chops and cook them/shred them. That was really expensive and a lot of work lol. Now I opt for the pork shoulder/pork butt. Bone-in or boneless will work, whichever you prefer. Bone-in shoulders take a little longer to cook, but can make the meat more flavorful and succulent. Boneless cuts can be sliced into smaller chunks for easier handling and quicker cooking. I've done both many times and find bone-in or boneless fairly interchangeable. I usually go for 4 to 6 pounds boneless or 4 to 7 pounds bone-in. This will give you about 10 cups of shredded meat, which is enough to feed a crowd or plenty for a week's worth of meals. Cooking a pork shoulder takes quite a lot of time, so I tend to roast as much as I can at once and pressure can what I don't think I'll use right away for future meals.

Making all that BBQ sauce a couple weeks ago, I thought it'd be a perfect time to make some Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Of  course, I can't just make a small portion I need to make enough to can some! Pulled pork is a summer favorite for most down here in the south, and I technically lie in the south so that is fun to say! Now, I will be able to whip it out with little preparation and have amazing pulled pork sandwiches with homemade BBQ sauce. A dish that would normally take all day to cook you can have ready in minutes after canning it!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Yield: 4 pints 1 quart
Ingredients
4lbs Pork Shoulder or Pork Butt
1 Onion sliced
BBQ sauce
**optional** 2 tbls Dry Rub Spice (mixture from BBQ sauce recipe)

(Cooking the Pork)
1) Place the Onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top it with your pork and if desired a couple tablespoons of the "Dry Rub Spice Mix" (I gave in my BBQ sauce recipe last week).

2) Turn the crock pot on medium and cook the pork shoulder all day.

3) Once the pork is tender enough, take a fork and start pulling it apart.

4) Add more BBQ sauce until you get the consistency you want for your pulled pork. I mixed my sauce in with the pulled pork but it still seemed a little dry for canning and I wanted my pork to be completely submerged in the sauce so I added some water until I got the consistency I was looking for (I added about 1 cup of water, broth would also work).

5) Bring your meat/sauce mixture to a simmer. You want it to be a little saucy because the canning process absorbs a lot of the liquid.

(Pressure canning process)
1) Prepare your canning jars by boiling them in water and put the lids in simmering water to sterilize and kept them all hot until your ready for them.
2) Ladle the Pulled Pork into your jars, and wipe the rims clean (I always use distilled white vinegar to get all the bacteria and extra grease off before lidding them).
3) Remove the lids from the simmering water using your handy dandy magnetic lid wand, tightening them onto the jars to a fingertip tightness.
4) Processed the pint jars in my pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure for 70 minutes (90 minutes for quart jars). **Don't forget to adjust cook pressure according to your elevation**.
5) After processing, I removed the canner from the heat and let it cool, and allowing the pressure to drop naturally. 
6)  Removed the jars from the canner using your handy dandy jar lifter and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool. I love to sit and listen for the PING of each successfully sealed jar.

Real BBQ anytime you want it :)

1 month in - Garden update!

Remember all those little seeds I planted, then transplanted? They are growing well!

Some of my seedlings average heights so far:
Tomatoes 3 inches
Carrots 1-3 inchess
Broccoli 2 inches

The broccoli is not supposed to be growing at all because of the heat outside, but it seems to be doing well so far. I have been keeping the soil wet, and providing partial shade as much as I can to it to help keep it a little cooler.

My 2 starter tomato plants are producing green tomatoes, and a lot of them. They have grown over 2 feet since I planted them!

My blueberries are not yet blossoming, but I haven't researched much on when they blossom in Florida... I might have to do a little research on that soon :)

My 2 cucumber starter plants are doing well, one of them is over 10 inches tall, the other is about 8 inches.  They are also almost long enough to start climbing their trellis.

Our starter strawberries are growing and we have a few red strawberries on them as well! I don't know if they will ever get all the way red because my kids keep picking them all before they have a chance to fully ripen!  I love that my kids are so excited about helping out in the garden, and they run out there often to see if there are any red tomatoes or strawberries ready to be picked.


 

My celery is growing well in the window seal. It is about  inches tall already! I have 2 stalks "re-growing" from the base  (see previous blog on replanting celery). I have it indoors because it doesn't grow well in heat, and is a cold weather vegetable. It is growing great so far in my kitchen window. I have had to aerorate it frequently to avoid mold growing because it is growing indoors it needs a little extra treatment. I water it just enough to keep the soil moist, about every other day.

Vertical Cucumbers

Well a little about cucumbers to start with, they are very easy to grow and are very prolific. They need to be planted in a section of the garden that receives full sun and has an evenly moist, fertile soil. With that, success is almost guaranteed.

Like other summer vine crops, cucumbers are heavy feeders and demand a steady supply of water. Work plenty of organic matter (compost, well-rotted manure) into the soil before planting to help it retain moisture and to provide the nutrients the cucumber plants will need throughout the season. 

I read an article recently about growing vegetables vertically. I really like this idea because it keeps all the produce off the ground and according to research, it dramatically increases yields because the vines receive better air circulation and more sunlight than vines on the ground. I am trying this concept out with cucumbers. 

My grampa helped me make a trellis for them to climb. We decided 5" squares should work well. I'm hoping it will gives the cucumber plant a little more light by having more space, and plenty of room to fall through the holes for growing. (We also made one standing vertical for Jessalynne's green beans to climb and gave it a little extra support). If the cucumbers grow well, I am anxious to try the vertical gardening with some other fruit/vegetables like melon and tomatoes. I read that tomatoes grow really well vertical (or hanging). 

2014 is my garden guinea pig year. My year of trial and error. I am hoping to be successful as a new Floridian, but I know it will likely take a few years to workout all the kinks of what works, and what doesn't. My planting/harvest timing is also going to be a huge experiment this year!

RIP Vegetables (thanks to my son...) LOL

So most people plant their garden and worry about deer eating their plants, squirrels swiping their produce, bugs infesting, maybe even different molds growing... Well I planted my garden knowing I would have a constant and consistent fight with my son. He loves the dirt, and he loves to "help". Here's a funny little story about my son helping me with my garden.

I went out to water my garden the other day, and I found some of my plants were missing! They weren't eaten, or missing parts of the plant. They were literally dug up with a hole left in their place. "What on earth happened to my vegetables!?!?" I asked knowing immediately who the culprit was... Brixton, my 2 1/2 year old. Oh boy! He dug up several of my plants and put them back in the plastic containers we brought them home from the store in... Clever Brick, real clever! Unfortunately, they were not salvageable and didn't make the "re-transplant". I did promptly throw all the old containers out so he wouldn't try to replant any other plants in them again!


RIP banana peppers, tomatoes and marigolds, you will be missed!

Building Raised Garden Beds

My husband finally got a break from work and helped me finish the last of my garden beds. We used 2x4 and 2x6 pieces of wood with stakes in the corner to strengthen them and screws to hold everything together. My kids love helping, especially when it comes to the garden so even though it is extra stressful sometimes, and everything takes even longer, we try to let them help as much as possible. I hope by allowing them to help, plant, water and watch the seeds grow, maybe they will be more excited about eating (and better enjoying) the fruits of our labor. Jess (age 6) has been writing about it during her free writing time in school (kindergarten) so I know she has been thinking about it, and is excited to watch everything grow. Brixton (2 1/2) just likes to dig everything up and play in the dirt... but hopefully once the little red tomatoes start growing he will enjoy picking them and eating them! Chloee (age 4 1/2) loves to help, but said she would like to give her share away to someone else who needs it (so she doesn't have to eat it)... I'm hoping as stuff grows she will change her mind LOL.
Once we finished the boxes, I stapled weed barrier to the bottom of the bed in hopes of keeping my nice well composted dirt from mixing into our Florida dirt (sand) too much. *Fingers Crossed*. Then I will just need to pickup a little bit more dirt to finish filling them so I can start getting the rest of my seedlings all transplanted. Not a bad start... I'm anxious to see how this first year of gardening in Florida goes!

Paying for Dirt?

First off, let me say the idea of paying for dirt baffles me. I  moved here from Southern Oregon and  we planted everything right into the ground in our nutrient rich soil! Here in Florida, the soil is basically just dirty sand. So we went to a local nursery and got a yard of good top soil for garden bed #1. It wasn't enough to fill the whole bed, but it was close. Justin made the garden box 10x4x12. We are about 1 week in and  I have 2 tomato plants, and 3 pepper plants planted, plus 2 rows of purple dragon carrots planted, and my starter seeds we planted last week are now sprouting. Things are going pretty good so far. We also picked up some more wood this weekend to build 2 more long skinny garden beds.  I plan to use them for Green beans, Broccoli and Cauliflower. Only problem as of right now, we need more dirt!  Who would have thought you have to spend so much money to buy DIRT! Here is a picture of my seed transplants after about a week of growth. These are organic tomatoes (beefsteak and roma). We used an egg carton to plan them in. It tears apart when damp and we will just transplant the whole little cube. Then it can disintegrate into the dirt.

My adventure of gardening in North East Florida

You might wonder why I chose canning? It's a lot of work, yes. What if your power goes out? We are trying to get a stock supply to last us through a month of no power. I'm pretty sure all my friends and family will appreciate having hot soup or stew, and fresh veggies during a major catastrophe like a hurricane or storm that causes a major power outage. You never know what to expect but I know properly canned and preserved foods can last over 50 years on your shelf. My freezer cannot do that.

So where to start?
Planning planning planning! There are so many individual parts to this "growing-our-own-food-project" we needed to pick a place to start. I broke down everything we need to do, in an order I think will work...

1) Garden Beds - we need them built, and need good organic soil to fill them
2) What to plant- what will grow during this season? What needs sown directly into the ground and what needs transplanted?
3) Planting - we need seeds and starters
4) Rain Barrels - we need to buy gutters and install them &  rain barrels for collecting water
5) Gardening - we need garden beds and healthy vegetable plants
6) Canning supplies - I have some but I have nothing to can yet!

We decided a good place to start on this whole adventure is to buy seeds, and build the garden beds. We spent a good portion of the day building raised garden beds (because here in Florida, we have sand not soil so planting on the ground doesn't make for very healthy plants) we were able to use almost all leftover wood we had from previous projects. I did a lot of research as to what I should be growing in April and May in North Eastern Florida, and what seeds needed to be transplanted vs sown directly into the ground. We bought some starter Strawberry plants, Blueberry bushes and a bunch of Organic seeds and planted the tomatoes and bell peppers into a little makeshift green house. Others (green beans, watermelon, zucchini and pumpkin) will go directly into the garden bed once we pickup the dirt.

That leaves me about 2 weeks to pickup dirt, and get my compost barrels built and ready and to start composting so I have fresh organic fertilizer/soil for my garden.

My kids are planting pots of Blueberries and strawberries right now. They love helping.