Summer Gin

Summer Gin Gardening+DIY Canning Hobbies Hi, I'm Summer! On this Page you can expect to find DIY projects, van life tips and tricks, gardening projects, and more!

I have over 4 years experience living and traveling on the road and currently travel part-time in my converted Ram ProMaster 2500. My partner, Ryan, and I also recently purchased a 1970s a-frame cabin we have currently transformed into our dream home. Thank you for following our journey!

Not canning exactly. Found this 3 year old meal I forgot about at my workshop in a box of tools. It looks... fine. The l...
01/08/2026

Not canning exactly. Found this 3 year old meal I forgot about at my workshop in a box of tools. It looks... fine. The liquid is still liquid. The potatoes white. No sign of mold. What's going on in here. Cooked with an instant pot. Slopped into a tupperware.

This is my first year canning AND my first year gardening. I have learned a ton. I know this skill set and materials wil...
01/06/2026

This is my first year canning AND my first year gardening. I have learned a ton. I know this skill set and materials will serve me for decades to come but when I tell you the meat sauce is the most delicious, and expensive jarred sauce I've ever used I am not kidding. I would not pay per jar what this sauce actually cost me. No same person would. But man, growing the tomatoes and peppers for it was definitely satisfying.

Anyway, it's just me and my husband so while we wouldn't survive the winter on what we've got, we may save a trip to the grocery store!

canning season! Boyfriend put this shelf together for me! Cantry is all set up.
01/06/2026

canning season! Boyfriend put this shelf together for me! Cantry is all set up.

it was the absolute best peach jam I'd ever had. A big improvement over the cookies he made. 🫣 I'd be lying if I said I ...
01/05/2026

it was the absolute best peach jam I'd ever had. A big improvement over the cookies he made. 🫣 I'd be lying if I said I didn't just eat it with a spoon.

01/05/2026

The Joy of Canning
It was 32F this morning, it is now 19F and dropping. When I got up this morning the ground was clear, now we have 4 inches of snow and another 3-5 on the way by morning. Was going to go to the grocery store but decided nope. So I went to my pantry and grabbed a pint jar of home canned white meat chicken, 2 quart jars of homemade chicken stock, a quart of homemade mixed veggies and dumped it all in a pot. Seasoned with Rosemary, Thyme, and a teaspoon of poultry seasoning and let it simmer for about 45 minutes. Now we have some delicious, hearty homemade chicken veggie soup all from our pantry of home canned goods. Won't be needing the grocery store today.

Pickled Diakon and Carrots
01/05/2026

Pickled Diakon and Carrots

I hope this can be a helpful reference for someone since all beans are so different. But today my husband needed a can o...
01/05/2026

I hope this can be a helpful reference for someone since all beans are so different. But today my husband needed a can of garbanzo beans. A 15 oz can was like $1.50 so I bought 2 lbs of dry beans for $4.

Pumpkin Puree
01/05/2026

Pumpkin Puree

Salted Caramel Pear Butter. First, pears are crazy slippery to peel. Second, it was worth every slimy minute. Hyper kids...
01/05/2026

Salted Caramel Pear Butter. First, pears are crazy slippery to peel. Second, it was worth every slimy minute. Hyper kids scrambled my brain and I dumped all of the ingredients in at once instead of holding the sugar and salt until after the pears were pureed. Everything thickened and nothing stuck to the pot so I think I’m okay there. I’m very careful about weighing ingredients and I always end up with higher yield, which makes me slightly uneasy. Any tips on why this might be true?

This stuff is amazing. I see a return trip to Costco for cheap pears in my future!

Ball’s Salted Caramel Pear Butter.

My favorite salsa recipe always comes up 1 can short. This time I thought I had it. My jar had other plans. Preheated my...
01/05/2026

My favorite salsa recipe always comes up 1 can short. This time I thought I had it. My jar had other plans. Preheated my jars and hot packed the salsa. Put my very last jar in the canner and it popped. Well here’s to trying to get the full set.

120 jars of Praline Pecan Syrup, Honeyed Plum Cardamom Jam, Holly Jolly Jam, Orange Marmalade, Gingered Pear Preserves, ...
01/04/2026

120 jars of Praline Pecan Syrup, Honeyed Plum Cardamom Jam, Holly Jolly Jam, Orange Marmalade, Gingered Pear Preserves, and Caramel Apple Jam. Whew.

First time using a gifted pressure canner and looking for advice. I had been sitting on a few quarts of frozen (crazy) h...
01/04/2026

First time using a gifted pressure canner and looking for advice. I had been sitting on a few quarts of frozen (crazy) hot peppers so I figured I would make a sauce by pickling them and then blending. Aiming for 'Cry Baby Craigs' taste if anyone is familiar. However, fermenting vs pickling is mixed in my noggin and am worried if I may have created a food safety issue.

Here is what I did:

Peppers were 3 seasons old and in my chest freezer so onions and carrots added to jump-start fermentation.

1:1 water/vinegar mix with 3 tbs of salt per quart.

Packed jars with veg and liquid; stirred out air; repeated.

Was advised by friend who ferments I should not have used vinegar. Woops?

Decided to sterilize and go for canning instead.

Put them into pressure canner with what I now assume was too much water. Below rim of jars but perhaps 4-6 inches from pot base.

Brought to 10psi -15 psi for 20ish minutes.

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3387 Scenic Way
Danville, IL
61832

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