Dehydrating Watermelon

Today we show you how we dehydrate watermelon so we can enjoy it all winter long. Dehydrating watermelon is pretty easy, and a really way to preserve it all winter long. Naturally since it's snowing outside now is the perfect time to dehydrate our watermelons.
Cut pieces about 1/4 thick and how ever long you want. Put in at 158 degees for about 24 hours, checking often close to the 24 hour mark you may need more or less time depending on your watermelon.

Heres the watermelon jam recipe
How to Make Watermelon Jam
Ingredients:
8 cups of watermelon, black seeds removed, separated from rinds, and cut into chunks
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 boxes of No Sugar Needed Pectin (if you only add 1 box of pectin, you will end up with something akin to watermelon syrup)
4 cups sugar
How to make watermelon jam:

1. Puree the watermelon chunks in a blender. Depending on the size of your blender, you may have to work in two batches, but the finished amount of puree should be roughly 4 cups.
2. Pour the watermelon puree into a large pot. Add lemon juice.
3. In a small metal bowl, whisk both boxes of pectin together with 1/2 cup of the sugar. This will prevent the pectin from clumping later on.
4. Whisk the pectin/sugar mixture into the watermelon puree.
5. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir almost constantly to prevent the bottom of the mixture from burning.
6. You will add the rest of the sugar when the mixture is boiling so hard that you can't stir the bubbles away. Whisk the sugar in.How to Make Watermelon Jam
7. Return the mixture to a hard boil, and cook for one minute.
8. After one minute, remove the jam from heat.

Canning Homemade Watermelon Jam:

1. Preheat 10 half-pint jars and 10 jar lids. We do this by running the jars through the dishwasher and boiling the lids on the stove.
2. Heat a very large pot of water for canning. Preferably, this is a 20-quart or bigger pot filled about halfway with water and heated on high til the water boils.
3. Get out a jar, make sure it is both clean and dry, and fill it with jam using a metal ladle and a funnel, leaving about 1/4 inch of empty space at the top.
4. Wipe the top of the jar with a clean paper towel to make sure it's clean and dry. Place a lid on top of the jar.
5. Screw a lid ring on firmly.
6. Repeat until all jars are full. If you have a partial jar, you should put it in the refrigerator and eat it in the next couple of weeks. Don't can a partial jar.
7. Place all of the jars into the very large pot of boiling water. Boil them for 10 minutes. (If you are above sea level, times will vary. Consult the instructions inside the box of pectin to be sure.)
8. While the jars are boiling, set a dry towel on the counter (or in some other place where they can sit undisturbed for at least 24 hours). When the time is up, use tongs to remove the jars and set them in the middle of the towel. When all of the jars are out of the water bath, bring the ends of the towel up and lay it over top of the jars.
9. Once the jars are cooled, check to make sure they sealed. Just listen for the ping, and check that the lids have sucked down.

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Places I get my seeds from:
I save some from my own plants
https://migardener.com/
https://www.ufseeds.com/
https://www.rareseeds.com/
https://onegreenworld.com/product-category/seeds/vegetables/

Link where you can find awesome shirts and help support a young couple that wants to get more into homesteading https://www.cafepress.com/makeamericagrowagain

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