When I left Philly back in 1998, my ex boss was kind enough to buy me a pressure canner and I thank him every time I can veggies. I wouldn't be without my canner! Right now I've got an overflow of tomatoes, but that's okay because it will last me about 2-3 years. I've canned corn, beets, beans, apples, pumpkin, and I can't even remember all the other stuff I've canned over the last 15 years. Drying: spinach, onions, sorrel, herbs (of course) and a whole slew of other veggies can be dried.

I highly recommend the book Stocking Up for understanding how the can, freeze, dry, etc. produce and meats even. My neighbor to the south of me had pigs last year and they suddenly disappeared one day. I asked her where her pigs were and she answered, "Oh. They're in the freezer!"

I just canned some tomatoes this weekend and was surprised that it is now recommended to process them for 85 min. I wish I had a pressure canner, and might just move to one next year.

With a pressure canner you could can your meat too and save space in the freezer. I might think about a second freezer.

For me canning is a great deal more work than dehydrating. I am moving to canning just a few things. Tomatoes, as their liquid is often the base for much of what I cook and adds that flavor needed. A few types of relish and pre-made pizza or spaghetti sauce.

The rest I dehydrate as it saves space, I have wood heat so simmering something to reconstitute is not an energy loss as it otherwise might be if I had to turn on the stovetop for just that for part of the day.

So the question for me is "will it go in soup" and if the answer is yes it gets dehydrated

I almost never put fruit or veggies in the freezer except as a temporary storage for leftovers. The freezer is almost exclusively for beef, pig, lamb.

My favorite dehydrating books are Trail Food; drying and cooking food for backpackers and paddlers. This is small but covers more of a how-to than anything else and is excellent for those who are familiar with their own recipes, spices and preferences.

Making & Using Dried Foods is the next step up with every piece of how to dry it with one or two basic recipes to go with each type of food. Probably the best reference for dehydrating but the recipes are somewhat bland or older. I will say the mustard cabbage stir is surprisingly good and a new on to us.

The last is the Dehydrator Bible which has your fancy recipes and is excellent for fruits and desserts as well as some pretty good replicas of other types of meals your family might be familiar with if you are used to boxed foods. This is my "expand your dehydrated meal" repertoire book. She also splits out a 'backpacking' section which is good but something to practice at home first. I find the first book more useful in that area because that author has practised what he preaches and practised some more and so his thinking is very much around what works on the trail. A very good primer if you ask me and even though it is a thin little book it keeps giving up gems to use. Whereas the Dehydrator Bible is my go-to when I have guests and need something a bit more fancy from my stores of dehydrated veggies.

The one key I got from all of these books is that there is value in dehydrating foods in different shapes. Both shredded and sliced carrots are very useful but in different forms. The first in cakes/bread and the second in soups. etc. etc. I'm still in the learning curve for dehydrating but as space is an issue for me I'm trying to get farther in this area. I canned for many years before and always ran out of food long before harvest season the next year.

I can see the value of canning and please do not take my long-windedness on the subject of dehydrating as disliking canning, both have great value in getting us to the next year's harvest, I'm up against issues specific to where I live.

Pizza sauce cans exceptionally well, and you've described your love of home made pizza in posts before.

I usually do the equivalent of a quart mason jar of whole tomatoes (remove the seeds as best you can, they can make the sauce bitter if they get smooshed up) and a 12oz can of tomato paste to thicken it, which may not be needed if your tomatoes have a low enough water content.

Add about a shot glass of dry red wine, a couple of generous sprigs of fresh rosemary, about 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, 2 cloves of garlic, and salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. Sometimes I'll even give it a little shot of Louisiana hot sauce to add some zip.

Spin it all until smooth in the food processor or blender, then can as usual.

One quart mason jar ought to make at least 5 pizzas, but probably much more than that. The only big issue is that you'll need to freeze the leftovers, or reseal the can, once you open it to get some out, so I recommend canning in quart jars to minimize waste.

I hate most vegetables and soups when canned, so my take would be to pressure can the beef - stew meat, especially. Ground works, too; don't can steaks, obviously. Just slice it, put it in jars with a little salt (no water), and can according to instructions - usually 75 minutes for pints, IRC. This cooks and preserves your meat in one go, and you have stew beef ready to go. We use this in soups, stir-fries, and especially in beef tips and gravy over mashed potatoes. (Cook some carrots and cabbage in with the beef/gravy and it's a whole meal.)

I also like taking one meaty short rib, putting it in a quart jar with garlic, ginger, a squirt of soy sauce, and water to cover, and canning. It makes a lovely garlic-ginger-beef broth right in the jar!

I've also always thought it curious that you freeze soup. Here, we do the ingredients separately (can the tomatoes, freeze the other things) and quick-assemble when needed. Keeping the water out of the freezer saves a ton of space.

That reminds me of this:

http://www.uaf.edu/files/ces/publications-db/catalog/hec/FNH-00124.pdf

Which my bestie and I had quite the laugh over, lots of jokes in there about tusks, etc.

Please think of this as entertainment, not advocating anything.