Preserving the harvest

So we’ve grown all this food, how do we preserve it?

What do you do with all the zucchini, or tomatoes? I have found that you can only make so much zucchini bread, so what to do with all of the rest? I prefer canning over freezing. I find that my stores last longer when can.

I resisted canning for the longest time. I remember both of my Grandmothers canning most of the long hot summers here in Northern California. To preserve all the food we grew was essential to our families. There would have been a revolt if Nana didn’t make her butter pickles every year. She even had a whole porch room where all the jars full of fruit and veggies were stored. She would can huge lot’s of food all day long. I can remember the already hot kitchen with giant pots of boiling water steaming everything up. And her and my Mom and Aunts desperately trying to keep all of the kids out of the house.

My Grandma Amorin on the other hand would jar-up whatever was ripe that couldn’t be eaten fresh. I remember her always having something in the works. There was always a pot of something cooking. And a few jars always cooling. I mean like daily. This is the approach I have taken. In other words, right now I have tomatoes that are ripe, I’m going to do maybe three jars of sauce today. It’s really important to me to minimize waste. I don’t want a single vegetable to be wasted. So if they aren’t eaten right away, I’ll can just a few jars at a time. Once you get all the right tools, it’s easy and fun!

My Aunt who is a chef had the best advice when I started canning. “Make sure it tastes good before you put it in the jars!” Season to taste, and voila! Real food with natural preservation, and no added anything! It’s crazy how good it tastes, and how good I feel knowing EXACTLY what’s in my food.

You can do this! Even if you don’t have a big garden, farmers markets are a great place to get ripe foods that are not picked early to get them to market. They are left in the vine or plant to fully ripen and add all the natural flavor to your food. So go find your Grandmas favorite recipe and carry on that tradition for your family! Or start a new tradition!

See the full DIY canning video here to get started.

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