Garden and Canning - Part I

Essential to survival in hard times was the ability to grow food and preserve it for later use safely. In the photos above are my Dad in the in the late 30s or early 40s in front of his family's backyard garden and his father on the fence between my grandparent's home and the vacant lot they had their mini farm set up on next door. It was land, no one was using it, they weren't going to let a perfectly good patch of dirt go to waste.

Let's start with the gardening side. I have nothing to say. My green thumb consists of keeping a half a dozen houseplants one step ahead of inevitable demise.

I have however, reaped the benefits of having a father, grandfather and father-in-law with an amazing talent for coaxing mass quantities of edible food from seeds and dirt. From observing them, I have discovered two important things; (1) make friends with gardening people, they always have extra and need free labor and (2) if you can grow a weed, you can grow a herb. Herbs are the things in little jars in the seasoning aisle of the grocery store. I found out I can grow a couple of them in a sunny spot. I am hoping to graduate to a container and grow some cherry tomatoes!!

I was raised in Illinois and now live in Arizona. I still have my seasons backwards. However, I found that by having friends who are gardeners, I am learning more about how this works.

The ability to can or freeze the harvest can have a very positive impact on your family budget. It is also better for you than most store-bought as long as we do it right and don't poison our family.

The Ball Company (makers of canning jars for 125 years) has a super resource at their http://www.freshpreserving.com/ site.

I am not a good canner yet, but I love canning jars for a bunch of other uses. I use canning jars for my homemade salad dressing. I use a canning jar in my lunch for my beverage, I use canning jars to store rice, beans, peppercorns, tea leaves, and cinnamon. I use canning jars to make Christmas gift mixes of soup and cookies. I use canning jars because they do not melt in the microwave, stain, or retain flavors. Canning jars last a long time and the seals and screw tops fit every single jar. I do not like playing plastic lid Concentration when I am trying to put food away. Canning jars come in pints, quarts, half gallon. I use both wide mouth and standard. The jars have far outlasted any plastic I have ever purchased.

I have a friend who is a champion canner and I am hoping to be invited to help her at her next canning session. She sends canned goods to her daughter who is away at college. Her daughter is re purposing the canning jars into drinking glasses since all the glasses they purchased for her college apartment have already broken.

What are you capable of growing for your family's use and how can you safely preserve it for hard times? Part II tomorrow!

Happy Cheapness!