Canning

© shoutingforha

The hubby and I have plans to plant a large vegetable garden in the Spring. We have talked about it for years but have finally decided to bite the bullet and get farming, at least on a small scale. The latter part of the winter will be spent preparing the optimum spot in the yard. 

As I began thinking about the mountains of tomatoes, green beans, squash, peas... that I would be harvesting, a simple question came to my mind. What in the world was I going to do with all those vegetables? The obvious answer was to start canning. 

While this sounded like an easy solution, I have absolutely no canning experience. My Mom used to can a few things when I was a child (peaches and apple butter are all I can remember), but she had given it up by the time I was grown. I don't even know a single person that cans. 

Being the genius that I am, I decided that I would use the winter months to hone my canning skills in preparation for storing the Summer's bounty. After doing a little research, I decided to purchase the Presto 23-Quart Pressure Canner. Less than a week later I was ready for my first attempt... Cinnamon Apples. Mmm.

As far as I can tell, there are two important factors that determine canning success or failure. First, making sure that the equipment, jars and lids are properly sterilized. Second, following all of the detailed instructions in the manual that outline how long and at what pressure specific foods should be canned.

Following those two rules should ensure that I don't poison my family with a nice case of botulism. No pressure, right? 

I am pleased to say that the whole process was much easier than I anticipated. I plan to try my hand at canning small batches of other fruits and vegetables as well as some soups, stews and maybe even a vat of Grandma's Sauce. Hopefully I will be an old pro by the time harvest rolls around.