I'm in the middle of canning season, so I thought it would be appropriate to write about.
If gardening season goes according to plan, canning season should be an enjoyable experience of processing foods that come ripe in a calm sequential order. Somehow, this method always seems to escape me. It's feast or famine. I have multiple batches of things ready all at the same time, and then nothing for days.
This year I really wanted to be organized and prepared. Part of my chaos is that my space is very small. I have very little counter space, a small table, and very little storage in my kitchen. When I started this canning season, I had prepared space in my spare room. I cleaned and organized. I bought new shelving. The plan was to pull out what I needed, do the canning, and put everything back in its place. The reality is, I have bowls and jars and supplies all over. I haven't seen the surface of my kitchen table in weeks.
The other side of the kitchen looks much the same.
I don't have a place to store ripe produce as it comes ripe, in order to prep one day and then can the next. And I certainly don't have the space to store ripe produce to wait for the weekend. It's been a lot of - go to work all day, come home and can until late in the evening.
So if I manage anything, it's just to barely clean up the canning mess, while waiting for jars to cool down.
It's exhausting. But I love it.
There is something very special about preserving your own food. Knowing what ingredients and care go into it. The satisfaction of not just being able to prepare a meal from foods, but to prepare the foods that go into those meals.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will share recipes, methods and results for specific items. I've already done blueberry jam, swiss chard, green beans, pickles, relish, potatoes, turnips, peaches & pears. I'm still waiting for tomatoes, corn, carrots, apples and pumpkins. I did enough beets last year that I don't need to this year. I have processed a few things from my herb garden, but sadly I let it get overgrown. I'll see what I can salvage from it.
Fondly,
Mrs B
Social Media Links:
Facebook: charity.gruenwald
Twitter: @cgruenwald
Instagram: nicaoidh77
Pinterest: nicaoidh77
Snapchat: MrsBeekeeper
If gardening season goes according to plan, canning season should be an enjoyable experience of processing foods that come ripe in a calm sequential order. Somehow, this method always seems to escape me. It's feast or famine. I have multiple batches of things ready all at the same time, and then nothing for days.
This year I really wanted to be organized and prepared. Part of my chaos is that my space is very small. I have very little counter space, a small table, and very little storage in my kitchen. When I started this canning season, I had prepared space in my spare room. I cleaned and organized. I bought new shelving. The plan was to pull out what I needed, do the canning, and put everything back in its place. The reality is, I have bowls and jars and supplies all over. I haven't seen the surface of my kitchen table in weeks.
Here's an honest picture:
The other side of the kitchen looks much the same.
I don't have a place to store ripe produce as it comes ripe, in order to prep one day and then can the next. And I certainly don't have the space to store ripe produce to wait for the weekend. It's been a lot of - go to work all day, come home and can until late in the evening.
So if I manage anything, it's just to barely clean up the canning mess, while waiting for jars to cool down.
It's exhausting. But I love it.
There is something very special about preserving your own food. Knowing what ingredients and care go into it. The satisfaction of not just being able to prepare a meal from foods, but to prepare the foods that go into those meals.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will share recipes, methods and results for specific items. I've already done blueberry jam, swiss chard, green beans, pickles, relish, potatoes, turnips, peaches & pears. I'm still waiting for tomatoes, corn, carrots, apples and pumpkins. I did enough beets last year that I don't need to this year. I have processed a few things from my herb garden, but sadly I let it get overgrown. I'll see what I can salvage from it.
Fondly,
Mrs B
Social Media Links:
Facebook: charity.gruenwald
Twitter: @cgruenwald
Instagram: nicaoidh77
Pinterest: nicaoidh77
Snapchat: MrsBeekeeper
I made a half batch of this recipe this last week with cucumbers from my garden. I am about to have a ton of them shortly. http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2014/08/bread-butter-pickles-one-of-great.html
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love Chef John!!!! Let me know how you like them.
ReplyDeleteI love em, they didn't take long to be ready either. That being said I ate half of them in two days before the flavor had time to seep in. I was to impatient.
ReplyDelete