Canning Season

Canning season is here again! Canning season at our house starts around July and usually lasts until mid-October. Every year with a garden is different, and this year is no exception. Last year, we were swimming in zucchini and tomatoes and only grew enough berries to fill the kids' mouths. This year, we have had an abundance of blackberries (about 5 1/2 gallons) and a small-to-average size crop of tomatoes & cucumbers. So far, I have canned: tomatoes, pickles, sweet zucchini relish, dill pickle relish, candied hot peppers, mulberry syrup and blackberry jelly. I spend about five hours each week canning or preserving. Here is a peek at how it goes. Above is a photo of the essential guide to canning. It is a how-to, as well as a recipe book. 

I usually can on Sunday so that Darren can harvest everything he can from the garden. Nearly every surface of the kitchen is covered in canning paraphernalia in preparation for the task at hand. I pull up all the produce for the week and make a plan. The water bath canning pot is filled and is set to boil- it is a lot of water, so it needs a lot of time. From the cupboards, I pull down all my mixing bowls, large pots colanders & strainers. From the drawers, I grab spoons, slotted spoons, spatulas, knives & cutting boards. I just assume that I am going to need everything at hand... and I am usually right. I also make sure I have an assortment of jars and my canning specific equipment (eg. jar grabbers, magnetic lid grabber, etc.). There are also ingredients that every canner feels like they never have enough during canning season: vinegar, salt, sugar & lemon juice. There are also various spices. You can how the whole process takes over the space. I find that during this time Darren & the kids are good about making themselves scarce- not surprising because I get super-focused on the task at hand and the kitchen can get very hot with several pots of boiling liquid (in the middle of summer, though we have been blessed with a mild one this year). 

Jars, jars, jars... we do a lot of canned goods for gifts, and I cannot seem to buy enough 8 oz jars. I bought 5 cases at the start of the canning season and doubt they will last the summer. 

I wanted to get more photos of me working the produce, but it just gets to be too much. The above photo shows tomatoes ready to be boiled for peeling. I love my new tomato knife (it is super sharp, and I put a nice slice in one of my fingers a few weeks back to prove it). Every cook or canner has methods that work for them, and for tomatoes, I found that cutting off the stems and slicing an X in the bottom is the easiest way for me to peel them. I am constantly moving and working. So while I have something boiling, I am preparing the next batch of produce or mixing a brine or sterilizing jars. This was my first year making jelly, and I got a food mill to help me process my blackberries. It is very nice, but working with berries is messy work.  Below are photos of some of my finished products. 

Blackberry jelly

Dill pickles & Dill pickle relish

Tomatoes! We have a good crop of yellow tomatoes, and I think these look like jars of sunshine. 

Candied hot peppers... way too hot for me!

Of course, when all the "fun" of the canning day has ended there is still clean up to be done, which probably takes up an hour itself. This is a big ol' pile of the bigger pots, pans & bowls that I used. It is hard work, but it also feels like such a good, solid task. Our garden is organic, and what we put up is what we use (or give away to others). It is generally healthy and tastes good- the product of our joint toil. When I can I feel like I am preserving a history that I hope my children will continue.