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My Food Preservation um… Situation

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It all started early this summer and I have to say I had an accomplice. Up until that point, in order to actually can foods I had to borrow a friend’s canner. Well then my father-in-law dropped one off when he visited the family so I guess if my quickly filling cabinets have anyone to blame it is him.

After a new gasket the canner saw its first use in a while and I quickly became smitten. Organic potatoes we purchased in bulk at a deep discount were the first victims. The boys peeled and chopped, I packed and processed. It was just too easy now that a pressure canner lived right in my own kitchen.

And the gardens happened – the most productive garden we’ve had since inhabiting this land. Both green beans and squash were fermented and dehydrated, until I just couldn’t keep up with it and threw a couple of baskets full into the canner. These were the first jars of homegrown, home canned produce we’ve seen here in Texas.

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I took a break through August when my manuscript was due and September too as I finished the photos. But then I found a stash of dried beans so old no amount of boiling seemed to help. Our neighbor who’d been over helping with housework (hiring help when deadlines loom has been a win!) mentioned how her mom pressure canned them and they were soft and tender. Dozens and dozens of quarts later is when my hobby started to turn into a… situation.

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Then apple season happened and bulk organic apples at a good price means applesauce. But then two large boxes of longhorn bones showed up on our door and desperate times called for desperate measures so several more cases of jars came home with us… and, filled with broth, now join the collection taking up just a bit of space in our cabinets.

So, I thought I’d wait until we took a bull to the butcher before I filled any more jars. The many quarts of meat and broth would surely be enough to deter me from filling more jars and more cabinet space, right?

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Well, potatoes and apples and beets came into season once again. So now one hundred pounds of potatoes and forty pounds of apples and twenty-five pounds of beets are hollering for help and who am I to say no?

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Canning lots of food was really never on my to-do list, but when you live off-grid and are still working on that root cellar and have no refrigeration for produce, it certainly helps. The gallons of turnip kimchi on the counter indicate that my dedication to fermentation has not waned, I’ve simply added to the many, many jars we go through around here.

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I’ll probably need more jars… and cabinet space… or better yet, a root cellar! I’m rallying for a huge potato patch in the spring, more squash, and bushels of green beans! Surely, I don’t have a problem here, right?

Oh, and if you stop by, sorry for the slowly decaying food odor – kimchi always tastes better than it smells. Come back in a month and it will be spot on tasty… and after another turnip harvest, Lord willing, I’ll only have added to my reeking counters and sagging cabinets.

Anyone know if you can purchase jars by the pallet load?

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6 Comments

  1. Loved reading about your canner and abundance of things to can. I didn’t know about your book. Thanks for the heads up.
    Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

  2. I have to laugh at your kimchi disclaimers. It’s taken me many many moons to adjust to that part of my husband’s korean culture. The smell that can hit me when I open the fridge or garage or back patio door and at times makes my nose hairs want to curl. And with each pregnancy I must banish all fermenting and storing of ferments because the smell positively makes me wretch and I’m one of those nauseous for 40 full weeks kind of gals. Still, when I’m not pregnant there’s nothing much more satisfying than a perfectly ripened kimchi. Our family finds a baked or steamed sweet potato with kimchi on top is pretty tasty. Have you ever made a water kimchi? Delicious and lots of kimchi flavored brine to enjoy. Koreans serve it with ice cubes floating in it to slurp up straight from a bowl on hot days. Soo refreshing.

    I know how it feels to have a little crush on your canner too. I can’t enjoy any store-bought canned beans now that I’ve canned my own for a few years. They’re so much more tender and make amazing hummus.
    Blessings!

  3. I named my canner Sadie. I just felt it right, since I spend so much time with her. I’ll preserve a bunch of turkey stock (4 birds worth) tomorrow. <3

    Love to hear your adventures.

  4. Our lives/mission keeps us in the city most of the year. (close to medical facilities) So I have pretty good freezer space. But I have had years like you where I have more bargains than I can freeze or we can eat before spoiling! Really I should learn to can. You have inspired me. My husband will probably wish I’d never read this! LOL!
    p.s. I pre-ordered your book! so excited! (((HUGS)))

  5. Your post brought back such vivid memories of my gram when I was a little girl and her “big girl helper” during canning season. She was such a canner (7 kids (5 boys) during the depression) that she couldn’t really stop, even after everyone left home. When she died, her old limestone walled basement/food cellar still had dozens and dozens of canned food going back too many years to even be edible. I still have an unopened can of green beans setting on the cupboard in my kitchen labeled “last batch 1972”

    I love your blog and am so blessed by you and your family, faith, and life!!

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