home + garden

I've been canning on my own for over 30 years after spending 20+ years at mom's side. I've never had much luck using a pressure cooker, so its something I avoid. My tomato sauce, whole tomatoes, apple sauce, pickles, pears, peaches, cherries and other acidic foods that don't need one are darned good and I've not bought any pre-processed ones for years and years. Canners also become good at flavoring their own oils and vinegars. The later is something I won a blue ribbon at the MN State Fair for a few years ago.

As a 60+ avid gardener, hunter and fisherman, I have been dehydrating and pressure canning veggies, fish, fowl and meats for decades now. I have had very few bad results (taste not safety issues), and thoroughly enjoy the process.

please keep in mind that there are many segments of Minnesota society where canning never went out of style. I am still getting recipes from my 90+ year old neighbor. In many parts of the state canning is alive and well and always has been.

The U of M link in the article doesn't work, but I think the site they're referring to is http://www.extension.umn.edu/foodsafety/components/foodpreservation.htm

When I was a kid we always had a big garden. One day a fellow asked did what we did with all the food. Dad said, "We eat what we can, and what we can't eat, we can."

Mom (RIP) used to can tons of tomatoes, and her own pickles. My sister does that now. I can't garden to save my life, but I do buy cranberries when they're on sale around Thanksgiving, and can my own cranberry sauce, and I have been known to cut up and cook down the kids' Halloween jack-o-lanterns to can my own pumpkin for my Thanksgiving pies. It's really not all that hard, and at least you know what's in that jar--not tons of added salt, that's for sure.

After a few decades of canning, blanch and freeze, and organic gardening without any botulism, you can have the canned and frozen stuff from the supermarket if you want it. We will continue to live as we always have, knowing exactly where our food comes from and how it is processed.

I have been canning for 5 or 6 years, I took over for grandma when her arthritis got to bad to turn the rings. I am in my early thirties now, and seem to notice more and more “younger” adults taking a utilitarian approach to a lot of domestic chores and duties. I have had marathon canning sessions of close to 100 quarts of pickles and 3 dozen pints of tomato sauce. My next step is doing some cold crock pickles, and kraut. I love the smell after boiling my pickle brine.

If you can read and follow directions you can can successfully. Ball and Kerr put out how to do books and it is simple. Growing up we did it to be frugal, I do it As a diabetic. I can my own vegetables, and fruits. You can use little or no sugar, or salt and the tomatoes taste like tomatoes and not salt. I use a pressure cooker that was manufactured in 1942 National No.7 and can still get parts when needed at a hardware store in Glen Lake. If it is a National, or Presto, made in Eau Clare Wi. it is repairable and does a great job. Take care of your equipment and it will last a lifetime or two or three.

The URLs in the story have been fixed. Thanks for the heads up.