So, I've been expanding my homemaking talents by canning this year. And, wow is it a lot of work! I've burned myself several times, it makes my kitchen the temperature of a tropical rain forest, and I despise the sight of fresh vegetables when I'm done. It's difficult to spend hours chopping and cooking to produce a jar of salsa when there's a Food Lion just down the road. And, honestly, I've wondered sometimes if it's really even financially beneficial. But, I think after I build up my jar supply and I grow (or bum off of other people) what I'm canning, it really is cheaper than buying it. So, here is the tally for this year ...
41 quarts and
30 pints of ...
peaches
green beans
pickled okra (yee-haw y'all!)
pickled banana peppers
tomatoes
salsa
peach jam
strawberry jam
and we have stocked an ample amount of peaches, strawberries, blueberries, and okra (an "ample" supply of okra isn't very much for us - I don't even know why we grew it this year, but it's producing like crazy!) in our outside freezer.
So, it seems crazy to spend so much time and money on canning. But, when it's all over, I have to admit that it's quite satisfying to see all of those jars lined up on the shelf: red, green, and orange. They're beautiful in a way. And, I'm passing on the art to the next generation: Kate carries around my jar-lifter-outer thing and tells me that her pretend food is "too hot".
And ... it's satisfying to know that my family will have lots of healthy canned food to eat while I'm recovering by myself in Hawaii.
4 comments:
Wow! I am so impressed! Those canned peaches do look beautiful. I am sure they taste so much better than store canned ones too and there is nothing like homemade jam. Sigh...I feel like I need a vacation just thinking about all of the work you did! Bravo! And... you are going to get called to be the food storage lady in relief society someday just you wait and see! ;)
i really DON'T think it's cheaper when you have to buy the jars or the produce, but the stuff is so much better. and then when you are growing more food, it is cheaper.
i am proud of you. and i, too, love the sight of beautiful colors of food in canning jars lined up together on the shelf (DUH).
it's salsa for me today.
It is hard work but so worth it in the long run. I think the initial costs of supplies might be high to get all the cans you need but that is a one time deal and can reuse in years to come. I did salsa today and LOVE IT. It is hard to cut up everything and peel off the outside but I love the way it taste. To me it is better than anything I could have bought. I got all the veggies from Mother so the costs to me is just about nothing. I don't do much more than salsa and jam currently.
Way to go! I hope you enjoy your trip in Hawaii. I'd be happy to go along with you.:)
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