Today I brought home about as many cucumbers as I could carry. After a failed attempt to grow pickling cucumbers this summer, the large display of relatively small slicing cukes called out to me today. Then, as I left the market, I stopped off at Ace Hardware for some canning lids and a bag of pickling salt. This was a first for me. I've been canning for well over a year but, to date, I hadn't made any pickles. Here's what happened...
My friend has two apple trees, small and large. Small tree is just coming into production with very sweet red apples. Large tree bears less sweet Granny Smiths, good for cooking. Since you get a lot of apples once a year but want to eat apples every week, you need to keep the apples in eating condition. There are various ways to do this.
Canning fresh fruits and vegetables as a cheap and effective method of preserving large amounts of food dates back to the Napoleonic Wars in late 18th century France. While its origins are military in nature (regular supplies of food were scarce in winter), and demand for mass-produced tinned food skyrocketed due to military demand during World War I, it is important to note that you can can cans or glass jars in the comfort of your own home.
As we talk about climate change and the ways in which we can reduce CO2 emissions worldwide, I feel that the important discussions about carbon treaties and international mandates need to be accompanied by concrete ideas as to how everyday people will be able to live healthy lives in a world where fossil-fuel intensive practices and products will come at a much higher price than we are currently accustomed to. Preserving our locally grown and harvested food at home is not only a great way to eat delicious food year-round and have fun with friends, but it significantly reduces the carbon footprint associated with mass-produced and globally transported food.
Yesterday, I snagged about 35 lbs of tomatoes for $35 at the farmers market, along with 6 onions, 1 head of garlic, 2 bunches chives, 1 bunch basil, and 4 lemons. I'd been waiting all summer for a day when the leftover tomatoes were going for cheap, and I finally had it.
The ingredients
Sauce tomatoes don't have to be pretty. In fact, if you can get them about one step above moldy (but NOT moldy), you're doing good. Pretty, fresh tomatoes make sauce JUST FINE, but you'll probably end up paying too much for them. Getting the ugly, almost-no-longer-good tomatoes that the farmers want to get rid of ASAP is how you get a good deal.
Two weeks ago, I canned up the ripe tomatoes in the BF and my Urban Farm. Tomorrow I'm doing the second round. It's a lot of work, but the results are good.
WHY CAN: Canning enables me to enjoy the produce of the garden year round. Once you get the stuff in the jars with a tight seal, you have a two year shelf life with no additional carbon footprint, and no additional cost. Dry tomatoes have limited usefulness.
I saw a deal I couldn't pass up yesterday. $12 for 12 pints of strawberries. The sign on them said they were good for jam. Well, I didn't know how to make jam. Time to learn?
I wanted to break in my new canner so I decided to make some applesauce. I went to the market today, where apples are nearly done for the year, and picked up $30 of fujis (about 17.5 lbs).
(Hooray! Thank you Monkeybiz! - promoted by Jill Richardson)
"The home gardener, by producing and preserving as much of his own food requirements as possible, can do much to relieve the pressure upon commercial producer and processor. It is not expected or intended that we, as backyard gardeners, can or will produce enough to take care of all of our individual needs. But every bit that we do grow will help." - M.G. Kains, "The Original Victory Garden Book" (1942, 1978)
This advice comes from 1942 and it's as timely now as it was then.
(Steve Young is a fantastic friend of our movement. If you click on our ActBlue page (left column of the site) you will see him listed on there as someone we oughta support! - promoted by OrangeClouds115)
The passage of time enlarges perspective. I grew up green and did not know it. I'm not talking about conservation and recycling (though my parents did and still do) nor do I mean opposing the war (we did vigorously). Instead, I am talking about green from the stand point that we grew our own food.
I grew up in Utah. My family did not have a farm. We lived in town. The quarter acre lots were big by today's suburban standards, but that was not enough land for my father, he "rented" the next door neighbor's back yard every summer and "farmed" the property. On our property, we had a cherry tree, an apricot tree, an apple tree and a plum tree. We also had a raspberry patch. On the neighboring property we grew corn, squash, beans, watermelons, beets (I still don't like beets), pumpkins, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and cucumbers.
