Canning Season

It's August, which means it's canning time.  I have found that this is an almost-lost art that I think is coming back around.  I grew up in a home where mom canned everything from peaches to cherries to beans to relish to pickles.  We always had a big garden and when my parents built their house 28 years ago, they even planned a special room in the basement to store all of mom's canned goods.  We called it the fruit room.  I remember being sent down and told to "pick a fruit" for that evening's meal.  How amazing to have a whole grocery aisle in your home!

Now that I have my own home and garden I have enjoyed harvesting from it and preserving food for the winter.  There is something wonderful about planting seeds, caring for them as they grow, and harvesting with your own hands.  This year is the first year I have been blessed to stay home and it makes canning and preserving that much more fun.  It is also something that I know how to do to help provide for my family, which feels good.

Earlier this month I picked raspberries and froze pulp for freezer jam (sooo much better than store bought!) and last week I picked blueberries to freeze since our family loves them with oatmeal.  Earlier this week I made pesto out of our basil to freeze (there is nothing better in the middle of winter than a good pesto pasta).  Today I picked my third crop of green beans and canned them.  My hope is to can carrots, beets, peaches, and applesauce before the season is over.