HOME CANNING MADE EASIER

 

 

After this past year with food and supply shortages, more folks than ever have gotten on the home canning band wagon. For as far back as I can remember, this has just been a way of life for my family. It is actually hard for me to fathom anyone who doesn’t do it.

However, like anything, it can be daunting for the novice. I have heard comments such as “Pressure canning scares me,” or “What if I do something wrong and it’s not safe to eat, I would rather buy it.”

Of course, buying it isn’t always the answer either. Just think how many food recalls there have been in the last few years.

So, is home canning for you? You will never know until you try. As with driving a car, owning a gun or anything else, just follow the instructions. Where people get into trouble and things go wrong is when they take shortcuts. These only come after years of experience and trial and error.

With a few of those years tucked under my belt, I would like to offer some things that I have learned so far. Learning is a process, you never get done. Hopefully, these tips will help not only the beginner, but also the seasoned canners.

 

JUST DO IT

 

I’ll admit that, even with following instructions, accidents happen. Pressure canners do blow up. My best friend was canning salmon in her garage when this happened. Thankfully, she wasn’t hurt and it wasn’t in the house! That was a few years ago and modern pressure canners now have more than one safety device built in. For this reason, it’s preferable to buy a new one unless you inspect a used one to make sure all the equipment like sealing rings and gauges are all working properly.

Don’t be afraid to waste a little food. It’s better than getting sick. Whether water bath canning or pressure canning, sometimes there is a knick in the jar or a faulty lid and a jar doesn’t seal properly. Either put it in the refrigerator and use shortly or throw it out. Yes, a lot of hard work goes into home canning, but foregoing a little of that work is better than getting sick…or worse.

Skipping steps to make canning go quicker or easier is what gets folks into trouble. So, if it’s your first few times, get that booklet out and follow it precisely.

 

WATER BATH VERSUS PRESSURE CANNING

 

Don’t be pressured into thinking that you absolutely have to pressure can. It all depends on what you are canning. High acid foods like fruits, jams, jellies, preserves, tomato-based products without meat and fermented foods are fine in a water bath canner. Pressure canning is the only safe way of canning low-acid foods like meats, seafood, poultry and all vegetables.

Of course, high acid foods can be pressure canned as well as water bathed. Sometimes folks use this method for the sake of saving time when doing multiple batches. For example, quarts of peaches need to be water bathed for 25 minutes and only pressure canned for 10 minutes. However, they may be softer and of less quality than if they were water bathed.

Generally, water bath canning is easier than pressure canning, at least for me. It’s all a matter of preference and where you are doing your canning….which brings us to the next topic.

 

CHOOSING A HEAT SOURCE

 

A couple generations ago, home canning was so prevalent that many homes had a separate small kitchen in the basement or back of the house that was used just for canning. It kept the heat and the mess out of the home. Most folks today don’t have that option.

Modern canning on an electric stove can be a problem if you have a glass top stove. Most manufacturers don’t recommend canning on these surfaces because the high heat can crack the glass top. Many water bath canners have grooves in the bottom that let heat build up and reflect back on the heating surface.

Some older models of gas stoves don’t have burners big enough to produce enough heat to sustain boiling a large water bath canner for an extended amount of time. We tried canning rhubarb this year on Ron’s gas stove top and it just wouldn’t get hot enough around the perimeter of the canner to cause it to boil.

So, what’s the answer? I am going out on a limb here because every source says NEVER to use a turkey fryer for your canning heat source. OK, with that fact stated and, if anyone has any reservations, I would not recommend this method. I am just going to state our experience.

We have used a turkey fryer successfully for water bathing and a little pressure canning. There is one absolute rule doing it this way….DO NOT WALK AWAY. I am guilty of cooking something and walking away and doing other chores while something is heating, frying, etc. This is not an option when using a turkey fryer as a heat source.

The advantage to this method for me is that it keeps the heat and the mess outside the house. Especially with a water bath canner, once it starts to boil, it inevitably boils over which is not good for any stove top. Outside, this is never a problem. I simply sit in a lawn chair and adjust the gas flow to regulate the heat. Bonus here, I get a small break while keeping an eye on it!

 

YOU DON’T HAVE TO GROW IT TO CAN IT

 

I have heard comments, especially from those who live in the city, that they think they can’t can because they don’t grow their own produce. Farmers markets may even be a better source for home canning than personal gardens because you can buy the amount you need all at once instead of waiting for it to ripen. My last option would be going to a grocery store or supermarket but they are still viable options if you have no others.

 

A COUPLE QUICK HINTS

 

Even old pros learn something new everyday. For starters, I used to peel tomatoes by the hour to can pasta and pizza sauce, salsa and plain tomatoes. Now, I just wash and chunk them and stew them for a few minutes then throw them in a food processor. The skins hold phytochemicals like quercetin and kaempferol, so besides keeping those, it saves a lot of time peeling them. However, I would not recommend doing this for making tomato juice.

When canning peaches, I always disliked ending up with jars two-thirds full no matter how tightly I packed them. After doing some research, I discovered that dropping the peeled peaches in hot syrup and boiling for two minutes takes the air out of them which will leave a full jar after processing. I was skeptical, thinking that boiling them would only make them mushy. But, lo and behold, it worked. Old dogs can learn new tricks!

Home canning isn’t for everyone but, for those of us who do have a passion for it, the real satisfaction (besides eating the preserved foods!) is in preserving our own harvest, knowing what’s in the food and seeing the finished product lined up on the pantry shelves. It doesn’t get any better!

 

 

 

GOOD OLE GARLIC

 

Like most folks, my garden consists of the all the staples year after year. Sometimes, though, it’s just fun to try something new, so my sister and I try at least one new and different plant each year. Last year it was eggplant (new for me) and she tried peanuts.

This year, by happenstance, it was garlic for me. Ron’s son Rodney gave me some bulbs last fall and said that was when to plant them. So, I did plant them and forgot about them until they sprung up this spring. I was amazed at how easy they are to raise and I also found that garlic has a few surprising twists of its own.

First and foremost, it is a super food. For centuries, people have used garlic not only to season food but to reap its health benefits. Although there are garlic supplements, the best way to release its health happy power is to cut the cloves then to eat them. This turns garlic’s thio-sulfinite compounds into allicin, a powerful antibiotic and antifungal that reduces bad cholesterol because it inhibits enzymes from growing in liver cells.

The allicin also helps release nitric oxide in blood vessels, which relaxes them and lowers blood pressure. The bulbs are packed with potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, selenium, beta carotene and other trace minerals. It is also rich in Vitamins C and B6 and it’s low in calories. So, what’s not to love…besides garlic breath!

I found a little history on our tasty friend. There is even a National Garlic Day, April 19. Technically, garlic is a vegetable rather than an herb. It belongs to the onion family, alongside leeks, shallots and chives. China produces about two-thirds of the world’s garlic, about 46 billion pounds each year. It has been cultivated in the Mediterranean for over 5000 years.

Besides being healthy and adding zest to dishes, crushed garlic cloves make a good glue. It is especially good for fragile items like glass. Who would have guessed that!

It’s no wonder that something so popular is also steeped in superstition. Bram Stoker introduced the concept of vampires being repelled by garlic in 1897 in his novel “Dracula.” This idea stemmed from garlic’s many medicinal properties, particularly as a mosquito repellant. Brides carry a clove for good luck to keep evil away and it is placed in homes for the same reason.

Garlic is not only good for you but it is also easy and fun to grow.

 

GARLIC VARIETIES

Garlic is only one of 700 species in the allium or onion family and all alliums are members of the lily and amaryllis family. There are three main types of garlic, hardneck, softneck and elephant garlic.

Softneck garlic is what you usually find in grocery stores. This type has lots of cloves ranging in size from tiny to large. This variety stores the longest and keeps the best. It is best suited to temporate climates with mild weather. It is the type that can be braided that you see hanging in Italian restaurants.

Hardneck varieties have fewer cloves but they are more uniform in size. The flavor is stronger and they can’t be braided. Hardnecks grow best in climates with harsher winters and they are the cold hardy type. They also have only a shelf life of about six months.

 

Hardneck varieties produce garlic scapes, which are the stalks growing out of the bulbs. Harvested before they mature, they are tasty with the flavor of garlic and are great in salads, omelettes, pesto and anywhere garlic is used. Not only are scapes tasty, but cutting them off before they flower sends more energy to the bulb. If they do flower, the flowers are also edible, especially in salads.

 

Elephant garlic is so named because of its size. It is usually a leek and has the mildest flavor of the three varieties. It stores well but also doesn’t braid.

 

HOW TO PLANT GARLIC

Softneck varieties are planted in spring and harvested that first season whereas hardneck varieties are planted in the fall before the first frost. Be sure and purchase your first cloves from a nursery or greenhouse because the ones found in stores are usually sprayed with a growth inhibitor to retard sprouting on shelves.

Break the bulbs apart and plant individual cloves. Plant them a half inch deep and two to four inches apart in the row, pointed side up.

That’s about it, plant them and forget them until they sprout in the spring. They need six to eight months for good growth.

Garlic is beneficial for many garden plants, fruit trees and roses. Nightshade vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplant and peppers and brassica family plants like cabbage, broccoli, kale and cauliflower also enjoy having garlic nearby because many rodents are repelled by its odor. So, be sure and interplant your garlic with these plants.

 

GARLIC BULBILS

 

When garlic scapes are left to mature, garlic bulbils are formed.  They are the round “bulbs” in the middle of the stalks that contain the seeds. These seeds can be planted as well as the bulbs themselves. However, garlic plants grown from these bulbils require two years before they produce.

 

Even though they take longer to mature, it is good to plant from bulbils every few years because they help to strengthen and multiply the crop. It is also more economical because one plant produces many bulbils as compared to the amount of cloves. If you are planting a large area, planting bulbils every year ensures you’ll have lots of garlic every year. Plants from bulbils also help to avoid soil-borne diseases and increase the vitality of the strain.

 

 

 

HARVESTING GARLIC

 

Garlic is ready to harvest when the leaves start to turn brown and begin to die back. Be sure and not pull the plant, but rather dig under the bulb to get the whole plant.

 

Place the plants in a well-ventilated area and allow to dry for three to four weeks. They are cured when most all of the leaves are dry. At this point, cut the tops off, leaving at least an inch attached to the bulb. If you have left the scapes to mature, this is the time to also harvest the seeds.

Store the bulbs in a cool, dry place in a mesh bag or open box where they can get plenty of air. They are ready to break apart and use the individual cloves for cooking or save some back to plant the following year.

People are returning to homegrown and homemade foods and health remedies as traditional natural remedies in nature and foods become common knowledge. This is how it’s supposed to be and how it was before we traded wholesome for modern convenience. Garlic fits right in here, as a wholesome food and a natural medicine. It has definitely earned its place in everyone’s garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LASAGNA FOR THE GARDEN

 

 

In all my years of gardening, I thought I had at least heard of most all techniques. Well, I was proven wrong. Have you ever heard of lasagna gardening? Neither had I until this past week.

Patricia Lanza introduced this new concept back in 1998. An inn owner and mother of seven kids, she didn’t have time for gardening in the traditional way. Her strategy reduces the time weeding, tilling and watering by at least 60 percent.

Also called sheet gardening or no-dig gardening, this technique is actually an age-old philosophy built on the idea of putting layers upon layers of different materials. It is often used to enlarge perennial borders or convert part of a lawn into a vegetable patch. It is also a great way to fill an area like raised beds or contaminated urban areas with a healthy growing medium.

The whole point of a lasagna garden is to simplify tasks by using natural organic methods and materials that are on hand. It is not recommended for larger areas like a whole conventional garden because of the amount of material that is required for all the layers.

  

HOW TO BUILD A LASAGNA GARDEN

 

*Establish the garden area. No need to prep the soil, simply lay black and white newspapers or cardboard over existing weeds and grass. Water thoroughly and the weeds will smother and die and this will also prevent new ones from sprouting.

*Gather brown material…lots of brown material. This is your leaves, straw, peat moss, wood chips, shredded paper, newspapers and sawdust. These materials are dry and decompose quickly and also, being bulky, they ensure a light, oxygen-rich soil. Next gather green materials that include compost, manure, grass clippings, yard waste, vegetable scraps like coffee grounds and eggs shells, seaweed, blood meal and animal bedding. These are rich in nitrogen and are dense and moist.

*Layer the browns and greens by alternating with 5-inch layers of brown with 3-inch layers of green. Top these layers with 5 inches of garden soil. Although you can do this any time of year, fall is the optimum time since leaves are plentiful and over winter there is time for the amendments to break down and blend together.

*Spring is when you will enjoy the fruits of your labor. The layers will have produced a soft, pliable growing medium with no need to till or water.

*When seedlings emerge, spread a six-inch layer of straw over the surface. When the straw breaks down, it adds another layer of organic matter. It also keeps the weeds down and conserves water. If the straw still has wheat or barley seeds in it and they begin to grow, simply turn the straw over and smooth it out.

*Each fall add a few more layers. Each year the soil will become richer.

Lasagna gardening and good water conservation strategies go hand in hand. Soaker hoses are your best bet with this technique because they can be laid directly under the straw mulch and the water will go straight to the plants’ roots. If you use overhead sprinklers, some water will run off when it hits the mulch.

As with anything, there are pros and cons to this method of gardening.

 

PROS

 

*It is very cost-effective. The whole point of lasagna gardening is to use what you have on hand and recycle materials to create a garden bed out of layered materials.

 

*It improves the soil since it is like a compost layer across the whole gardening space. Since you build on top of the original soil’s surface, it is great for growing crops on top of areas with poor soil. By nature, layers hold nutrients longer than if they were just applied to the top of the existing soil. In essence, this is basically layering a compost pile. With the process of decomposition, soil is naturally amended and it lasts an entire season. This improved soil absorbs water, slows evaporation and keeps plants’ root systems cool.

*It is low maintenance with no need to dig, till or weed. You just need to keep it “cooking” by alternating carbon (brown) and nitrogen (green) layers and keep it wet.

*It’s ready to plant when you are. You can let it “cook” until it is ready to plant or you can add a layer of compost and plant immediately.

 

CONS

 

*It has also been called no-till. This brings up a whole new set of views. Some are proponents of it and others like to “stir” the dirt.

 

*When gathering your carbon layer, if you use too much cardboard and newspaper, these are recyclable to reduce the carbon footprint and a shortage of these means more need to be manufactured. However, on a small scale, this is not a problem.

*Safety of materials is a consideration. Much of the cardboard comes from boxes produced overseas whose guidelines aren’t as stringent as ours. Dyes, chemicals and other petroleum products can be present that would contaminate the vegetable patch.

*As the layers break down, the soil oxygen levels are greatly reduced because they are suffocated by the layers. This lack of oxygen means that the aerobic bacteria can’t do their job efficiently. This slows the decomposition which means that many released nutrients will not be absorbed in the soil but rather leached away in rain run-off.

*Time is a factor. It takes a lot of time to literally move all the carbon/nitrogen layers and for them to break down.

*Garden size is a factor. This would not be practical for a large area. You need to source all material for two layers of carbon. To get an idea of how much this is, take the square footage of your area and multiply by two.

*Pests may be a problem. The layers will deter some but will encourage worms, slugs and snails. Worms are a plus but the other two are by-products of layering since the layers create a warm, moist environment for them to live in.

Lasagna gardening is just another concept. Having a garden is so much more than just throwing a few seeds in the ground. It is a complex venture and, to do it right, there are so many variables to consider. No-dig gardening may be perfect for some situations and not for others. As with anything, just weigh all your odds before you start.