Preserving Your Home Grown Food From The Garden
There is something about getting a jar of canned vegetables from your kitchen pantry that you personally grew and preserved at the end of the gardening season.
The amount of work you put into your garden is something that has a reward all year long when you have the bounty you grew in your own canned supplies
Canning and preserving anything you grow in your garden is not only safe using today's processing techniques and utensils but it can be very enjoyable and rewarding.
When you hear that tell tale "snap" to seal the last jar after they have been canned or process can give you a sense of well being and can make you feel super about what your family has at meal time.
Years ago preserving food was a process that was passed down from generation to generation as most everyone grew their own vegetables and fruits. Only a few decades ago did preserving food at home take the form of canning. Today the home canner is a relatively small group of people due to commercial canned foods. The problem is that commercially canned foods have since taken over because they are so affordable. Sometimes it is actually cheaper to buy vegetables and fruits from the market instead of growing them yourself and due to the supply of year round fresh vegetables, canning for necessity has now been replaced with canning for enjoyment and improved flavor and nutrition.
Canning is not the only way to preserve your food. Freezing or dehydrating are still very popular. When freezing your food, some vegetables and fruits need to be blanched before you can freeze it.
The remaining foods may just need to be washed off and placed it in freezer bags, jars or freezer containers made just for the freezer.
Dehydration is another method that is being used to preserve food that goes back thousands of years and is the early form of preserving food. This process stops the progress of the food where it is at and dries it at a steady temperature until all moisture is gone from the food.
Canning and dehydration have the advantage in that they don't require any additional means for storing and have a shelf life of many months as long as they are stored in a cool dry place. On the other hand freezing is convenient but requires a freezer and electricity.
The amount of work you put into your garden is something that has a reward all year long when you have the bounty you grew in your own canned supplies
Canning and preserving anything you grow in your garden is not only safe using today's processing techniques and utensils but it can be very enjoyable and rewarding.
When you hear that tell tale "snap" to seal the last jar after they have been canned or process can give you a sense of well being and can make you feel super about what your family has at meal time.
Years ago preserving food was a process that was passed down from generation to generation as most everyone grew their own vegetables and fruits. Only a few decades ago did preserving food at home take the form of canning. Today the home canner is a relatively small group of people due to commercial canned foods. The problem is that commercially canned foods have since taken over because they are so affordable. Sometimes it is actually cheaper to buy vegetables and fruits from the market instead of growing them yourself and due to the supply of year round fresh vegetables, canning for necessity has now been replaced with canning for enjoyment and improved flavor and nutrition.
Canning is not the only way to preserve your food. Freezing or dehydrating are still very popular. When freezing your food, some vegetables and fruits need to be blanched before you can freeze it.
The remaining foods may just need to be washed off and placed it in freezer bags, jars or freezer containers made just for the freezer.
Dehydration is another method that is being used to preserve food that goes back thousands of years and is the early form of preserving food. This process stops the progress of the food where it is at and dries it at a steady temperature until all moisture is gone from the food.
Canning and dehydration have the advantage in that they don't require any additional means for storing and have a shelf life of many months as long as they are stored in a cool dry place. On the other hand freezing is convenient but requires a freezer and electricity.
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