It is a shame that preserving is not as popular as it once was; before the age of refrigerators, preserving was literally the only way to keep food from spoiling.
Knowledge of preserving used to be passed down in most families from parent to child, with recipes and methods that could make some every day tomatoes or cucumbers into something simply amazing. But the convenience of modern times has replaced this wisdom as unimportant, along with other life skills such gardening and crafting.
The practice is not dead in America, there are still groups of people who keep to the idea of preserving alive and well, preserving constantly, while developing new techniques for less failures and a fresher tasting food upon eating.
When I first wanted to try my hand at preserving, I thought it would take a while before I fully understood how to preserve and can fruits and vegetables. But as I have now canned a few batches of jams, ketchup, and barbecue sauces, I found it is a very learn as you go practice and it is not very hard. All it takes is some directions to be followed and anyone can start to preserve food right away.
Though the process will seem to take a long time at first (cleaning jars, sterilizing everything, filling the jars, sealing them, ect.), but with anything, practice will speed up the process, making it a fun/easy activity to be done every week or so.
Before you start anything, think about what your favorite veggies and fruits are and when they are in season. This is the main idea behind preserving: buying in season when food is dirt cheap. If strawberries are in season, buy 10 pounds and turn it into jam. Carrots? pickle them. Tomatoes? Oh, the many things you can do with tomatoes (make pasta sauce, ketchup, pizza sauce, pickle whole, just can crushed, or chopped, or just juice…they have full books of tomato preserving recipes).
Next get a kit: magnet stick, jar grabber, jar funnel, a pot big enough to fit the jar size you want to can with and a metal lining for the pot so the jars don’t explode in the water while canning.
Then when you have your equipment, recipe and food product then you can begin. It’s a good idea to read though the recipes you are making for the different instructions such as canning time and the amount of space to leave at the top of the jar so it properly seals.
It is also good to have someone who has done a good amount of preserving who can show you the ropes, plus it is always a fun activity to do with another person, while listening to music (and drinking a little vino).
After the canning is done (and the jars are cool) make sure the jars are on a pantry shelf or in a dark closet. Check after a few days if they sealed correctly, you can tell this by holding the jar just by the lid, without the band, and if it doesn’t come off it is sealed (I would not suggest this for heavy jars). If the jars didn’t seal correctly just pop them in the fridge, and eat over the next few weeks (the food inside will still be good for a month or so as long it is refrigerated).
Now all that is left is to enjoy you favorite fruits and vegetables for the rest of the year. Filling up shelves of great food is a amazing sight and all those jars are perfect for gifts, bringing out at parties or for adding any seasonal flavors to holiday meals.
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