I started this post earlier this week and never quite got it finished. I’ll blog more in depth about the process next week, but today I want to talk about preparedness. This linky is hosted by Homestead Revival (a SERIOUSLY fabulous blog which I have come to adore in the past few months!)
Now, before you go thinking I’m turning into some off grid crazy hermit who explodes grenades at the “perimeter” just for fun, let me correct that now lol. Over the past few years I’ve begun to feel like this country is headed in a BAD direction, which the recession then proved. I naturally tend towards stockpiling food and such due to past experiences, but now I feel it’s time to do it right and well.
A big part of being prepared for what is referred to in some circles as TEOTWAYKI (The End of the World as we know it-which always makes me think of Tom Petty lol), is learning new skills and honing new ones to be used not only for your family, but in situations of bartering with others (which you already know I’m a huge fan of!). That’s one reason I’ve started learning to can produce. Yes it still scares me to even think about.
Despite the fact I was scared to death to start, and after MUCH research, I finally took the plunge. I’m happy to say no one was injured or broken in the makings of these pickles. It’s a wonderful feeling to see jars lining up on my shelves of produce grown by our hands, and preserved by our hands. I ordered a pressure canner earlier this week (thanks to Swagbucks!), so we’ll see if I can carry over the success to that; or if I just sit and look at it in fear and apprehension lol.
Do you can? Have any tips for this newbie canner? Hop on over to Homestead Revival for more posts about homesteading and prepping!
Congratulations on your first canning adventure. It looks to be a great success. TEOTWAYKI always makes me think of R.E.M.
YES! R.E.M. not Tom Petty!!! That’s what I get for blog posting without coffee!
OH the days! From a little girl I was involved in canning. There were times when we had to miss school so we could help with the tomatoes or peaches or something. I was always “one for the jar, one for me” until I was sick! (That got me out of a few more days of school with the runs!)
When I married I canned then too, pickled green tomatoes and zucchini relish were family favorites. If the tomatoes all ripened and became jarred tomatoes then my son would look for someone to donate some green ones for him!
I live in a junk part of Texas now, only rock, and we have no garden at this time. So no canning for me at this stage. Trying to decide if I should part with my hundred plus jars and other equipment or not. Sad stage to be in!
We feel the same way you do so we started learning the old ways. If you think canning is scary at first, try processing your own bacon and ham! A great experience-and much less expensive. For canning we use the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It has 400 recipes that are tried and true. We had our pressure canner tested at our local extension office to make sure it is proper. Also, we added Ball’s Pickle Crisp to our pickles if we want them crunchy. We have now canned soup, zucchini relish, pickles, tomato sauce, etc. We have a wonderful old tool, Vitantonio strainer that is helpful for seeding, straining. They are out of business but we can still get parts. If you can find something that does this, it will help. http://www.mendingshed.com/250parts.html
Good luck!
Inviting you the Carnival of Home Preserving on my blog today and every Friday. Hope to see you there. Laura Williams’ Musings http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com