New-fashioned canning methods are all the rage

"I like canning because I like to cook, and I like making my own condiments, vegetables, whatever you happen to be canning. It's just fun. It's an enjoyable process for me, a stress reliever."

Sheets, 32, is one of millions of people now canning, pickling and preserving their own food. They do it for many reasons: the recession, a huge increase in home vegetable gardening, the eat-local movement, food safety fears etc.

But the numbers are so great that the company that makes Ball and Kerry canning supplies has seen its sales jump more than 60 percent since 2007. More than 20,000 people have liked the Ball Canning and Recipes Facebook page since it was started last year.

Still, some people are afraid of the process.

"It's really easy, " Sheets said. "There are a few things you have to know so you don't get botulism growing in it. It's inexpensive to get into. You probably have everything you need around your house, unless you're pressure canning. Start off simple."

The National Center for Home Food Preservation, a program of the Cooperative Extension System and the USDA has a free, self-paced online course for anyone who wants to learn more about home canning and food preservation. It can be found at www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html . The site also has hundreds of recipes, including one for mayhaw jelly developed by the LSU AgCenter.

Here are the basics of canning with a boiling-water bath, which can be used with any of the recipes below.

You will need a large pot to hold boiling water, with a a rack (or a layer of jar rings) on the bottom so that the water can

circulate underneath it. (I use my largest pasta pot and a steamer rack from another pot.)

Start boiling water in the pot well before you need it, and bring another kettle of water to a boil to top it off after you add the jars. You can put empty jars, lids and bands in the water to sterlilize them before use, and just keep the water boiling.

Put the food into clean, hot canning jars, covering the solids by a quarter-inch with liquid. Leave a quarter-inch of space between the top of the liquid and the lid. Release trapped air by pushing the lid slightly open with a chopstick. Wipe the rims clean with a moistened paper towel; center lids on the jars and screw on jar bands.

Place filled jars on the rack, using canning tongs (or other tongs) to lift them straight up and straight down. Add more boiling water if necessary to cover the jars completely. After the water comes to a full boil, cover the pot and start timing. The number of minutes to process should be included with the recipe; if not, use 15 minutes.

{Free Printables} Fruit & Vege Jar Canning Labels | Your LifEvents ...

For those of you whose gardens are overflowing with goodness, you may be ready to start canning some of your delicious wares.  While I sit whispering sweet nothings to my tomato plants waiting for them to grow, I see other people whose plants are growing by leaps and bounds.  For those of you with the green garden thumb and the canning bug, I’ve created these cute jar canning labels – there are 3 sizes of each design – one for fruit and one for veges.  Enjoy!  And, send me your gardening tips;) 

p.s., for those who have been paying attention – our chicken coop is almost complete (I’ll be posting pics soon) and we plan on picking up our pullets on July 9th – 3 Rhode Island Reds who will be about 20 weeks old at the time of pick-up, just ready to start laying.  I’m so super excited!!

To receive your free download (Adobe .pdf), please JOIN US by signing up for our Blog Newsletter by filling in your information in the subscribe box provided. You will receive a confirm subscription email and then an email that will provide you with a link and super secret password to all of our free printables;)

If you are already a subscriber, just click here and enter your super secret password (remember, it is case sensitive – best to just copy and paste it from your welcome email). Don’t worry, we do not sell or share your information with anyone. Your information is used solely to send you updates to our blog.  And, because we are not IT geniuses and we often have little quirks with our newsletters, be sure to just check back often, you never know what new things I’ve posted that didn’t get sent to you.

Blair & Ketchum's country journal

Canning age

The Country gentleman

Farm journal

Popular Science