www.sublimegarden.com

AUGUST

By now you have gotten used to having fresh vegetables at the dinner table each night. This does not have to end. This month, along with planting our fall harvest seedlings, we are going to learn how to can our vegetables. Canning offers an excellent solution to all your gardens overproduction. Properly canning your vegetables can give you garden fresh meals all winter long. I cannot put into words the satisfaction of eating a delicious marinara sauce in January that you canned from your garden the previous August. I get excited just thinking about it.

 

Important note: canning is a sterile process. Proper cleaning to avoid bacteria is necessary.

1. You will need to buy a couple of items for this process. Jars to hold the vegetables, with matching lids. We will need “mason” jars, with vacuum sealable lids. You’re going to need 2 large pots for boiling. Also, for safety sake, get yourself a jar lifter.

2. You can find a zillion recipes online for canning, but the basic procedure is this.

3. Clean thoroughly all the items you’re going to use. Boil your jars and lids for at least 10 minutes. This kills off any bacteria.

4. For canning you want to use strong vegetables, meaning, good shape and color. Do not use vegetables that are over ripe. Once you have selected your vegetables...rinse them well with water.

5. For this tutorial, I’ll assume you are going to can tomatoes. Start a second pot of boiling water. The first pot was for your jars, the second is for your tomatoes. You need to first boil each tomato for 20 seconds. This will allow you to peel the skin off easily. You have to do this with all vegetables, not always peeling, but always pre-boiling.

6. Peel the skin off of your hot tomatoes, and place them into the clean jars. Fill each jar about 80 percent with tomatoes. Fill the jar the rest of the way with boiling water from the second pot, the one you just cooked the tomatoes in.

7. Place the jar back into the first pot of boiling water, the one you used for cleaning. You will need to boil the vegetable filled jar for 15 minutes. Remove the jar from the water and tightly secure lid on jar. Once the vacuum seal is activated you will here it pop.

8. Store your jars in a cool, dry, dark place.

 

Note: This is the rough version, I recommend doing a little research into recipes. You can add all sorts of ingredients, herbs, spices, citrus fruits for preservation, oils and vinegars. You can make sauces, and jams. There is a whole host of wonderful canning ideas for the gardener.