Posted on 08/09/2009 6:58:26 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
During the first World War, the U.S. government asked its citizens to contribute to the war effort by growing gardens. Americans rose to the challenge. The millions of quarts of provender produced by this astonishing effort not only fed American families, but helped feed starving people all across Europe. Humankind caring for humankind in a time of need – an example the world could heed today.
Similar food shortages have occurred throughout the centuries. When Napoleon was faced with the problem of feeding his rapidly growing military, the French government offered 12,000 francs to anyone who could figure a solution. A man named Nicolas Appert, though not completely understanding why, discovered that by putting food into a bottle or jar, sealing the jar up tight and cooking it for a few hours, the food could be preserved for consumption later. Napoleon’s army didn’t go hungry.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, flocks of free-thinkers sailed the ocean blue in search of a place where they could live free and govern their own lives. Once settled in their respective colonies, they too found daunting the challenge of having enough to eat. Through much trial and error, they discovered how to provide their daily needs and to preserve the precious leftovers for leaner times. Waste not, want not. The colonists learned how to take care of one another.
Preservation progress came at a cost, however. For example, it wasn’t until the late 19th century that anyone knew about Clostridium botulinum, the soil-borne bacterium whose lethal toxin, sometimes found in improperly canned food, claimed countless lives. Likewise, pickled provender frequently went bad when cork stoppers or pig’s bladders were used to cover the crocks and jars. Jams and jellies, sealed with brandy-soaked paper, often sprouted mold. But help was on the way – in the form of a rubber-sealed glass jar.
Tinsmith John L. Mason couldn’t possibly have known how his 1858 patent would permanently revolutionize family nutrition. His machine mass-produced threaded metal jar lids that, in combination with threaded-neck jars and rubber sealing rings, made it easy for virtually anyone to achieve a safe seal when canning. Mason’s canning jar and lid concept caught on immediately and opened the door for several improvements and modifications with familiar names like Ball, Atlas E-Z Seal and Kerr. Through time, the rubber seal has improved, as has the science behind the processing, but home canning is every bit as accessible today as it was in 1858.
You, too, can can
Before starting a canning project of your own, you should keep a few things in mind. It is best to gather only the produce you can work up in a few hours. This ensures optimum nutrition and quality. If possible, harvest early in the day.
Get your supplies out and check them over. Always use jars made especially for canning rather than old mayonnaise or pickle jars, and never use jars that are cracked or chipped around the rim. Use only the two-piece screw lids, never re-using the flat piece, as its protective ability is compromised once lifted off a jar.
Lids and jars should be sterilized before use by boiling for at least 10 minutes, leaving them in the hot water until they are needed.
The two canning methods in general use today make use of either a boiling-water bath or pressure canner for processing. The boiling-water system requires longer processing times and is suitable for foods with higher acid contents, while the pressure canner reaches higher temperatures faster and is suitable for virtually all food types. Once you have decided which fruit, vegetable or meat you want to can, be sure to educate yourself on the current recommendations for method, processing time and sterilization precautions for that produce. Your county extension office provides a wealth of information for your area, or you can go online to such sites as the USDA’s National Center for Home Preservation
www.UGA.edu/nchfp
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While I agree that this is a bad bill, my sole point was that concerns about victory gardens seem to have been met. This didn’t include any mention of farms, etc., that are a different problem.
While I agree that this is a bad bill, my sole point was that concerns about victory gardens seem to have been met. This didn’t include any mention of farms, etc., that are a different problem.
I’ve been canning for thirty years with boiling water bath canners and pressure cookers. I’m probably one of the few Americans that live in the south without AC and I usually drag my boiling water bath canner outside on the patio and can with my outside stove to avoid heating up the house. I’m now babysitting my grandchildren and it’s not convenient to do so. I thought it was worth a try and I have been extremely happy with it. It has two 1/4 diameter holes, one on each side and when the steam comes out in a column about eight inches long you time it just like a boiling water bath.
10 cups ground zucc,4 cups ground onion, 5 tblspns plain (not iodized). Cover with water and soak overnight in fridge. Drain well and add 2 cups ground green bell peppers and one red for color. Add 2 1/4 cup vinegar, 5 cups sugar, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp dry mustard, 1 tsp tumeric, 1 tsp. corn starch. Mix all together and bring to a boil, simmer 30 minutes and pour into hot steralized jars and seal.
BEST I'VE EVER EATEN.
Thanks, Phil! I have a day off later in the week and I’m going to try it with the pile-o-zucchini I currently have. :)
What is the best way to preserve fresh corn. We are going to have a bumper crop as usual and usually start the process after we have had our fill of corn on the cob and it starts to get tough and bland. We are growing Trinity again this year because it is a short season corn...
I have always frozen it right on the cob, while we’re still enjoying it fresh. I would just shuck it and put it in gallon freezer bags. After the first year of doing it, I never blanched it again. Just shucked it and tossed it in the freezer.
Good grief, man -— you cook like me and my husband!!!!!
I’ve never found a recipe I couldn’t improve upon. LOL!
LOL!!!! Add me to your list. Unlike you, I don't have an outside stove, and the waterbath canner is on the stove as I type.
And I mean it! I just harvested another eight of those suckers this evening, LOL!
That sounds like the stove we use to can Tuna. While it is heavy it is certainly durable. For pressure canning I level it it with a spirit level across the top of the empty canner...
Diana, did you make the relish?
I finally had to spray my Zuccuni with Round-up, dig up the roots, burn the plants, till up the ground, and now they aren’t producing quite as much as before.
LOL! Yes, I did. I took a batch to work and people went NUTS over it. So thank you, thank you, tahnk you! It’s in the rotation from here on out. :) I did use a bit of sweet curry instead of some of the spices you used. It was marvelous, Darling!
My zukes are still producing like crazy, but I’ve let them go and some are really huge, so those are going to the chickens.
I have the day off tomorrow, so I’m going to do some serious work in the garden. I’ll need to tie a rope to my waist to find my way out of the mess at the end of the day. :)
My tomatoes are still producing, wife canned another cooker today. Froze 5 or 6 freezer bags of peppers with the plants still putting on. Best garden I’ve had in years. Planted turnips really late, but will see how they come on, hope we have a late freeze here in S.W. Mo. Really glad you liked the relish.
I just walked the dogs and took a look at the garden. I have about four bushels of ripe tomatoes to pick tomorrow. I’m not kidding. I should’ve had this all dealt with in August!
I’m getting too old for this stuff, LOL!
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