Preserving the bounty of your late season garden

There is still time to do some canning, preserving, or freezing of items that are still in your late season garden or at the local farm markets. A little effort now can have a big payoff during the winter months!

Our library has a number of books to help you with your projects.  Here are two that you may not have used before.

The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp (641.42 TOP) is a handy volume that will take the guesswork out of your home preserving. If you don’t have much time, but want to savor the taste of your garden in January, this is a good one to reach for.

Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods by Eugenia Bone (641.4 BON) is a simple and accessible guide to preserving meats, fruits, and vegetables in small batches year-round.  It includes methods like oil-preserving, curing and freezing, as well as traditional methods.

There are several good websites to explore if you need help with food preservation or if you need supplies or recipes.

• NATIONAL CENTER FOR HOME FOOD PRESERVATION – This is your source for current research-based recommendations for most methods of home food preservation.
• BALL CANNING AND PRESERVATION - Jarden Home Brands is the company that makes the popular Ball and Kerr lines of home food preservation products. This site is a good source of information, recipes, and products for home canning and freezing.
• CANNING SUPPLY – Since 1989, this division of Kitchen Krafts company in Iowa has been offering consumers hard-to-find tools, ingredients, and supplies.
• LEHMAN’S – Founded in 1955 to serve the local Amish community near Kidron, Ohio this well known store carries a wide range of canning and preserving items for your kitchen.

So, take advantage of the late summer and early fall produce that is still available. You’ll be surprised what you’ll be able to do!

Tom D.

Yes, you can…can!

Come on, now. You’ve been thinking about how great all those home canned, frozen, and preserved fruits and vegetables would taste in January as you walk through the rows of your garden this month or as you shop at the local farm markets. Then you ask yourself, how hard can this home canning process be?

Well, if you follow the correct techniques and recipes you’ll be surprised what you’ll be able to do. Our library has a number of up-to-date books that can help with your projects.  Many of them are featured in the Preserving Summer’s Bounty book display on the lower level of the library.   A few of  the favorites are the Complete Guide to Home Canning from the USDA, Putting Food By written by Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg, and Beatrice Vaughan, and the Complete Book of Home Preserving edited by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine.

Another great resource on the topic is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Center for Home Food Preservation.  Here, you’ll find timely information on all aspects of home canning, freezing, and preserving.

So, if you want to savor the taste of summer when you see the snowflakes coming down outside, now is a good time to stop by our library to pick up some books to learn how.

- Tom D.