When I wrote this blog that’s below originally over 10 years ago, I didn’t know how meaningful and important it would become. With the way the world is right now in 2023, it is so important for us all to be looking out for ourselves, family and friends. Our Nation is in such turmoil and questionable times that we need to know how to provide for ourselves if the SHTF. This is one of the main reasons I gave up my life in South Florida and moved to Eastern Tennessee to start my own homestead where I could grow my own fruits and vegetables and raise my own chickens, pigs and goats to provide for my family what was needed. I have realized you can not count on anything or anyone anymore, so I am looking out for myself and my family.
I have many pages of canning here on my website (link at bottom of page) and included in them are many YouTube video’s with detailed instructions on canning/preserving your food. I hope you all take stock in what is happening in our world right now and plan what is best for you and your family. Love and God Bless……
I sort of stumbled back into canning a couple years back when I came upon a you-pick farm just south of Tampa, Florida. I grew up in a family that raised and put up a lot of its own food. My mom and grandma’s spent every end of summer putting up fruit jams, beans, applesauce, apple butter and many other delights. So I’m no stranger to the hard, hot work involved, but until a couple of summers ago, I really thought that my days of tending a boiling canning kettle or pressure canner were through.
Home-canned foods make some people paranoid, because of the possibilities of food-borne illness. What we’re talking about is Clostridium botulinum, one of the nastiest neurotoxins on the planet. The botulism organism itself is abundant in the environment but is killed by heat during the canning process; however, botulism’s hardy spores can survive boiling temperatures to thrive and multiply in the anaerobic environment of a sealed jar. Since the spores are odorless and tasteless and the toxin they produce can make you very, very sick or even dead, this is nothing to mess with.
However, there’s an extremely easy way to play it safe: lemon juice. Botulism cannot survive in an acid environment, and so canning acidic fruits like apples, peaches, or berries means no botulism risk. A little lemon juice squeezed into each jar not only ups the acid content but also makes the fruit taste sweeter by contrast. Tomatoes and anything in vinegar–a whole world of pickles and chutneys–are also terrific canning candidates. Higher pH veggies like green beans, however, are better frozen than canned, as botulism can’t survive below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and canning them safely requires using a specialized pressure canner to heat them to a temperature well over boiling. Which if not done correctly, can render them tasteless and mushy. Having my mother as a teacher, my green beans turn out perfect every time. Thanks MOM!!!!
Y’all, canning is not hard. It will provide you with fresh locally grown food, and you will know exactly what your eating. Give it a try. Even if it is with something as simple as a jelly or salsa.
Before you can anything, Go to the National Center for Home Canning at: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_home.html#gsc.tab=0
Always follow the guidelines set forth by the National Center for Home Canning at the above link. Do NOT just go by what I may say in my recipes or videos as it could be wrong and cause health issues. I try my best to make sure everything is followed correctly for your safety, but you need to protect yourself and follow the National Center for Home Canning guidelines whenever you can food yourself.
For a list of my home canning recipes, CLICK HERE!
Great article. I didn’t know about the lemon juice to guard against botulism. I plan to use up the dozens of tomatoes that we have from just four large tomato plants. Thanks for your good advice
If you are overwhelm with bounty, can those things that can’t be frozen and throw tomatoes in a big bag in the freezer until you can get to them. Works great!!
I live in the Tampa area and grow some of my own vegetables and fruits. I would love to know where you went for the U-pick farm. I’m always looking for home grown vegetables for canning.