I have a problem.

‘Tis the season for putting up lovely green, red, purple, magenta, orange, bright yellow (and any other variety of colors your mind can conceive of) vegetables and fruits. This is a happy thing. But it would seem that the canning closet in the basement is still somewhat full of the bounty I preserved from last season. That food was supposed to be all eaten up by now – delved into and enjoyed during the cold, long winter. But evidently I didn’t eat or share enough this winter. However, this is a problem that many of my friends and family will benefit from now. I’ve still got Spiced Crabapples, Pie Cherry Preserves with Almond and Honey, Hilly Dilly Beans, Spaghetti Sauce, Straight Tomato Sauce, Pickled Peppers (my personal favorite), Pickled Beets and Pickles (Cucumbers). Tthere are at least 50 pints and quarts (probably more, or maybe less – my estimating skills are complete crap). Obviously a person can’t subsist on pickled vegetables and tomatoes alone, but you can sure as heck give it a try. ;-)

So if anyone is interested in these canned goods of mine, let me know. I’d welcome a donation if you feel like doing so, but I would for sure like to have a $1 deposit for each jar you end up with. And each time you return one to me (in reusable condition, of course) I’ll give you $.50 of it back. How does that sound? I would much much rather have the jars back then to keep your extra $.50. Many of the jars have been in our family for a while and I would like to keep it that way. This may or may not work out, but let’s give it a shot. J Since the comments are disabled on my blog here (due to drug [Cialis] dealers) you ought to send me an email instead. If you are a friend or family of mine that lives anywhere other than the Vancouver and Portland area, you may be out of luck for the time being. Go ahead and email me anyway if you’re interested and I’ll try to remember to let you know the next time I head North.

littlebunnyhill at gmail dot com

Everything I’ve canned so far this year (which includes Raspberry Jostaberry Freezer Jam, Pickled Fridge Beets, Frozen Basil Pesto, Frozen Basil Parsley Pesto, Dill Pickles, Blackberry Jam, Lewis River Plum Jam, more Dill Pickles, Hilly Dilly Beans, Frozen Roasted Peppers, more Frozen Basil Parsley Pesto and Lewis River Plumberry Jam) has been grown in my own organic garden or in the orchard at Pikku or on the certified organic farm where I am totally blessed to be employed. Keep in mind that when I say “canned” I also mean pickled, jammed, frozen or somehow preserved. I find it pretty unbearable and unacceptable to allow most any food to go to waste. Especially fresh, beautiful produce. Though I am realizing (though it is probably quite obvious to most) that it is physically impossible to have the time and energy to manage every last bit of it. The fact that I can compost usually makes me feel better, though. It’s not going to waste, it’s actually going to end up feeding the soil and in turn feeding our bodies again next season. That helps me sleep better when I just can’t get to every single ripe plum from the tree or green bean off the vine. (Yes, these [and this and this] are the kinds of things that keep me up at night).

If you’re just getting started with food preservation I would highly recommend the book Stocking Up by Carol Hupping. It’s got great canning recipes but also a lot of information on proper harvesting and freezing or general preparation of fresh fruits and veg (and it’s a Rodale Institute book). The Ball Blue Book of Preserving is another faithful standby – and it’s actually where I got my Dilly Bean recipe. Another book I haven’t entirely had time to explore but when I checked it out from the library it definitely seemed to have some deliciousness between its pages was The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving. Whereas Stocking Up and Ball Blue Book of Preserving are old standbys with the tried-and-true recipes your Grandma probably used to make, The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving stands out as having some recipes with more interesting combinations and flavors – less tradition and more experimentation. I’ve still got a ton to learn about food preservation and I will – I WILL – overcome my fear of pressure canners sometime in the near future. Maybe that will even happen in the next few months. I am limiting my food preservation world by a lot with this shortcoming and it must be remedied.

If you’re into the fruitier side of things, have a look-see at Pomona’s Universal Pectin and get set to jamming. It’s good stuff. I feel better about the ingredients than I do when using other commercial pectin.

If you need some food preservation support, I’ll do my best to help you. But like I said, I’ve still got a lot to learn!