Canning Time

Years ago, when my Mr. G and I were still newly weds, he taught me how to can.    Growing up, I had always watched my mother and step-mother can all sorts of things, but my mother always told me to watch.  By the time I was in my teens, my step-mother just did all the canning while I was at school, so I never really got in to canning "up to my elbows" so to speak.

Fast forward to today (Monday-Labor Day--coincidence?  I think not!) and my Mr. G is still canning.  

He's making stewed tomatoes, putting all sorts of yummy goodness in to the mix to make it taste good.

Here he's showing JL what to do with the jars and lids.   

Since he did the first batch of stewed tomatoes, it was only right that HJ and I did the 2nd batch.  We love working together in the kitchen and often times, she'll "kick me out" telling me "Momma, I've got this!  You go sit down and rest your back."  What a wonderful blessing she is!  Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of she and I working together.  But, we have memories and smiles of silliness and laughter.

This morning (Tuesday) my Mr. G and I went to look at the gardens before he left for a meeting.  He looked in the back corners, under some shadows and found this interesting tomato.  He told me that it was picture worthy.  LOL

Here it is from another angle.  Sadly, we will not be canning this one.  It has a rotten spot on the bottom.  If you look closely at this picture, you'll see the rotten area in the lower left of the tomato.  This tomato is still a good one for us though.  It will go in to the compost where most likely, it's seeds will produce some volunteer plants for next year.  :)  That's always a good thing!  :) 

If you look on the table in the background, you'll see our stewed tomatoes.  We were able to make 11 quarts yesterday (Labor Day).  Mr. G asked me this morning (Tuesday) if we were going to can all of the yellow and green beans we're growing in our garden.  I told him that I'd like to keep filling our shelves, canning some every day.  I love doing this so that we can have the fruit of our labors through the winter.  An added plus is that our food is chemical free, GMO free and it teaches our children about the importance of putting up their own food for the future.  We can see what goes in to our foods and we can pronounce those things.  We can know without a shadow of a doubt that we know our food is good for us.

We've only just begun our canning time.  I know many people have been canning since the end of July.  Our produce has only just come on.  Our cucumbers haven't done a lot this year either, but the year isn't done yet.  We'll see how much we get from those. 

I'll be adding more pictures as the week progresses.  :) 

Many hands make light work!

Everyone gets in to the bean works!  

Contrary to what one might believe, these are "volunteer" helpers.  =0)

There were more to come in after I took this picture.  The sink was full!  What a blessing!

Today's canning~12 quarts of yellow beans to add to the 5 we did on Sunday and just the beginning of the green beans-2 quarts.

Yes, we pressure can these.

Me and my beautiful daughter.

As with every year, it is a learning experience.  We are ever and always thankful to God for His provision for us.  What a wonderful blessing!