Summer

It's getting to that time of summer when my garden is really starting to produce. So that means it's also canning time. I love to can. I started canning the first summer after I was married, over 30 years ago. Since then, I try more and more new things so that now canning requires a huge chunk of my time. I don't regret it or even feel like it's too much work. I love gardening and 'putting by' what comes out of the garden. The last two days I've canned raspberry jam and blueberries. Today I will finish the blueberries and then maybe get marionberries. After that it's pickles, beets, and then into tomato season. I can literally a ton of tomatoes. It's my favorite because there is so much you can do with tomatoes. I'll do plain sauce, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, salsa, tomato soup, chili sauce, diced tomatoes, italian tomatoes and anything else that suits my fancy and have the tomatoes for. This year I also am growing tomatillos. I've found several recipes that look wonderful.
I love canning so much that last night I taught a home canning class in our community. 15 people came. Of those 15 only 3 had ever canned before. Most were young women who have a desire to be more in charge of what comes to their tables. It was exciting to see their enthusiasm. Hopefully most went home saying, "I can can"!