It’s Labor Day weekend. For many people this means beer, barbecue, and awesome sales at the department store. For me, it pretty much means trying to cram in way more stuff than I can possibly get done. Mostly this involves canning and freezing.
We weren’t able to put a garden in last year, but this year we have made up for it! My boyfriend built me a beautiful raised bed garden. It even has an anti-rabbit fence around it, which my youngest daughter says is because the bunnies want to “go hop hop hop and eat all our vegegables”. Tomato vines are completely swarming the east side of the garden, hosting an array of lettuce, spinach, corn, cucumbers, green beans, and various peppers.
When I was a kid, my mom did tons of home canning. I remember we had a linen closet which had a sole purpose of storing all the beautiful jars my mom made. While I am not up to par when compared with her, I have carried on the tradition of preserving the harvest with my attempts at canning and freezing.
Tomorrow’s hefty goals include a batch of dilly beans, relish, jalapeno relish, frozen shredded zucchini and frozen green beans. Don’t forget I also need to run to the store for a few supplies, with three kids in tow. Future plans are being made for salsa, tomatoes, and maybe even some jams or preserves. While I don’t have quite the shrine to food preservation that my mom did, it’s a good start.
Wish me luck!
Ashley O'Melia, Author 