Small Batch Canning Guide

My desire to preserve food was the next step in my journey towards more sustainable eating.  After several seasons of CSA membership and farmer's market patronship, I wanted to find a way to capture the summer's flavors for the dark days of winter.  The summer of 2010 I canned my first pickle.  I then moved on to whole tomatoes, peach sauce and preserves and then apple sauce in the fall.
I wasn't ready to invest in the canning setup that pros like Jane @ Thy Hand use to churn out family sustaining batches of canned goods.  Instead, I searched for a way to dip my toe into the waters of home preserving.  Marisa @ Food in Jars has a post about how to can using minimal equipment. I followed her lead.   Here I'll show you my setup for an easy and frugal entry into canning at home.  At the end of the post, I'll list my most referenced step-by-step canning tutorials.


The pot: a $25 ChefMate stockpot from Target.

The tools:
wide mouth jars
wide mouth rings (reuseable)
wide mouth lids (one time use only)
jar lifter/tongs
citric acid (for canning tomatoes)


All of these were purchased at Fisher Hardware in Springfield but I have seen a well stocked canning section in the garden department Lowes in Alexandria. One 12-pack of wide mouth pint jars with lids and rings is about $11. Instead of buying a rack I arrange 5 spare rings on the bottom of the pot (a la this).  I chose to go all wide mouth, for simplicity and flexibility.  The wide mouths are easier to fill without the need for a funnel and they can go in the freezer.  The only items that you will need to restock are jars and lids.

You can Can! It's a productive hobby whose rewards you will reap all year.

Canning How To Resources:
Food in Jars Canning 101 Posts (browse the rest of the site too it's my fav canning resource)
National Center for Food Preservation (the mother of all things perserving at home)
Pick Your Own.org (also a great resource for, you guessed it, finding pick-your-own farms)
Thy Hand Hath Provided (she's a homesteader who relies on her canned food to feed a family of 5)

What does your DIY canning setup look like?  Is canning something you plan on trying?  If so, applesauce is the best virgin canner's project.  Lucky you apple season is upon us!

The Joys of Composting

This is my lovely pre-compost jar. Yes, i said lovely. This is where i collect my food scraps. Let's see what's in here. Egg shells, pears, bananas, apple cores, onion peels and other assorted composty goodness. This week it got pretty gross. I usually like to dump it in the bin before it gets too sketchy (as seen above).

I started composting around this time last year. In February 2008 I signed up to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) so I knew I would have a ton of kitchen scraps in the coming months (more on my CSA love affair to come). Those scraps surely didn't belong in my trashcan.

I Googled and Googled to find different composting methods that would work for an apartment dweller. There were three options: composting with worms, bokashi composting, or "regular" composting. I chose the "regular" composting because it seemed to be the the easiest. Not to mention I wouldn't have to buy any creepy crawlies.

How easy is it? You too can be composter in SIX simple steps.

Step 1: Buy a large Rubbermaid container from Target.

Step 2: Drill several holes in said Rubbermaid container (don't forget to drill the lid).

Step 3: Put some grass, organic soil or leaves in the bottom of your new compost bin. I collected some leave from a near by trail.

Step 4: Start collecting your kitchen scraps and deposit in you bin. Stick to fruit and vegetable bits, egg shells. and you'll be OK. Don't compost cheese, eggs, fats, meat, poultry or fish. As seen above I use a glass canister to collect my pre-compost scraps. When its full dump it in the bin.

Step 5: Every so often layer the kitchen goodies with more grass, soil or leaves. Turn or stir compost weekly or biweekly.

Now I've been alternating between Steps 4 and 5 for the last 12 months. I haven't yet harvested my compost and amazingly the bin never fills up. Now you will have the occasional visitor will reside in your bin. Don't fret. Don't fear. Those little guys are helping your composting cause. The are breaking down your waste into nutrient rich compost. Don't forget people pay a pretty penny for this stuff at garden centers.

Step 6: Harvest compost. Not sure on the exact mechanics of this but I did read something on using homemade compost in a back issue of Mother Earth Magazine (my new fave). I'll post again once I figure it all out. In short it involves sifting out large chunks and heating the compost to kill any non-beneficial microbes.

Here are some my composting related bookmarks.
Balcony Composting
Composting Indoors
Bokashi Composting

What do you all think of my adventures in compost land? Do you think it would fit into your lifestyle? Leave a comment let me know what you think.