Gardening, Preserving and Canning

Do you garden? Whether you've got one tomato plant in a pot on your porch or you've got half your backyard turned into a vegetable forest, GOOD FOR YOU! Growing your own food is not only healthy, but also a great way to get some easy exercise and sun!

This year, I planted tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, and Brussel sprouts. My cherry and Roma tomatoes and all of my different peppers went wild! So wild, that we couldn't keep up with eating them. In order to maintain the taste of summer all year long, I made sure we preserved some of our bounty.

I love making sauce from scratch. Usually, I use canned tomatoes for my base, but since I had an abundance of tomatoes I cooked them down and made enough sauce for several dinners. I froze the sauce in several small lots; I will quickly and easily be able to thaw it our for upcoming dinners.

The peppers were another story! We usually can peppers once a year, but this year the garden was so giving that we had to can twice. Canning is a lot of work (although, worth it); I usually pick all the peppers and tote them to my parents house. We use a group effort to slice and can jalapenos, hot peppers, sweet peppers and whatever else I thought looked good at the nursery this spring!

I highly recommend planting a garden next spring! And if you want to try canning check out reputable sources such as The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving. You have to be careful with preserving food to avoid bacteria and other potential issues. It is best to learn from someone and do research!

Happy Gardening! Happy Canning! Happy Eating!