The last few months have been an active journey of reclamation; land, rituals, and words. I feel as if I am making a new ground to plant my dreams in, our future. I have not felt such a sense of optimism and joy living here in years. This energy started "brewing" at the time of our large summer party, "In Good Company" where over a 100 people came out to the farm to celebrate.
Over the last few years I gave up so much that was intrinsic to living on a farm; horses, chickens, goats, garden. I am putting these pieces back, starting with canning tomatoes.
Canadians are deeply devoted to canning, drying and otherwise preserving the summer's bounty of fruit and vegetables. I have not seen this skill as avidly practiced in my travels in Europe. This time of year the grocery stores have over half an aisle set aside for canning and jam making supplies. At the office the lunch room talk often touches on what people have "set aside" over the weekend. How many jars of peaches, plums, tomatoes, beans, carrots. It is truly endless what Canadians freeze, can, dry and make into jam. In our circle of friends and family, all this accumalates into a huge Thanksgiving feast. Many of our friends have gardens and raise their own livestock, which finds it's way to the table. As we are all so bound to the means of production there is a genuine feeling of being grateful for the harvest.
My garden, September 2012
I started canning tomatoes in 1991 during a period of time that I was living on the farm. We were so devoted to our canning that we packed all our jars up and moved them with us when we returned to University in Victoria in 1992. That year started a long term commitment to canning tomatoes and other produce that continued without interruption until the last three years. Nothing would deter me from canning my 100 jars (approximately 300 pounds of tomatoes). The canning tomato season starts around the end of August and extends to the beginning of October. The most challenging year was 1996 as my daughter was born on August 23rd., leaving me recovering from birth, in a hot kitchen, with a newborn, truly possessed in my quest to reach a 100 jars. A friend of mine from my University days was visiting during this ordeal and I think that she truly questioned my sanity. It seems the drive to preserve is a vestige of our pioneer days. I was discussing this with one of our volunteers on organic farms. Sandra is from Spain and has farmers in her family. She recalls being on her grandmother's farm where the entire family, men and women, would be processing vegetables or fruit, gathered at a table. It was a time for visiting as well as getting the work done. She noticed that in Spain it is now rare to see people preserve produce.
Sandra remembered her canning skills learned in childhood and helped with a lot of the processing. Here she is peeling the tomatoes after they have been immersed in boiling water.
To ease my way back into my canning habit I purchased small lots of tomatoes instead of 150 pounds at once. A large order adds a lot of pressure as it always a race to can the produce before it starts to rot.
This year I bought about 15 pounds and canned them as they ripened. Tomatoes are best canned when they are very ripe.
The tomatoes ready to be immersed or blanched in hot water. Sandra remembered a trick from her childhood of cutting into the peal. The tomatoes quickly lose their skins in the hot water and are ready to be put into sterilized jars.
Fill the tomatoes jars to the top and then add one teaspoon of lemon juice and half teaspoon of salt. Put on the canning lids and process in the canner for 10 minutes.
I like to let the jars decorate my kitchen for a few days before I store them in the pantry.
I learned a valuable canning lesson in 1994 when we acquired the historic Herald house at Herald Provincial Park. As we were cleaning the house out preparing to move it we came across an entire room in the basement devoted to canning. There was jar after jar full of old produce gathered from Jessie Herald's garden and orchard. Jessie lived for many years alone in the house, only having her mother for the first year in the home before her mother passed. The canning collected, unused, for all those years. I vowed at that time never to process more produce then we could reasonably consume as it is such a waste of resources given the work that is put into canning, freezing and making jam.
The original canning cupboard from the Herald House. It was full of old canning done in the beautiful blue jars and sat in a room lined with shelves full of old canning. The waste of the effort was overwhelming to see and I vowed never to preserve more than we could consume.
Over the last few years I gave up so much that was intrinsic to living on a farm; horses, chickens, goats, garden. I am putting these pieces back, starting with canning tomatoes.
Canadians are deeply devoted to canning, drying and otherwise preserving the summer's bounty of fruit and vegetables. I have not seen this skill as avidly practiced in my travels in Europe. This time of year the grocery stores have over half an aisle set aside for canning and jam making supplies. At the office the lunch room talk often touches on what people have "set aside" over the weekend. How many jars of peaches, plums, tomatoes, beans, carrots. It is truly endless what Canadians freeze, can, dry and make into jam. In our circle of friends and family, all this accumalates into a huge Thanksgiving feast. Many of our friends have gardens and raise their own livestock, which finds it's way to the table. As we are all so bound to the means of production there is a genuine feeling of being grateful for the harvest.
I started canning tomatoes in 1991 during a period of time that I was living on the farm. We were so devoted to our canning that we packed all our jars up and moved them with us when we returned to University in Victoria in 1992. That year started a long term commitment to canning tomatoes and other produce that continued without interruption until the last three years. Nothing would deter me from canning my 100 jars (approximately 300 pounds of tomatoes). The canning tomato season starts around the end of August and extends to the beginning of October. The most challenging year was 1996 as my daughter was born on August 23rd., leaving me recovering from birth, in a hot kitchen, with a newborn, truly possessed in my quest to reach a 100 jars. A friend of mine from my University days was visiting during this ordeal and I think that she truly questioned my sanity. It seems the drive to preserve is a vestige of our pioneer days. I was discussing this with one of our volunteers on organic farms. Sandra is from Spain and has farmers in her family. She recalls being on her grandmother's farm where the entire family, men and women, would be processing vegetables or fruit, gathered at a table. It was a time for visiting as well as getting the work done. She noticed that in Spain it is now rare to see people preserve produce.
To ease my way back into my canning habit I purchased small lots of tomatoes instead of 150 pounds at once. A large order adds a lot of pressure as it always a race to can the produce before it starts to rot.
This year I bought about 15 pounds and canned them as they ripened. Tomatoes are best canned when they are very ripe.
I learned a valuable canning lesson in 1994 when we acquired the historic Herald house at Herald Provincial Park. As we were cleaning the house out preparing to move it we came across an entire room in the basement devoted to canning. There was jar after jar full of old produce gathered from Jessie Herald's garden and orchard. Jessie lived for many years alone in the house, only having her mother for the first year in the home before her mother passed. The canning collected, unused, for all those years. I vowed at that time never to process more produce then we could reasonably consume as it is such a waste of resources given the work that is put into canning, freezing and making jam.
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1 comment:
IN our house, canning season when the old kitchen was ripe with smells: dill, peaches, sweet cherries, the spice of pears. Since my earliest days, canning was a part of our summers. It was communal time for women--aunts, sisters, my mom--all gathered, laughing, drinking tea and canning.
How many nights did I come home late from a party at some beach party and sneak down to our canning cupboards and open a jar of fruit and eat the whole thing! Also, life would not have been normal without at least two different kids of pickles opened in the fridge.
Beautiful shots.
Grant
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