mishaday | Pickles and other dreams

'tis the season for fresh veggies, and for the more crafty sorts, it's also the season for canning said freshness. Growing up, our little sub-division was built on an old apricot orchard (a distrubing trend of California agriculture disappearing under the morass of city sprawl, but I digress) and while I wasn't too fond of them raw (at the time - I now appreciate the treasure I had) I loved the dried apricots, and we had so many of the bloody things coming out our ears (11 trees, just in our yard) Mom bought a dryer and we made our own.

Besides the yearly mess of mincemeat, that's about as close to an old family canning tradition as I come.

Not that I'm averse to starting a new one. Meg has talked about having a canning party as soon as the first asparagus crops start ripening, and I know I'll want to do something with the extra fruits and veggies that I'll get with my Market Basket.

I did a little research today. Ah, Google is my friend.
UGA hosts the National Center for Home Food Preparation and
Clemson University hosts a page on Food Safety and Preservation.
To can all by myself I will need:

A Pressure Canner - The Pressure Cooker Outlet seems to have better prices than a quick scan of eBay.

The Ball Blue Book - I can get it with the Canner at the PCO or try and pick up a copy at the library sale. (Have to remember to mark that on the calendar)

And of course, Jars, Rings and Lids

Ball sold their jar manufacturing business to Alltrista, but the buggerers don't sell their jars on their website. The kitchen sink, it seems, but no jars. And I'm really unsure of which retailers to check locally. I don't recall seeing them at QFC or the local hardware store, but I may have to look twice. Failing that, I did find them here:
- Wells Can, a Canadian company just up in BC with some fair prices, though shipping might suck.
- Kitchen Krafts, though the spelling of the name does make me cringe.
- Aubuchon Hardware, which seems to be a Northeast sort of place.
- Village Kitchen, which while their stock is pretty - wow with the expensive. (You import from France, you pay through the nose, it seems.)

I'm more than interested in where to find jar locally (Seattle) and what people's experiences with different pressure canners have been.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

for jars and supplies - you might try places like Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart - they'd likely not be on the shelf now, but you might be able to call around and ask if/when they'd be stocked. I'm sure you can find them locally; no sense paying shipping unless absolutely necessary.

if there's a County Extension Agent in the area, you might get some leads on supplies from them, as well as tips on food prep.

I was surprised to find canning jars (I use them for my vacuum sealer) in my local grocery store. This was in Denver, which I never thought of as a food preservation hot spot. I've also seen them at WalMart. You might want to call around.

and I've found great stuff, if you're ordering online, at www.lehmans.com They sell a lot of stuff to the amish, to people who are living without electricity or going back to the land, and I've seen stuff about canning in their catalog.

I buy my jars at Wal-Mart, and they also sell them locally in most hardware stores.

Oddly enough, I've found Larry's to have the cheapest canning jars around here.
They always have a few.

Safeway gets lots of jelly jars once spring rolls around.

There's also usually tons of them at goodwill. You just need to examine the rim for nicks, and the jar for cracks. (and I buy whatever brand of spaghetti it is that comes in atlas mason jars. They seal well).

As far as pickling asparagus, I think I'm going to pick some up tonight at Safeway (it's 99/lb and looking nice) and put a few away. We'll be going to Walla Walla in early April, depending on how warm it is, asparagus may be coming through, if not, we're going back Mother's Day weekend, and there'll certainly be much asparagus to be had.

I also have a pressure cooker on my wishlist this year.

When I go to Walla Walla, I'm going to see if I can find my mother's....it seems to have disappeared, but I think I know which utility room to go searching in (at a nephew's house).

I just got my assignment for Master Gardener's clinics, and I'm going to be at the West Seattle Farmer's Market. I'm sure there's going to be all kinds of stuff I want to preserve. :)

Pickles and other dreams

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