Bugs and Spiders and Worms, Oh My…..

Bugs and Spiders and Worms, Oh My….

Does the “frozen tundra” in your part of the world have you thinking about Spring…Gardens…Canning and things such as this?

I am certainly getting the fever to till the earth, tote that barge and lift that bale!  Of course, that usually means in “Me Speak”…the Captain will be doing the lifting and toting…and the tilling too! I am soooo good at planning and organizing, that it takes all my energy, …leaving none for lifting, toting and tilling! 🙂

As our thoughts turn to Spring, my thoughts turn to the abundance of vegetables and fruit that abound here in Florida!  I go to the Farmers Market every Saturday and come home laden with small cucumbers (canning cinnamon pickles), tomatoes (canning salsa and chili sauce) strawberries (canning strawberry preserves) and many other goodies.

 

Over the next few months I will be providing some of my canning recipes that my grandmother gave me.  

Yes, it can be a lot of work…but the rewards of eating fresh tasting foods in the middle of Winter make up for the extra time it takes to prepare.  Remember the story of the little red hen? No one helped her prepare…so she didn’t share…;)  I am different, I would share even if the Captain didn’t assist….Wouldn’t I?  

Sure I would! 🙂

My point is, if you are interested in canning or “putting up” veggies for the Winter months…engage the family to assist!  It could be a fun project. That is how I learned to like “canning”.  My Grandmother made it a project that I was a part of. Hence, I learned to appreciate the art of “canning”.

I find that now I like to can in smaller amounts…whereas when my children were little, I canned quite a few quarts of certain foods.  I will be doing pints, not quarts and only of some fruits …because Florida’s growing season is almost all year round’…there is no shortage of fresh produce.

As my thoughts drift back to my Paternal Grandmother…(Both of my Grandmothers “canned”) …I really learned a lot at Grandma’s knee, …so to speak.  She and I “put up” dill pickles, green beans, peaches, jams, jellies and tomatoes just to name a few foods.

There was only one thing I didn’t like about canning at my Grandmother’s house.

I didn’t like going down to the root cellar… because of the cob webs and the dark corners and crevices.  And that was where she kept all her canning jars and lids and where we put all the quarts of canned produce! (We made so much that Grandma also supplied my family and my Aunt’s family with canned jars of veggies and fruits). The onions and potatoes were in large barrels by the door…I didn’t have to search for them!

Because I was smaller, (than Grandma) I was elected to go fetch ‘things” in the cellar and to place “things” in the cellar when we finished. There was a dirt floor and the “shelves” consisted of the cement foundation of the house and it was on this cement foundation that “things” were stored. There was an old wooden chair that was my makeshift “step stool” (and it was a rickety chair at that!)

One could only access the root cellar from the outside of the house, I had to lift one of the heavy double doors and prop it up to keep it from closing on me.  

Picture this:

Kansas!… Dorothy!… in the movie “Wizard of Oz”…Tornado overhead! ….Wind blowing like crazy! and Dorothy is trying to get the cellar door opened and the wind keeps blowing it shut!

That was me! I was like Dorothy!…only I went down to the root cellar with the Bugs and Spiders and Worms, Oh My…..

However, in the dead of those Kansas Winters….I have to admit I enjoyed all the fruits (literally) of our labor.  I cherish the memories of my Grandmother,… teaching me to “can”….she taught me a lot over the years, but I think “canning” with her was my favorite!

Me….