How "Canny"

So I took my first foray into the wonderful world of canning this week. I had the opportunity to buy tomatoes and Utah peaches for a pretty good price. I bought enough to make canning worth it and decided that I'd give it a shot. Now, I have to admit, I'm not a complete beginner. I spent a lot of time during my growing up years helping my grandma with her canning. But I had never attempted the process myself.

Saturday was tomatoes and the peaches that had bad spots that had to be used right away. To be honest, I didn't do it alone. I had my mom come and help me. And she had done canning when I was young. But being 5 months pregnant with a bit of a trouble-finder of a two year old, I couldn't very well attempt it alone. I couldn't even lift the pot of water to boil the jars in for goodness sake. So we spent all day making a huge mess and canned 28 quarts of tomatoes and made two batches of peach preserves. It was supposed to be jam, but it turned out to be somewhere between a jam and a syrup. But it still tasted good! By the end of the day, I was completely spent. My feet hurt; my back was killing me... And I still had at least one more day of canning to go to get the rest of the peaches canned.

Thankfully, the peaches were ready to go yesterday while Clayton was home to help me. Here it was... my very first attempt at canning by myself. No one with any experience to help me. Just my hubby who did what I told him to. With the exception of a momentary bought of dizziness and lightheadedness (I'm sure because it was so warm in the kitchen), we were able to work straight through and got all the peaches done before lunch time. And it was a complete success. 20 quarts and a pint later, my body was again hating me. But every single jar sealed. And for a first time and having done 48 quarts, 5 pints and 12 half-pints, that's pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

And though my body still hates me today, I haven't felt this good in a long time. I actually accomplished something that I can see...I can show people...I can eat. I now have the canning bug and want to can all the time. It's such a great feeling to know that I am capable of a skill that will help me to build our food storage and provide healthy food for my family. Of course, I still have yet to attempt veggies that require actually pressure canning. That will be the next skill. Maybe I have a little Holly Homemaker in me after all!