Homestead Life

A Gift of Home Canned Goodies

Canned goods from my parents' kitchen.
Canned goods from my parents’ kitchen.

 

I grew up in a family that canned and froze lots of veggies and fruits for the winter. Every summer we would put up dozens and dozens of jars of jams, jellies, applesauce, beans, corn, beets, carrots, pickles, sauerkraut, berries, and juice. I’d go on excursions with my Gram to pick blackberries, or out to the garden with Dad to harvest baskets of vegetables at the peak of perfection. Then the whole family would pitch in and work on washing, slicing, packing, and canning the bounty.

 

My parents are a very ‘well preserved’ couple. Even with all of us ‘kids’ out of the house and on our own, they still put up more food in a summer than most people do in a lifetime! While we were back to visit this summer Mom and Dad loaded us up with jams, jellies, beets, applesauce, and dilly beans they canned. We were also the happy recipients of gallon bags of frozen black raspberries, blueberries, and black berries my Dad picked for us.

 

I am so thankful that my parents taught me how to preserve foods for the winter, find foods in the wild, raise a garden, and harvest produce for my table. Having that experience as I grew up instilled a sense of self sufficiency before it was the ‘in’ thing to do!

 

Did you learn to can food when you were growing up? I love to hear how others got a start in this lifestyle!

 

 

12 Comments on “A Gift of Home Canned Goodies

  1. My parents still garden, can, and freeze a lot more than they need for themselves. We do all see them for Sunday dinners so they feed all of our bunch with them. But we always get sent home with some wonderful canned and frozen goodies.

    1. Hi Deb,
      It’s great that you had the positive influence when you were young ๐Ÿ™‚ And it’s awesome that you picked it up and learned on your own! Keep up the great work!

  2. My mom always gardened and canned and I always had to help. As a kid I hated it! (I loved the results though!) I went a long time without, and finally realized how much I miss working in the garden so I started my own. Now I find myself asking my mom for help each summer when I try some new crop and get myself in trouble. Still don’t love the canning itself, but I realized it’s well worth it! Thanks for putting this site together to help fill in what I don’t remember from the lessons my mom taught me.

    1. Hi Joe,
      I wasn’t always thrilled with the prospect of spending a hot day inside helping can when I was a kid either. But I remember that feeling I got when I saw all of the jars lined up on the shelf and thought “I helped do that!”
      These days it seems like the first time I pull the canning supplies out I really don’t feel like going through all of the work. But once I get my first batch of goodies canned up I’m looking for something else to preserve ๐Ÿ˜‰

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your memories and experiences with us! So glad to have you hear reading ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Growing up in the Netherlands my parents (and grandparents) did the same. As a child I enjoyed delicious home made jams and jellies. Nice post, Lisa!

  4. My canning experience started some 25 yrs ago. I was a city girl but always loved the country and growing things. As an adult, when we moved from Houston (populous of over 3 million) to a very small town in South Dakota (18,000) it was a culture shock indeed. I met a church friend my age and told her that I would like to attach my self to some ole’ granny to teach me how to can. My friend said I’m not an ole granny but I’ll teach you. And that she did. We still laugh about that to this day. CJ

    1. Hi CJ,
      How wonderful that you found a canning mentor and a good friend all in one! Great story ๐Ÿ™‚ I always love to hear how people come to this way of life! Thanks for sharing!

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