When I was growing up, June, July, and August always included snapping beans and the sound of the pressure canner buzzing in the kitchen. Sometimes daily! My dad would harvest green beans or corn first thing in the morning and then wake us kids up to "snap beans" or "shuck corn" sometimes for hours at the peak of harvest! Then he and/or Mom would prepare, cut, and can the beans. Then we started Continue Reading >>

I will never forget the day I learned about freezing grapes. It was probably the third day after Pinterest came into existence, and people were posting all those pictures of frozen grapes on skewers. Oh my! We quickly found out that frozen grapes were a favorite food. The best part is, they can be thrown into the freezer when they are almost past eating, and they come out just fine! They make a Continue Reading >>

Since I do not have access to a large amount of land for growing my own food, in order to preserve the harvest I have to find locally grown produce I can afford. This is a big detractor. Last year I bought a couple bushels of apples and made applesauce, which we canned. But by the time I paid full price for the apples, and bought the supplies, my costs were pretty similar to buying applesauce Continue Reading >>

It was a cold, rainy day and my mom asked me to go downstairs to our storage cellar to get a jar of green beans. I was probably twelve or thirteen. I clattered down the stairs to the tiny room in a corner of our basement. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I was probably singing or reading a book. My dad never did add a doorknob to that door into the food cellar. So where the doorknob Continue Reading >>