By Amy Neurohr, NDFB Administrative Specialist
I’m pretty sure I enjoy gardening more than the average gardener. I enjoy it so much that I have three gardens in three separate locations. All three are in North Dakota, thankfully!
It has taken a great deal of effort to keep the gardens healthy this past summer. Drought, extreme winds, and above average high temperatures have provided numerous challenges to my fragile vegetables and my fragile gardening self-esteem. Knowing I put so much effort into keeping the plants healthy and productive, I found myself more motivated than usual to preserve and not waste any of the harvest this year.
As I began gathering veggies and filling up the freezer with them, I realized I was going to need a new technique for preserving. After some research on various blogs, I decided water bath canning was worth a look. Even though I had a mother that pressure and water bath canned every summer when I was child, I still found the process intimidating. I never paid attention to how she did it. I guess I was too busy shucking the corn and snapping the beans.
Drowning in pounds upon pounds of cucumbers, I began to study YouTube channels on how to water bath can. I had visions of a stocked-up shelf in the basement with a beautiful array of pickles, relish, jelly and salsa. But, unfortunately (and fortunately!), I wasn’t the first person to start canning as of late. Trying to find jars and lids for the jars proved to be almost as challenging as the severe summer weather.
After many weeks of searching, I finally hit a Ball jar jackpot and processed my first batch of pickles. I was really nervous, so I precisely followed a video recipe (pause, play, pause, play….) on how to do dill pickles. When I took them out of their water bath and placed them on the counter, I hovered over them hoping to hear that “ping” of the lids sealing. Within minutes, a symphony of pings echoed through the kitchen! Success! I was so proud of myself! That accomplishment gave me the confidence to continue and make a variety of pickles, relish, beans and salsa. I also gave crabapple jelly a try and it was my favorite canning project by far!
It’s so satisfying to have a pretty container of home-canned goodness for family and for gifts. Much to my surprise, I’m officially hooked on water bath canning and feel it’s yet another aspect of gardening I can enjoy.