How Canning Can Change Your Life

Who knew that canning would come to define a home to me. I hated picking fruit, cleaning it, preparing it, bottling it, washing the bottles, carrying jars up and down the stairs to the basement storage. It was WAY too much work to be worth it. I made a vow to myself that I would never do it again when I had a house of my own. I've included some fun pictures of our family in the fruit orchards the last few years.

Ben in peach orchard at 2 1/2 yrs old.

Brian and I went through school happy as can be, living in our small apartments with no yard to mow or things to fix. None of the things we had to do during our growing up years. Finally we finished school, started working and bought a cute little house in Houston, Texas. It was probably the very next fall as the weather began to turn cooler in November that I felt this odd tug in my heart to make my house a home. I really wanted to can applesauce. That would make it home to me. Weird, I thought, that I'd ever want to do that.

Maddie in peach orchard at 1 year.

Two years passed and I thought of it from time to time. Finally, I tried my first strawberry jam when my mom was in town after I had Ben. It was fun to make and mom was there to make sure I didn't ruin it and waste all that money. That jam was precious to me and we made a ton. About three months later, Kristie and Anthony moved in. We shared groceries, cooking and chores (though they were lots better at doing their chores than I ever was...). I saw the jam disappearing so quickly it made me want to cry. Kristie had a rule that if we have any kind of pasta, from lasagna to mac'n'cheese, we must have bread with the meal. Of course, having bread means you must have jam. It sure went fast. There were about 8 bottles left when we moved to Virginia. I seriously considered how I could bring 8 jars of freezer jam on the airplane. In the end, I bequeathed them all to Kristie and Anthony. It was a really sad day for me to say goodbye to it.

Angie, Maddie and Ben picking raspberries.

Upon our arrival in Virginia, I became great friends with Cara Glassett. She lived around the corner from us and moved in only a week or two after we did. She decided to find an orchard in Virginia to pick apples. She found one and had a fantastic day picking apples and got us a bag. Finally, I saw my chance. We (Cara and I) decided to make applesauce together. I already had the sauce maker machine and lots of empty bottles, she had the steam canner and the know how.

Ben at 3 1/2 in apple orchard trying to keep the bees and flies out of his ears.

Brian was out of town for two weeks when we undertook the crazy process. I put down huge blue tarps all over the carpet and we began. The entire kitchen was a disaster and the tarps were so sticky from apple juice drippings. We learned a lot but never had I had so much fun spending so many hours working, cooking, squishing and measuring. I think every dish in my entire house was sticky when we finished. I let it all sit for a day or so before I had the energy to clean it all up before Brian returned from his trip to Europe.

Brian and Maddie in apple orchard at 1 year.

Brian was totally impressed and loved the applesauce. Since then, we have become serious canners. We buy bushels and bushels of peaches and apples each year to process. We do strawberry, raspberry and peach jam. Every time I can something, it makes my house feel like a home. Ben loves to do it, from picking in the orchard and eating as many peaches as he can, to mutilating the fruit (his best effort at peeling a peach), to squishing the apples or turning the crank on the saucer. Our home is full of love when we can fruit and spend that time together dancing to whatever comes on the radio and working hard as a family.