Home canning.

Last weekend at this time, we were in the midst of canning 2+ bushels of plum tomatoes. The effort resulted in 28 quarts of tomato sauce as well as a batch of spaghetti sauce that we both used and froze for the future. All for the cost of the tomatoes (at $6 a bushel a real steal) and the time it took to process the jars and tomatoes.

The process is simple but time consuming. First is washing the tomatoes. A half bushel at a time, they went into the sink for a bath in cold water. Any bruised tomatoes had their bad spots removed and, along with dirt and stems, went into the bucket for the compost pile. Only a few were not salvageable.



Once cleaned, the tomatoes went into boiling water for a few minutes to be scalded until their skins cracked.



They were then scooped out of the hot water and run through the food mill. Ours is a simple affair with a screen on the bottom that allowed the pureed tomato goodness through while preventing the skins and seeds from passing into the sauce. The skins come out a separate shoot and are then run through the mill a second time to get all the good stuff out that we can.



Once the sauce has been collected, it's boiled down to reach the desired thickness and ladled into the quart jars. The jars were washed and then sterilized in a boiling water bath while the tomatoes were being processed.



When the jars are filled, they get lids held in place by rings and go back into the boiling water bath seven quarts at a time. Boiled for 15 minutes to sterilize the batch , they come out of the water to cool. As the jars cool they seal with a distinct "pop" and are ready to be stored for future use.

Essentially the same process is used for apples to make applesauce except that the apples are cored, sliced and cooked into a soft texture before being run through the mill. We put up over a dozen pints of excellent applesauce using this process earlier this fall from just half a bushel of Cortland apples.

Skins and cores all go into the compost pile where they make a fine, rich soil compost.

We've had the food mill for ages and spent only $25 for it back in the '70s. It has paid for itself many, many times over. Jars and rings can be used over and over again as long as hey aren't damaged so their cost depreciates with each season. Lids are good for one use only but cost only pennies apiece. Time and produce are the major investment. And the reward is having something without any additives and the satisfaction of being just a little more self reliant than the other guy.

The larder is now stocked with homemade tomato sauce, applesauce, and blueberry and blackberry jam. Plus there are zucchini breads stacked like cord wood in the freezer and several Tupperware containers of frozen shredded zucchini. And pumpkin bread and processed frozen pumpkin will soon be joining the zucchini.

Now if I could only find a deer or two for the freezer....