I am getting tired. I have been canning for days. The yields are small, adequate for a family of two adults, but the time and energy spent have taken my vigor to a new low. Yes, I admit, I am getting old and slowing down.
On the up side, I enjoy canning; so the smaller yields do make the task more manageable; thus, keeping the process pleasurable. I like growing my own fruits/veggies, I like preserving the bounty for use during the non-productive months of the year, and I like eating the flavorful food I can boast as my own. Therefore; I will continue to can, freeze, dry my garden abundance.
Today, I canned the tomatoes; rich, red, and pure Roma tomato.
I wish the timing of my preservation would give me at least a day’s rest /recuperation/clean-up time between the marathon sessions. At the moment, my kitchen floor has grapes, raisins, bean ends, herb leaves, and tomato tops gathering in the corners and along the cabinet edges. Have you heard the saying, “She is so clean you could eat off her floors.” Not in my case, but I do have enough food on my floors to make a meal. I also have a bucket full of newly harvested potatoes and a basket of onions under the window counter. And, ripe cucumbers line the counter along with a few green tomatoes that fell off the plants while harvesting the ripe ones for today’s canning. Kidding aside, there is no lack of substantive food in this house. And, that is a good thing!
I have tried to stagger the plantings to stagger the ripening; but for some reason, that technique never seems to work. Everything; and, I do mean every fruit and vegetable, seems to ripen at almost the exact same time. So, I tackle the daunting undertaking with the knowledge, that in the end, I will have jars/freezer containers of colorful and delicious food waiting for a time when I will need them.
Not only is that thought satisfying, but I smile; filled canning jars lined up on my shelves - a small and simple pleasure for this farm wife.
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