Preserving

My wife and I were just discussing our plans for this year, so here they are so far. Of course we've done a number of things so far, but the cheap stuff is just about to start now at the market, so we have to set our priorities to get things kicked into high gear! If you are doing this yourself, don't forget the golden rule : only can what you will eat!

This year promises to be our biggest year yet, probably by a longshot. And the number one thing on our list is of course tomatoes - both just canned up on their own, and also done up into both pasta/pizza sauce, and salsa. We still have not gone back to review our notes from last year to estimate how much we'll need, but I'm sure it is going to be 7 or 8 bushels at least.

OK, we've set the date. Stay tuned to this article for updates. For anyone in Ottawa interested, on the Sunday of the Labour Day weekend we'll be hosting a party where we show you how to make fermented ("kosher") dill pickles, and sauerkraut, probably starting at 14:00

Right now is the first weekend at the Parkdale Market where they have the pickling cukes. You are best off to order yours ahead of time and if possible pick them up first thing on the Saturday morning and store them in your fridge til Sunday, or a cooler with a bag of ice, since very few of the market vendors get deliveries on Sunday. You need to order #1 (number 1) Cukes. Call these guys to order : Claude Roy & Denis Roy : 613-323-4538. 1/2 bushel is about 30 lbs, and makes about 20 litres of dills. This amount takes 2 people about 90 minutes to prepare.

Cabbage is not such a big deal - can just pick it up on the Sunday at the market. It is currently $1.50 per head with the people I usually get it from. Per huge cabbage you get about 5 litres of kraut, and need 1/4 cup salt.

Last year I wrote about root cellaring carrots. Now here is a video on both dehydrating and canning them. Both are really easy to do. These particular carrots took me longer than normal to process because they are young, sweet carrots, which are pretty small. But I enjoy it, so no big deal.

My dehydrator is the Nesco unit that I bought from the Costco website. It has temperature control, which is really important in a dehydrator. I'm very happy with it so far.

Brining meat takes us as humans right back to basics in terms of some of the first things we as a species learned both to store food, and ensure it was healthier to eat in terms of killing germs and other bugs which could not survive such a high saline solution. Basically here is what you want :

• 1 US/UK gallon water (4 liters)
• 1.5 cups non-iodized salt (kosher, pickling, sea)
• 1.0 cups white or brown sugar, maple syrup, honey or whatever (I always use honey from a local apiary)
• herbs and spices to your preference

You simply mix this ideally first in a pot on the stove and bring to near-boiling just for the sake of fully dissolving the sugars and salts.

During the Great Depression it was common for people to get together to can up large amounts of food - many hands make light work. While the driving factor was simply a matter of survival, it had a really great side-effect of bringing communities together and forming bonds that would far outlive the economic troubles.

Today we find ourselves once again in the midst of economic troubles, and it may or may not be a coincidence that canning is becoming more-and-more popular. Just last week the New York Times newspaper did a feature article on this new trend - which is not really so new for many of us - that seems to be getting a lot of coverage in the alternative blogosphere. I think it would be a stretch to suggest that it is a matter of survival for most folks this time around, but I do think that people in general are becoming more concerned with their food chain, and are wanting to become more directly connected with it.

This is a good thing.