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Canning jar (Photo/Carole Cancler)
Take advantage of summer's bounty and learn to preserve some of the fabulous produce the season has to offer. When the days turn dark and cold, you can open your cupboard and find a little summer there.
The following resources are available online to assist you with preserving your purchases from Seattle farmers markets for use throughout fall and winter.
Equipment
- Jarden Home Brands, makers of the Ball® brothers branded glass jars offers jars and other preserving equipment for sale.
- Home canning kits can also be ordered from Amazon.com.
- In the Seattle area, I have found Fred Meyer and TrueValue stores seem to offer the best supply of jars and lids and other canning equipment, with many stores located throughout the Seattle metropolitan area.
Free online information
- The USDA 2009 Complete Guide to Home Canning can be downloaded for free.
- An extensive set of "How to" instructions for canning, freezing, drying, smoking, pickling and other types of food preservation are available from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP). Of particular interest, the NCHFP offers several PowerPoint slide shows which can be viewed or downloaded from the site.
- Online FAQs and Factsheets about home canning and preserving of foods are available from the Washington State University (WSU) Clark County Extension.
- Pacific Northwest Cooperative Extension Publications are available for download as a PDF, or may be ordered from their website. Popular titles include Canning Tomatoes and Tomato products, Salsa Recipes for canning, and Pickling Vegetables.
- A set of instructions for canning tomatoes is offered by the Seattle Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance on their website.
- Learn All About Canning from PickYour Own.org. Their site offers a wealth of information on canning and other forms of preservations such as freezing, drying, pickling. Many of their instructions are accompanied by helpful photos and lots of FAQs.
- Jarden Home Brands, makers of the Ball® brothers branded glass jars offers many free recipes and how to guides as well as books for sale.
Books and pamphlets for sale
- The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving is recommended by many instructors and can be purchased online on Amazon.com.
- USDA 1994 Complete Guide to Home Canning can be ordered online from Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.
- USDA 2009 Complete Guide to Home Canning can be downloaded for free.
Related recipes and articles from Examiner.com:
Strawberry Jam recipe, a good first project
Two terrific cherry jam recipes
Blueberry-Pepper Jam Recipe from New Orleans
Quick and easy raspberry jam
Zucchini Relish Recipe
All about berries—buying and freezing cherries, strawberries, and other berries, with recipes
How to make Oven-dried Tomatoes
Bread and Butter Pickle recipe, with canning instructions
Refrigerator Pickles (not intended for canning)
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