Preserving the Home Garden Harvest

When the economy tanks, we all look for ways to save.  During the summer growing season, it’s easy to save money. Simply turn to the time-honored art of canning, which will preserve the harvest and stretch your food dollar. 

Being raised on a South County farm, we grew up canning everything we grew. The abundance of cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers became ketchup, chili sauce, sweet pepper relish and dill pickles, not to mention the batches of jams and jellies made from foraged wild blackberries and wild goose plums.

The recipes I use vary, usually using vintage family recipes like my grandpa’s recipe for sauerkraut and my great-aunt Augusta’s famed ketchup and pickled onion recipes.  

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“Since many of the treasured pickle and relish recipes a home pickler might use has been used for generations, I recommend updating them,” Ball Corporation spokesperson Judy Herrold said. “Update any of your old family pickling recipes will ensure they come up to today’s safety standards.”

An example reflecting such an update is to "water process" or "hot water bath" your pickles. Most older recipes use the open-kettle method of placing the fruit or vegetable in the hot jar directly from the kettle and sealing. Hot water bath or processing takes this preserving one step further. After filling the jars, they are placed in a kettle of water and boiled for a few minutes. This destroys any micro-organisms that can cause spoilage and deactivates enzymes that may affect the flavor, color and texture.

According to the Ball Blue Book Guide to Home Canning, the processing procedures for fermented (brined) cucumbers and fresh-packed dill pickles are slightly different from the usual boiling method. For these products, start counting your processing time as soon as the filled jars are placed in the boiling water. This will prevent your pickles from overcooking and will help maintain flavor and crispness.

Pickles are grouped into four classes: brined, fresh-packed, relishes and fruit pickles.

• Brined pickles are submerged in a saltwater solution for about three weeks. Dill pickles and sauerkraut are examples of brined products.
• Fresh-packed pickles are the fastest and easiest to make. These pickles are canned in a spiced vinegar solution and placed into the jar to cure. Some older recipes will brine pickles overnight before packing, such as the bread n’ butter pickle. These pickles are rinsed then heated with a spiced vinegar before processed in the jar.
• Relishes are chopped and also cooked in a spiced vinegar solution. Flavors can range from sugar sweet to sour. Piccalilli, hot dog pickle relish, old fashioned corn relish and chow chow are American relish classics worth the fuss to fix.
• Fruit pickles are pickled and preserved whole or sliced in a spicy, sweet sour syrup. And don’t forget about the watermelon rind pickle, which is making a comeback in gourmet foodie circles.

To experience the joys of the garden throughout the upcoming winter months, consider giving canning a try. Here’s a few extra tips to make the effort a success.

1. Follow the recipe. If the recipe is old and you need it updated, call or check the website of the home extension division at the University of Missouri. They can help answer your questions regarding processing times and ingredients substitutions.
2. Always use canning salt. Other salts vary in texture and may have additives that can cause your pickles to become soft and cloudy.
3. For the best results use vegetables as close to fresh picked as possible. The fresher the product the crisper the pickle. Also, wash vegetables carefully, removing all garden dirt and remove the bloom ends which may still be attached.

The University of Missouri Extension Service offers food preservation workshops in both Jefferson and St Louis County throughout the summer. For class listings and locations and for free information on canning check out its on line newsletter Quality For Keeps. Just follow the links to Nutrition/Food, then click on Preservation for the latest information of home canning and food preservation safety.

Once you understand and master the basics, head out the any of the farmers markets in the area, pick your produce and preserve before the summer slips away.