Capturing Summer

I don't garden myself.

I've tried and had success and failure.

Hardening is not my joy, the products of the garden are.

I love the food it produces and wish that I enjoyed it, but that's not going to happen.

I'm just sticking to what I enjoy, 

producing a beautiful and tasty product from the hard work of others! Ha!

I love to can.

I love everything about the process.

And it truly is a process.

For some (many) it seems monotonous,

But it's not to me.

I love looking at the beautiful jars lined up on my table.

I love the magical "pop" that tells you it's sealed correctly.

Pop, pop, pop!

That music to my ears.

I love the color or the fruit or vegetable.

I don't even really like beats, but they are one of my favorite foods to pickle.

The color is so vibrant and natural.

If someone can't appreciate nature and it's stunning beauty,

then none of this makes any sense.

Seriously, look at how pretty these are!

Canning creates a beautiful product,

and captures a little bit of summer for later.

I love opening a jar in the middle of winter and smelling the fresh berries.

For that moment it's not raining, or chilly,

it's summer again.

How fabulous is that?!

I've been canning like crazy.

So far I've canned the following jams;

Strawberry

Raspberry

Marionberry

Boysenberry

Triple Berry (raspberry, marionberry, boysenberry)

Blackberry

Blueberry-Lime

Apple Butter

Flavors that are coming soon;

Spicy Plum

Peach

Huckleberry

Pear

Cherry

Man, that's a lot of jam!

But mostly it's a lot of summer captured for use later.

And that makes me really happy. 

Happy Canning,

Lori