We've posted about canning in the past:
Nine practical solutions for the consumption of home canned food
Canning is ideology in a jar

When I go to see my grandma I gain a lot of weight
With her dear hands she gives me plate after plate.
She cans the pickles, sweet & dill
She cans the songs of the whippoorwill
And the morning dew and the evening moon
'N' I really got to go see her pretty soon
'Cause these canned goods I buy at the store
Ain't got the summer in them anymore.

-Greg Brown, Canned Goods

There were hot August and September evenings in the kitchen over a hot stove top ‘preserving the harvest’ from the farmer’s market, CSA, and home garden. The gardens are now frozen and farmer’s markets are closed, so I am starting to look at the cupboard (in my case the cupboard is a collection of boxes pushed to a remote corner of the kitchen) with thoughts of how and when to pop open those time capsules - bundles of joy and summer.

 

The food in those jars is no longer simple sustenance. There is a story in each jar: the place the food was bought or grown, the family or friends who helped, and the weather on that day. It is a splinter of life intersecting with produce in a deeply personal way that food from the grocery store never can never match.

 

This home food preservation isn’t logical; it doesn’t fit into any mainstream economic theory. I spent seven hours one evening on seven quarts of canned tomato sauce. This was not hard labor throughout the process, but I was mindful of the canning throughout that long summer evening. At any reasonable rate of return on my labor, they were wasted hours that could have been spent creating value in other pursuits. What happened to that core tenant of capitalism: specialization?

 

This irrationality is one of the reasons that we are still canning at home and more people try it each year. It is seen as old-fashioned, anachronistic. It doesn’t make sense – it is something that you can’t discuss in mixed company or at the office unless you are willing to brave a long explanations and puzzled stares.

 

“Let me get this straight: you made your own pickles? Out of cucumbers?”

 

But as you know it is a testament to experimental cooking, the bounty of summer, and your own resourcefulness. It is anti-economic; not necessarily against modern society, but a way of running parallel. It is quiet, messy, and the opposite of fast food. 

 

Now theory ends – you’ve put in the time over your boiling-water canner and it is time to collect on debts and eat that home canned food. Here are some suggestions on how to eat it all; just don’t be shy. That food is for eatin’, not just for lookin’.

 

1. Alone
   Hoard the hard-earned food for just yourself. Tell your friends and family that they should have accepted the invitation to your canning party if they wanted to get in on the end product.
2. “Meet the foodies”
   Invite neighbors and coworkers over to an “informal” winter dinner. As they walk in the door hand each guest a menu which lists each dish along with the date the food was preserved, from what farm the produce was purchased, and to really elicit the desired effect attach all recipes so your guests know exactly how long you slaved over the stove for each dish.
3. With closed eyes
   Eat peach butter straight from the jar with a spoon with closed eyes. Imagine the steps from bud growth in the spring to that moment. Be surprised to see snow falling outside when you open your eyes.
4. Reverently
   Leave each jar on the counter for a few days before a planned usage. Delight in how the winter sun glints on your little piece of summer, then cook and eat the meal with a touch of sadness.
5. Gift-it
   Preserved food is a perfect antidote to the January Blues, so give the gift of summer this Christmas.
6. In your sleep
   Who here can say they haven’t ever woken up with an empty jar of bread and butter pickles laying on the bed next to them?
7. With friends
   A friend of mine loves the pickled okra I have made the last few years, so I always save a few bottles for his enjoyment.
8. Feverishly
   If you find applesauce running down your shirt or drinking the pickle juice at the end of the container, you may be suffering from eating style #8.
9. Over-planned
   In August, plan out your meals for the whole winter down to the last jar of tomato sauce. Pick a weeknight as the night of preservation and choose a recipe from the list for each week December to March.

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Do you encourage your customers to preserve? (via flickr)

There is a wonderful article in the Toronto Star about canning and preserving in the modern age. The writer argues that canning is not a dying art for "those who want to know the source of their food, control its sugar and salt content, avoid pesticides, and take advantage of farmers' markets."

I am not exactly sure how farmers can take advantage of canning as a marketing tool, but it is good to encourage customers to preserve the summer's bounty. I think there is a fine line here, because those who do not have the time or energy to preserve should not feel discouraged or like they are not doing enough. Canning is something that I like to do personally (I just put up some applesauce a few nights ago), but I know it borders on the absurd to spend seven hours making seven quarts of tomato sauce which can be bought for so cheap. I think it is important for me and a fun activity, but I would not wish it on anyone who does not have the desire to do it.

I like the idea of canning workshops on the farm. It is intimidating to can for the first time and I would have appreciated some in-person accumulated knowledge the first time I tried it. I am not sure how this can work legally due to food preparation laws, but it is something to explore and an important concept to pass on to customers who are interested. Without respect to food preparation laws, your farm could provide the produce, the jars, and the knowledge and send everyone home with labeled jars. Maybe the labels have your logo on them and a recipe for the customer to finish the job at home?

is there anything you do at your farm to promote preservation? I'd love to hear about it via email or in comments.

Some other great quotes from the article:

"...Pratt is a home canner – surprisingly, it's not a dying art – and, like many, she has given a lot of thought to the enterprise. It is more than simply putting up food from the harvest, or the back garden. Preserving is an ideology, a political act, a hands-on vote in support of local farmers and their produce. It is a way of withholding, even in small measures, from the vast corporatization of our food. And in its subtle and serene way, it is a link to the past."

"It brings back "the feeling of belonging to the family group, the sense of history and confidence in the future as we carried out these tasks year after year, the pride we took in our work, and especially the camaraderie."

(via Treehugger)

If you enjoyed this article you may also enjoy:
Nine practical solutions for the consumption of home canned food

I'd love to hear from you; leave comments below.

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Small Farm Central bridges the gap between technology and agriculture by providing web services to direct marketing small farms across the country. We help farms reach their marketing potential with inexpensive, professional websites that any farmer can use. Come get a free demo today.