It was one of those summers that I’ll never forget: apple picking, plum foraging, blackberry harvesting, and then turning it all into jam. Working together as a team, a friend and I washed, peeled and boiled the bounty. We didn’t know a lot about jamming, but we learned and shared the jam we made equally, enjoying it and the memory long past the summer. If you are excited about the idea of canning and jamming this harvest season, why not start a club and share your harvest with a friend or two? Getting a group going isn’t too challenging. Here are some ways to get canning ASAP.
Put out an invitation to your new canning or jamming club on your social media pages and ask anyone interested to send you a DM. Put up signs at your local community center, library, or coffee shop. Many hands may make light work, but too many cooks can spoil the broth, as the adage goes. A good number for a canning or jamming party is between 8 and 10. If too many people sign up, you can always start a second group.
Because you will need a sink, oven and range top, you will have to pick a place with a large enough kitchen to accommodate the group. This may mean your house, or maybe a community or church kitchen; ask everyone to chip in to cover the rental costs for an afternoon.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation is the go-to source for many home preservers; it is run by food scientists from the University of Georgia with backing from the USDA. You can find tested recipes, safety tips and step-by-step home preservation guides on their site. It is excellent for beginners! You can also find some fantastic books on the topic!
Once your members have signed on to the club, have an initial gathering to ensure everyone is on the same page. The main idea of a canning or jamming club is that whatever is produced is equally shared. Once everyone agrees to this, figure out how often you will meet – once a week, every month? Do members of your group like to pick and forage produce or source it locally through farmers’ markets or home gardeners? An excellent rule of thumb is to focus on one type of produce or fruit per meeting. For example, one meeting could be all about blueberry jam, another about tomatoes. This makes it easier to get the hang of things without continually switching up produce and recipes.
Many libraries now offer canning supplies as part of their Library of Things collection. And while the equipment is loaned, the jars needed for the finished product often aren’t. Ask club members to bring ten jars to each meeting. Each member may not go home with the same jars they got, but they will go home with the same number.
At each meeting, delegate tasks between the group, such as washing fruits and vegetables, filling jars, making labels, etc. Alternatively, each member does one task for a set period and then switches to another. This way, everyone not only gets to share in the bounty of the harvest but in the entire process.
It’s an old-fashioned way to preserve food, but the canning comeback is real. Catherine Sherriffs writes about her first canning adventure and why she’s hooked.
Having too much to harvest isn’t necessarily a bad thing, is it? Everest Fernandez offers tips and tricks on preserving chilies after an abundant harvest.
It’s all about eating well, living sustainably, and saving money these days. Anne Gibson has budget-friendly tips for growing food in your kitchen all year!
