wild (but not uncultivated) musings of a Canadian unschool mom
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1:19 PM - Aug. 15, 2006 -
I never want to see another cucumber in my life till Friday.
I have
to see another cucumber by then, but till then, I insist on maintaining
my rebellion. My pantry has been co-opted by nearly 30 quarts of all
things cucumber. And their evil bean assistants.
Banana Brain and Squirrelly Girlie could not be persuaded to leave the
kitchen, either. All day yesterday, we prepared jars, chopped cukes and
other ingredients, and ran the hot water bath. Spazzerific poked his
head in for awhile, but he seemed quite content to leave operations to
"the women." And "the women" had no interest in going and playing. I
told them they'd done lots, and they could feel free to go, but that
was boring compared to doing "real" stuff.
We are now the proud owners of dill pickles, garlic dills, sweet
pickles, bread-and-butter pickles, relish, and dilled beans. Breakneck
suggested the girls go to the store and tally up the dollar value of
everything they've helped to make. I told them this morning as we
finished the last 5-gallon pail of cukes that we can count it as money
earned for our family, because it's money that won't be spent on these
things. One thing my traditional-minded Mennonite man is very conscious
of is passive income. He even brought supper home last night because he
could hear on the phone that I was too busy "providing for us," to put
it in his terms.
Here's the list of acquired knowledge and skills from home canning, in no particular order:
Hygiene and quality assurance:
- examine jars and lids for defects
- wash and sterilize jars and lids
- examine and wash produce
- general kitchen cleanliness, including prep, utensils, and clean-up
- proper hand-washing technique
- proper filling of jars, with attention to cleanliness and best sealing
- hot water bath - using correct amount of water to process
- examine jars for good seal
- proper handling of jars that don't seal correctly
Equipment and Ingredients:
- learn various sizes of jar mouth and sealer lid
- learn sizes of jars
- learn about stainless-steel vs. other materials; wood, plastic and metal utensils
- see how to use canning tongs
- help make brine and various syrups
- learn about food processor
- chop vegetables in different ways for various recipes
- learn ingredients of various pickle recipes
Economics:
- learn the store-shelf value of food produced and prepared
- compare the cost of home production to the cost of shopping
Health:
- compare ingredients with commercial products
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Untitled Comment
Your entry gave me a little giggle. My father-in-law used to plant 2 acres of pickles. The kids picked 2/3 of an acre a day every day for about 3 weeks during the summer and sold them. They had to rent the land from their dad for the exact cost of their tuition at the private Lutheran school in town. The rest was divided among the three. It was their spending money for the year. Anyway, I think my husband felt this way at times.
I know Marissa does. One year she was at the farm when my MIL was making pickles. Marissa was so proud when she brought home pickles she had just finished making. But, every time Ron and I have to do something and ask her if she wants to accompany us or go to the farm she asks, "I don't know. Are the pickles coming in?"
Untitled Comment
I've got a ton of grapes heavy on the vine now. I'm glad to know I won't have to cancel school to make some juice and jelly!
KarenW - 2:29 PM - Sep. 12, 2006
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