Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved
in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not,
were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?

My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside
a major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both
taught to preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of
35K good people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot
city lot with a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a
good deal of our food ourselves.

Curious George

I grew up on a farm, my mother canned stuff from her garden and canned
meat using both the boil for three hours method and the pressure cooker.
We also froze a lot of corn both on the cob and cut off and the chickens
that we raised, and butchered. Shes almost 80 and still does an
occasional batch of salsa and freezes corn (my niece won't eat boughten
canned corn).
Connie TC

George Shirley wrote:
> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved
> in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not,
> were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>
> My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside
> a major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both
> taught to preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of
> 35K good people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot
> city lot with a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a
> good deal of our food ourselves.
>
> Curious George

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
...
> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved in
> canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not, were
> raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>
> My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside a
> major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both taught to
> preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of 35K good
> people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot city lot with
> a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a good deal of our
> food ourselves.
>
> Curious George

I grew up in the city with a good sized back yard. We had a smallish
garden - like 10 stalks of corn, a few tomato plants, cucumbers, and I'm
pretty sure none of it was preserved. We did go berry picking and Mom made
jam and that would be it for preserving.

Now we live in a rural area on almost 2 acres and I put a veggie garden in
every year - tomatoes (plants grew to 8 feet tall!! and produced tonnes of
tomatoes!!), cukes, zukes, green beans and taters usually. Tried broccoli
and Brussels sprouts one year without much success, same for peppers, onions
and garlic. I put up salsa, whole tomatoes, sauces, pickles and relishes
when the harvest is good. The last couple of years haven't been good in my
garden and I've figured out that it's because I've got some kind of fungus
or pest...next year it will be moved to a new location. It's nice that we
have enough land that I can do that.

Kathi

Kathi Jones wrote:
> "George Shirley" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved in
>> canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not, were
>> raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>>
>> My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside a
>> major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both taught to
>> preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of 35K good
>> people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot city lot with
>> a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a good deal of our
>> food ourselves.
>>
>> Curious George
>
> I grew up in the city with a good sized back yard. We had a smallish
> garden - like 10 stalks of corn, a few tomato plants, cucumbers, and I'm
> pretty sure none of it was preserved. We did go berry picking and Mom made
> jam and that would be it for preserving.
>
> Now we live in a rural area on almost 2 acres and I put a veggie garden in
> every year - tomatoes (plants grew to 8 feet tall!! and produced tonnes of
> tomatoes!!), cukes, zukes, green beans and taters usually. Tried broccoli
> and Brussels sprouts one year without much success, same for peppers, onions
> and garlic. I put up salsa, whole tomatoes, sauces, pickles and relishes
> when the harvest is good. The last couple of years haven't been good in my
> garden and I've figured out that it's because I've got some kind of fungus
> or pest...next year it will be moved to a new location. It's nice that we
> have enough land that I can do that.
>
> Kathi
>
>
Do you compost? That's how we keep our small garden, 17 feet by 24 feet,
healthy. Each time we mow the grass clippings go straight into the
garden as mulch. When the leaves fall we do the same with them, mow
them, put in the garden. All other garden debris goes into the compost
pile plus we take the kitchen garbage (no meat scraps or bones) and bury
it in between the rows. Sort of a pot hole composting. We do get some
insect damage because we don't spray but, even in our wet climate, we
don't get much in the way of fungi or mold. We even do this with the two
75 foot by 30 inch strip gardens along the fence line and all the flower
beds. Maybe once every two or three years I will fire up the tiller and
till the main garden and whatever other beds aren't being used at the
time. We have huge earthworms in our soil and they help too.

George

On Fri, 09 Nov 2007 07:24:21 -0600, George Shirley
> wrote:

>Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved
>in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not,
>were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>
>My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside
>a major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both
>taught to preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of
>35K good people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot
>city lot with a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a
>good deal of our food ourselves.
>
>Curious George

I was raised in a rural town and moved back after we retired. I think
the current population is about 5,000 people, about the same as it was
in 1950. The whole county has a population of 71,000 (2000 census.)
The two neighboring counties have a combined population of about
100,000. There is not a town in the 3 counties with a population of
10,00. Many of my relatives farmed or gardened so I was familiar with
preserving even though Mother did not do it on a regular basis.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

I grew up in the middle of a large city in a small house. There was no
where to grow anything.

I have moved around the world but never had much of a chance to do any
planting. Once I had the chance I planted veggies (climbing beans, and
potatoes) but mostly fruits. Blackcurrants, blackberries, gooseberries,
raspberries, rhubarb, apples and plums. We mostly ate all the fruit or I
made jams and pies and puddings. My gardens have always been very small and
I am hoping that when I get a house in Yorkshire I will get a good sized
garden. I always grow mint and rosemary which are my favourites. I have
never canned meat but once I am finished work (in two weeks) I shall be
making plans When the children were small we used to go to the pick your
own farms for fruits and then I put up a lot of jam. Of course the children
ate all of that. I also used to make chutney. I have big plans for when I
am retired)) I have a nice canner thanks to Ross and I can't wait to get
started)


George Shirley wrote:
> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently
> involved in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or
> not,
> were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban
> areas?
> My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just
> outside a major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both
> taught to preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town
> of 35K good people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square
> foot city lot with a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve
> a good deal of our food ourselves.
>
> Curious George

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
...
> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved in
> canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not, were
> raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>

I was born and raised and except for my years in college have always lived
in the Chicago suburbs.

Until I was 15 we lived in a house in one of the closer-in suburbs which had
a typical small lot. We didn't grow any food there. When we moved to
Elmhurst (which is also where I live now) my mom had a small plot with
tomatoes and a few other veggies. She may have frozen a few items, but I
think we ate all if it fresh. Mom did not can.

But at about that time my mother suggested I make some orange marmalade. I
no longer remember why she suggested this. I was fascinated by the very
idea -- for some reason even though I had read many books in which
jam-making or other preserving took place, it had never occurred to me that
this was something a suburban girl could actually do. So I made marmalade
and sealed the jars with paraffin and actually enjoyed eating it although to
that point I never cared for marmalade.

I made another batch of marmalade and I think maybe some grape jam when I
was in high school, and then never canned again for about 25 years (or maybe
more). I started my career in business in the mid-1970's -- this was a time
in which women in business were instructed to act as much like the men as
possible. (Just to give an example, while women were warned never to wear
neckties, blouses that had strips of fabric at the neckline to be tied in a
bow were extremely popular, as were scarves to be tied around the neck. It
was openly stated in women's magazines that the point was to wear a
necktie-like fabric thing.) So while women could enjoy certain of the
traditionally feminine arts, canning was considered too domestic. A woman
who was too domestic was viewed as one who wasn't really committed to her
career, and therefore someone her firm shouldn't bother grooming for
promotion.

Eventually I went into business for myself and several years later started
canning again. I had decided a couple of years before that I would start
giving homemade food presents at Christmas. At first I baked bread or sweet
rolls, but that had a couple of disadvantages -- for one, I couldn't give
food presents to my sisters who live several states away and; more
importantly, I found myself spending most of Christmas Eve (and on into the
night at times) baking. Jam I could do well in advance.

We have a smallish garden -- maybe 25 tomato plants, and 25 hot pepper
plants, plus some herbs. I can some tomatoes and pickle a lot of the
peppers. I make a lot of salsa, but this is usually from tomatoes I get at
the farmers market, which is the source for amny of the other vegetables and
fruits I use for canning.

There are always plenty of green tomatoes left on the plants when it's time
to clear the garden for winter. This year I made green tomato jam and
pickled green tomatoes.

Anny

Anny Middon wrote:
> "George Shirley" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved in
>> canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not, were
>> raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>>
>
> I was born and raised and except for my years in college have always lived
> in the Chicago suburbs.
>
> Until I was 15 we lived in a house in one of the closer-in suburbs which had
> a typical small lot. We didn't grow any food there. When we moved to
> Elmhurst (which is also where I live now) my mom had a small plot with
> tomatoes and a few other veggies. She may have frozen a few items, but I
> think we ate all if it fresh. Mom did not can.
>
> But at about that time my mother suggested I make some orange marmalade. I
> no longer remember why she suggested this. I was fascinated by the very
> idea -- for some reason even though I had read many books in which
> jam-making or other preserving took place, it had never occurred to me that
> this was something a suburban girl could actually do. So I made marmalade
> and sealed the jars with paraffin and actually enjoyed eating it although to
> that point I never cared for marmalade.
>
> I made another batch of marmalade and I think maybe some grape jam when I
> was in high school, and then never canned again for about 25 years (or maybe
> more). I started my career in business in the mid-1970's -- this was a time
> in which women in business were instructed to act as much like the men as
> possible. (Just to give an example, while women were warned never to wear
> neckties, blouses that had strips of fabric at the neckline to be tied in a
> bow were extremely popular, as were scarves to be tied around the neck. It
> was openly stated in women's magazines that the point was to wear a
> necktie-like fabric thing.) So while women could enjoy certain of the
> traditionally feminine arts, canning was considered too domestic. A woman
> who was too domestic was viewed as one who wasn't really committed to her
> career, and therefore someone her firm shouldn't bother grooming for
> promotion.
>
> Eventually I went into business for myself and several years later started
> canning again. I had decided a couple of years before that I would start
> giving homemade food presents at Christmas. At first I baked bread or sweet
> rolls, but that had a couple of disadvantages -- for one, I couldn't give
> food presents to my sisters who live several states away and; more
> importantly, I found myself spending most of Christmas Eve (and on into the
> night at times) baking. Jam I could do well in advance.
>
> We have a smallish garden -- maybe 25 tomato plants, and 25 hot pepper
> plants, plus some herbs. I can some tomatoes and pickle a lot of the
> peppers. I make a lot of salsa, but this is usually from tomatoes I get at
> the farmers market, which is the source for amny of the other vegetables and
> fruits I use for canning.
>
> There are always plenty of green tomatoes left on the plants when it's time
> to clear the garden for winter. This year I made green tomato jam and
> pickled green tomatoes.
>
> Anny
>
>
I use a pickle recipe that was designed for putting up green tomatoes to
make cuke pickles. They are a lime-crisped, sweet pickle.

George

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
...
> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved in
> canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not, were
> raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>
> My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside a
> major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both taught to
> preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of 35K good
> people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot city lot with
> a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a good deal of our
> food ourselves.
>
> Curious George


Rockingham, NC, heart of the Piedmont Sandhills (you NClineans know where I
am talking about), 15 miles north of the SC border. Couldn't get much more
rural.........
-ginny
Now in between Quakertown and Allentown, PA.

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
...
> Kathi Jones wrote:
>> "George Shirley" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved
>>> in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not,
>>> were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban
>>> areas?
>>>
>>> My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside
>>> a major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both
>>> taught to preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of
>>> 35K good people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot
>>> city lot with a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a
>>> good deal of our food ourselves.
>>>
>>> Curious George
>>
>> I grew up in the city with a good sized back yard. We had a smallish
>> garden - like 10 stalks of corn, a few tomato plants, cucumbers, and I'm
>> pretty sure none of it was preserved. We did go berry picking and Mom
>> made jam and that would be it for preserving.
>>
>> Now we live in a rural area on almost 2 acres and I put a veggie garden
>> in every year - tomatoes (plants grew to 8 feet tall!! and produced
>> tonnes of tomatoes!!), cukes, zukes, green beans and taters usually.
>> Tried broccoli and Brussels sprouts one year without much success, same
>> for peppers, onions and garlic. I put up salsa, whole tomatoes, sauces,
>> pickles and relishes when the harvest is good. The last couple of years
>> haven't been good in my garden and I've figured out that it's because
>> I've got some kind of fungus or pest...next year it will be moved to a
>> new location. It's nice that we have enough land that I can do that.
>>
>> Kathi
> Do you compost? That's how we keep our small garden, 17 feet by 24 feet,
> healthy. Each time we mow the grass clippings go straight into the garden
> as mulch. When the leaves fall we do the same with them, mow them, put in
> the garden. All other garden debris goes into the compost pile plus we
> take the kitchen garbage (no meat scraps or bones) and bury it in between
> the rows. Sort of a pot hole composting. We do get some insect damage
> because we don't spray but, even in our wet climate, we don't get much in
> the way of fungi or mold. We even do this with the two 75 foot by 30 inch
> strip gardens along the fence line and all the flower beds. Maybe once
> every two or three years I will fire up the tiller and till the main
> garden and whatever other beds aren't being used at the time. We have huge
> earthworms in our soil and they help too.
>
> George

yup, some of the time. I stop composting when the fruit flies are abundant
in the house - cuz usually I keep a compost bucket under the kitchen sink
before I take it out to the composter. Grass cuttings, leaves in the fall,
anything that came from the ground...I have 2 'composters' that the
municipality sold me for dirt cheep - part of the recycling program. Big
ugly black plastic things.....and yup, got huge earthworms too

Kathi

"Anny Middon" > wrote in message
et...
> "George Shirley" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved
>> in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not, were
>> raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>>
>
> I was born and raised and except for my years in college have always lived
> in the Chicago suburbs.
>
> Until I was 15 we lived in a house in one of the closer-in suburbs which
> had a typical small lot. We didn't grow any food there. When we moved to
> Elmhurst (which is also where I live now) my mom had a small plot with
> tomatoes and a few other veggies. She may have frozen a few items, but I
> think we ate all if it fresh. Mom did not can.
>
> But at about that time my mother suggested I make some orange marmalade.
> I no longer remember why she suggested this. I was fascinated by the very
> idea -- for some reason even though I had read many books in which
> jam-making or other preserving took place, it had never occurred to me
> that this was something a suburban girl could actually do. So I made
> marmalade and sealed the jars with paraffin and actually enjoyed eating it
> although to that point I never cared for marmalade.
>
> I made another batch of marmalade and I think maybe some grape jam when I
> was in high school, and then never canned again for about 25 years (or
> maybe more). I started my career in business in the mid-1970's -- this
> was a time in which women in business were instructed to act as much like
> the men as possible. (Just to give an example, while women were warned
> never to wear neckties, blouses that had strips of fabric at the neckline
> to be tied in a bow were extremely popular, as were scarves to be tied
> around the neck. It was openly stated in women's magazines that the point
> was to wear a necktie-like fabric thing.) So while women could enjoy
> certain of the traditionally feminine arts, canning was considered too
> domestic. A woman who was too domestic was viewed as one who wasn't
> really committed to her career, and therefore someone her firm shouldn't
> bother grooming for promotion.
>
> Eventually I went into business for myself and several years later started
> canning again. I had decided a couple of years before that I would start
> giving homemade food presents at Christmas. At first I baked bread or
> sweet rolls, but that had a couple of disadvantages -- for one, I couldn't
> give food presents to my sisters who live several states away and; more
> importantly, I found myself spending most of Christmas Eve (and on into
> the night at times) baking. Jam I could do well in advance.
>
> We have a smallish garden -- maybe 25 tomato plants, and 25 hot pepper
> plants, plus some herbs. I can some tomatoes and pickle a lot of the
> peppers. I make a lot of salsa, but this is usually from tomatoes I get
> at the farmers market, which is the source for amny of the other
> vegetables and fruits I use for canning.
>
> There are always plenty of green tomatoes left on the plants when it's
> time to clear the garden for winter. This year I made green tomato jam
> and pickled green tomatoes.

Anny - how was the green tomato jam? I might be interested in that in the
future - there's ALWAYS green tomatoes....great story BTW!!

Kathi


>
> Anny
>
>

On Fri, 09 Nov 2007 07:24:21 -0600, George Shirley
> wrote:

>Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved
>in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not,
>were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>
>My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside
>a major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both
>taught to preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of
>35K good people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot
>city lot with a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a
>good deal of our food ourselves.
>
>Curious George

Rural vs. Urban - hard question in my case. I'm a Methodist
preacher's kid. By the time I was really aware of where we were
living it was in towns, albeit small towns in rural areas. In those
years, Dad would be doing a circuit and at least one of the churches
would be in the counrty serving the farmers.

We didn't have a vegetable garden and Mom didn't can (I think she'd
had enough of that on the farm and as a home demonstration agent).
Mom's parents retired from farming when I was 2, but my grandfather
put as much effort into the garden (about 1/4 acre) as he ever did on
the farm. My grandmother mostly froze, but I remember exploring the
cellar and seeing jars of grape and tomato juice lined up on the dirt
as I went down the steps.

Most of my adult life, I've been in apartments, but when I bought this
house 2 years ago I put in a garden a began canning. Makes me feel
good when I walk down my basement steps and see those jars of tomatos,
kraut, relish, chutney and pickles - and brings back the memories from
40+ years ago.

- Mark

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
...
> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved in
> canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not, were
> raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>


i grew up in bartelsville, ok. the pavement ended at our house, after that
it was all gravel section line roads. my grandmother lived about 5 miles
past us on 4 acres, 1 in grass and flowers and 3 in production. i think the
only thing i ever ate at her house that was store bought was chicken. winter
meals all came from the zillion of colorful jars in her cold pantry. we ate
greens, but i don't ever remember salads. she'd let my brother and me take
dinner trays and eat while watching her color tv.

joe
petersburg (you don't miss it until it's gone) alaska

George Shirley wrote:
> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved
> in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not,
> were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>
> My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside
> a major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both
> taught to preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of
> 35K good people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot
> city lot with a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a
> good deal of our food ourselves.
>
> Curious George

Grew up rural farm country, married really remote cattle station, now
live rural farm. Family have always grown and preserved although I am
just getting back into it. Have just collected up my Mum's preserving
jars as she no longer does that.
--
Ginny - in West Australia

wrote:
> On Fri, 09 Nov 2007 07:24:21 -0600, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently
>> involved
>> in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not,
>> were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban
>> areas?
>>
>> My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just
>> outside
>> a major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both
>> taught to preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town
>> of 35K good people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square
>> foot
>> city lot with a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still
>> preserve a good deal of our food ourselves.
>>
>> Curious George
>
> Rural vs. Urban - hard question in my case. I'm a Methodist
> preacher's kid. By the time I was really aware of where we were
> living it was in towns, albeit small towns in rural areas. In those
> years, Dad would be doing a circuit and at least one of the churches
> would be in the counrty serving the farmers.
>
> We didn't have a vegetable garden and Mom didn't can (I think she'd
> had enough of that on the farm and as a home demonstration agent).
> Mom's parents retired from farming when I was 2, but my grandfather
> put as much effort into the garden (about 1/4 acre) as he ever did on
> the farm. My grandmother mostly froze, but I remember exploring the
> cellar and seeing jars of grape and tomato juice lined up on the dirt
> as I went down the steps.
>
> Most of my adult life, I've been in apartments, but when I bought this
> house 2 years ago I put in a garden a began canning. Makes me feel
> good when I walk down my basement steps and see those jars of tomatos,
> kraut, relish, chutney and pickles - and brings back the memories from
> 40+ years ago.

Thanks Mark

"Kathi Jones" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Anny - how was the green tomato jam? I might be interested in that in the
> future - there's ALWAYS green tomatoes....great story BTW!!
>
I made it for the first time last year. I had thought it would be a "toast
jam" but it's more savory than that, so I use it as an appetizer with cream
cheese on scrackers.

The recipe makes about eight or nine jars, so when I made it last year I
thought, "Good heavens!
What am I going to do with all this green tomato jam?" So I served it at my
house once and at a neighborhood get-together and when people said, "Wow!
This is really good!" I said, "Here, have a jar."

So much so that when I went to get a jar to serve at our annual Superbowl
party I found I had given every last jar away.

I made more this year. Most will go in Christmas boxes, but I'll hold onto
a couple jars for myself.

BTW, here's the recipe:

Green Tomato Jam

Prep Time: 45 min
Total Time: 3 hr min

Makes: About 9 (1-cup) jars or 144 servings, 1 Tbsp. each

3 cups prepared tomatoes (buy about 1-3/4 lb. green tomatoes)
1/2 cup fresh fresh lemon juice
7-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
1/2 tsp. butter or margarine
2 pouches CERTO Fruit Pectin


BRING boiling-water canner, half full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and
screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water
over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready
to use. Drain jars well before filling.

FINELY chop or grind tomatoes. Measure exactly 3 cups prepared tomatoes into
6- or 8-qt. saucepot. Add lemon juice.

STIR sugar into prepared tomatoes in saucepot. Add butter to reduce foaming.
Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when
stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin. Return to full
rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

LADLE immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops.
Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly.
Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must
cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring
water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on a
towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of
lids with finger. (If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and
refrigeration is necessary.)

--------------

I think it's funny that the recipe tells you how many green tomatoes to buy.

Anny

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
...

>>
> I use a pickle recipe that was designed for putting up green tomatoes to
> make cuke pickles. They are a lime-crisped, sweet pickle.
>
Sounds good!

I picked out a recipe designed for green tomato pickles and decided to add
hot peppers to it. (Tony Packo's in Toledo [if you used to watch M*A*S*H
you might remember Klinger raving about the place] has some killer sweet
pickled green tomatoes with hot peppers in them.)

I was all set to make the recipe when I looked again and realized it didn't
call for any sugar. Since it had the usual sweet spices like cinnamon and
cloves and allspice I had just assumed it asked for sugar. I ended up
combining a couple of recipes.

I got distracted and let the green tomatoes cook too long. This seems to be
a continuing problem with me and pickles. Anyway, to aid in crispness I
added some of that Ball Pickle Crisp stuff to the jars. The ones that
didn't fit into jars taste fine, and it's about time to crack a jar open and
try the finished product.

Anny

"Ginny" > wrote in message
...
>
> Grew up rural farm country, married really remote cattle station, now live
> rural farm. Family have always grown and preserved although I am just
> getting back into it. Have just collected up my Mum's preserving jars as
> she no longer does that.
> --
> Ginny - in West Australia

We got a chance to visit your beautiful country in 1993, but we didn't make
it to West Australia or Darwin or Tasmania or Canberra -- places we really
wanted to visit. You can only see so much in three weeks.

My DH was working on a project in Melbourne, which is how I got to go. He
nixed putting Melbourne on our travel list since he'd already been there
several weeks. We spent some time in Sydney and environs, then flew to
Adelaide. Took the Ghan up to Alice Springs, and bus trip to Ayers Rock.
Flew to Cairns and spent a few days in Port Douglas before back to Sydney.

It was the trip of a lifetime and I really want to go back and see some of
what we missed.

Anny

"Anny Middon" > wrote in message
. net...
> "Kathi Jones" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>>
>> Anny - how was the green tomato jam? I might be interested in that in
>> the
>> future - there's ALWAYS green tomatoes....great story BTW!!
>>
> I made it for the first time last year. I had thought it would be a
> "toast
> jam" but it's more savory than that, so I use it as an appetizer with
> cream
> cheese on scrackers.
>
> The recipe makes about eight or nine jars, so when I made it last year I
> thought, "Good heavens!
> What am I going to do with all this green tomato jam?" So I served it at
> my
> house once and at a neighborhood get-together and when people said, "Wow!
> This is really good!" I said, "Here, have a jar."
>
> So much so that when I went to get a jar to serve at our annual Superbowl
> party I found I had given every last jar away.
>
> I made more this year. Most will go in Christmas boxes, but I'll hold
> onto
> a couple jars for myself.
>
> BTW, here's the recipe:
>
> Green Tomato Jam
>
> Prep Time: 45 min
> Total Time: 3 hr min
>
> Makes: About 9 (1-cup) jars or 144 servings, 1 Tbsp. each
>
> 3 cups prepared tomatoes (buy about 1-3/4 lb. green tomatoes)
> 1/2 cup fresh fresh lemon juice
> 7-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
> 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine
> 2 pouches CERTO Fruit Pectin
>
>
> BRING boiling-water canner, half full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and
> screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water
> over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until
> ready
> to use. Drain jars well before filling.
>
> FINELY chop or grind tomatoes. Measure exactly 3 cups prepared tomatoes
> into
> 6- or 8-qt. saucepot. Add lemon juice.
>
> STIR sugar into prepared tomatoes in saucepot. Add butter to reduce
> foaming.
> Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when
> stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin. Return to full
> rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from
> heat.
> Skim off any foam with metal spoon.
>
> LADLE immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops.
> Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly.
> Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must
> cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover;
> bring
> water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on a
> towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle
> of
> lids with finger. (If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and
> refrigeration is necessary.)
>
> --------------
>
> I think it's funny that the recipe tells you how many green tomatoes to
> buy.
>
> Anny

thank you Anny - I'll save this one for next year,

Kathi

On Nov 9, 5:24 am, George Shirley > wrote:
> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved
> in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not,
> were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>
> My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside
> a major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both
> taught to preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of
> 35K good people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot
> city lot with a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a
> good deal of our food ourselves.
>
> Curious George

I was raised in a smallish town in the middle of a rural area--the
biggest town in about 100 mile radius, population 12,000. My parents
didn't garden but one of my grandmas did. She apparently canned a lot
when my dad was young but all I remember were frozen raspberries,
sweet tomato jam, and pickled beets. Unfortunately, by the time I was
interested in cooking she was no longer able to teach me to can, so
I'm mostly self-taught from cookbooks and such.

I'm 26, so I guess I'm one of the younger canners represented here. I
now live in an apartment in the San Francisco Bay Area. I don't have
a garden but I've been taking advantage of backyard and public fruit
trees and farmers' markets to get my produce. I put up 300-some jars
of jams and preserves and pickles and applesauce this summer and I'm
excited to share with my family and friends for Christmas.

Libby

Libby wrote:
> On Nov 9, 5:24 am, George Shirley > wrote:
>> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved
>> in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not,
>> were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>>
>> My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside
>> a major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both
>> taught to preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of
>> 35K good people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot
>> city lot with a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a
>> good deal of our food ourselves.
>>
>> Curious George
>
> I was raised in a smallish town in the middle of a rural area--the
> biggest town in about 100 mile radius, population 12,000. My parents
> didn't garden but one of my grandmas did. She apparently canned a lot
> when my dad was young but all I remember were frozen raspberries,
> sweet tomato jam, and pickled beets. Unfortunately, by the time I was
> interested in cooking she was no longer able to teach me to can, so
> I'm mostly self-taught from cookbooks and such.
>
> I'm 26, so I guess I'm one of the younger canners represented here. I
> now live in an apartment in the San Francisco Bay Area. I don't have
> a garden but I've been taking advantage of backyard and public fruit
> trees and farmers' markets to get my produce. I put up 300-some jars
> of jams and preserves and pickles and applesauce this summer and I'm
> excited to share with my family and friends for Christmas.
>
> Libby
>
Good for you Libby. There is about 10,000 years worth of experience that
posts here regularly so if you have any questions please ask the group.
So far you are the youngest who has responded.

George

Libby wrote:
> On Nov 9, 5:24 am, George Shirley > wrote:
>> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently
>> involved in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow
>> it or not, were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were
>> raised in urban areas?

Well... semi-rural, sort of, on occasion. When I wasn't anywhere else,
I stayed with my grandparents in Bakersfield, California. While even in
the late '50s and '60s it was definitely urban, they lived far from the
city center (about a 10-15 minute drive) and had a large yard (front
one, too, until in the early '70s most of it was taken for eminent
domain to widen the canal across South H Street). They owned a
roadhouse called Flo's Log Cabin in the shape of a log cabin even
further out, and my grandfather commuted to Los Angeles as a master
baker in a kosher bakery. He was gone 3 days a week and back 3 days,
although being that he worked for almost those 3 days straight he was
sleeping the first day back and part of the second.

While my grandmother didn't garden, per se, lots of foodstuffs were
grown. Fig tree, almond, apricot, loquat, grapevines were available,
for example. She did have a couple tomatoes in the summer, as well as
cucumbers, and eggplant scattered about. And she could cook... in fact,
after my grandfather died, the fellow who'd married her late sister
asked her to marry him because "I've missed the cooking of a Zabarsky
girl." (she was 72 right then). She always had projects going (I won't
list all her accomplishments, but she could sew a princess dress for my
mother without a patten as well as drive an 18-wheeler).

Preserving projects included drying apricots, making apricot jam, (the
tree was quite prolific in season), fig jam, pickles, candying the
loquats, all with me actively involved in assisting. She'd also get
cases of this or that from the produce guy at what passed for a
supermarket near by... while my grandfather was making wine and root
beer and cider in the garage. It wasn't subsistance preserving by any
means, but it wasn't simply hobbyist either.

Then again, during the time I was in Salinas, California (Steinbeck
country), again, it was urban, but we lived 5 houses from the fields at
the very outskirts of the town (it was only 23,000 at the time).
Lettuce was grown there, as well as cauliflower, broccoli, and the other
cole crops, There were artichoke bushes in our back yard. I was given
a small plot behind the garage to garden--I'm afraid I wasn't as
assidous at as I should have been, but I had radishes, carrots, the
ubiquitous eggplant, a row of corn, mustard greens.

So even though we were never really "country folk" I've been surrounded
by many of those principles from an early age.

B/

"Brian Mailman" > wrote in message
...
> Libby wrote:
>> On Nov 9, 5:24 am, George Shirley > wrote:
>>> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently
>>> involved in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow
>>> it or not, were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were
>>> raised in urban areas?
>
> Well... semi-rural, sort of, on occasion. When I wasn't anywhere else, I
> stayed with my grandparents in Bakersfield, California. While even in the
> late '50s and '60s it was definitely urban, they lived far from the city
> center (about a 10-15 minute drive) and had a large yard (front one, too,
> until in the early '70s most of it was taken for eminent domain to widen
> the canal across South H Street). They owned a roadhouse called Flo's Log
> Cabin in the shape of a log cabin even further out, and my grandfather
> commuted to Los Angeles as a master baker in a kosher bakery. He was gone
> 3 days a week and back 3 days, although being that he worked for almost
> those 3 days straight he was sleeping the first day back and part of the
> second.
>
> While my grandmother didn't garden, per se, lots of foodstuffs were grown.
> Fig tree, almond, apricot, loquat, grapevines were available, for example.
> She did have a couple tomatoes in the summer, as well as cucumbers, and
> eggplant scattered about. And she could cook... in fact, after my
> grandfather died, the fellow who'd married her late sister asked her to
> marry him because "I've missed the cooking of a Zabarsky girl." (she was
> 72 right then). She always had projects going (I won't list all her
> accomplishments, but she could sew a princess dress for my mother without
> a patten as well as drive an 18-wheeler).
>
> Preserving projects included drying apricots, making apricot jam, (the
> tree was quite prolific in season), fig jam, pickles, candying the
> loquats, all with me actively involved in assisting. She'd also get cases
> of this or that from the produce guy at what passed for a supermarket
> near by... while my grandfather was making wine and root beer and cider in
> the garage. It wasn't subsistance preserving by any means, but it wasn't
> simply hobbyist either.
>
> Then again, during the time I was in Salinas, California (Steinbeck
> country), again, it was urban, but we lived 5 houses from the fields at
> the very outskirts of the town (it was only 23,000 at the time). Lettuce
> was grown there, as well as cauliflower, broccoli, and the other cole
> crops, There were artichoke bushes in our back yard. I was given a small
> plot behind the garage to garden--I'm afraid I wasn't as assidous at as I
> should have been, but I had radishes, carrots, the ubiquitous eggplant, a
> row of corn, mustard greens.
>
> So even though we were never really "country folk" I've been surrounded by
> many of those principles from an early age.
>
> B/

good story, Brian,

Kathi

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
...
> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved
> in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not,
> were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban
areas?
>

Raised in the suburbs. Live in the more-dense more-inner-city housing.
Parents
were both raised in the suburbs as well.

Ted

Brian Mailman wrote:
> Libby wrote:
>> On Nov 9, 5:24 am, George Shirley > wrote:
>>> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently
>>> involved in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow
>>> it or not, were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were
>>> raised in urban areas?
>
> Well... semi-rural, sort of, on occasion. When I wasn't anywhere
> else, I stayed with my grandparents in Bakersfield, California. While even
> in the late '50s and '60s it was definitely urban, they
> lived far from the city center (about a 10-15 minute drive) and had a
> large yard (front one, too, until in the early '70s most of it was
> taken for eminent domain to widen the canal across South H Street). They
> owned a roadhouse called Flo's Log Cabin in the shape of a log
> cabin even further out, and my grandfather commuted to Los Angeles as
> a master baker in a kosher bakery. He was gone 3 days a week and back
> 3 days, although being that he worked for almost those 3 days
> straight he was sleeping the first day back and part of the second.
>
> While my grandmother didn't garden, per se, lots of foodstuffs were
> grown. Fig tree, almond, apricot, loquat, grapevines were available,
> for example. She did have a couple tomatoes in the summer, as well as
> cucumbers, and eggplant scattered about. And she could cook... in
> fact, after my grandfather died, the fellow who'd married her late
> sister asked her to marry him because "I've missed the cooking of a
> Zabarsky girl." (she was 72 right then). She always had projects
> going (I won't list all her accomplishments, but she could sew a
> princess dress for my mother without a patten as well as drive an
> 18-wheeler).
> Preserving projects included drying apricots, making apricot jam, (the
> tree was quite prolific in season), fig jam, pickles, candying the
> loquats, all with me actively involved in assisting. She'd also get
> cases of this or that from the produce guy at what passed for a
> supermarket near by... while my grandfather was making wine and root
> beer and cider in the garage. It wasn't subsistance preserving by any
> means, but it wasn't simply hobbyist either.
>
> Then again, during the time I was in Salinas, California (Steinbeck
> country), again, it was urban, but we lived 5 houses from the fields
> at the very outskirts of the town (it was only 23,000 at the time).
> Lettuce was grown there, as well as cauliflower, broccoli, and the
> other cole crops, There were artichoke bushes in our back yard. I
> was given a small plot behind the garage to garden--I'm afraid I
> wasn't as assidous at as I should have been, but I had radishes,
> carrots, the ubiquitous eggplant, a row of corn, mustard greens.
>
> So even though we were never really "country folk" I've been
> surrounded by many of those principles from an early age.

You were a lucky lad) Thanks for sharing

O

On Nov 12, 3:18?am, "Ted Mittelstaedt" > wrote:
> "George Shirley" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved
> > in canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not,
> > were raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban
> areas?
I was raised in small towns in Canada where canning was popular. I
continue with it today. My wife is a California big city woman and
while she helps me with my canning, has no real interest in it. If I
were gone or disabled, it would be over for our family. We currently
live in So. California in a nudist resort, and have a very small yard.
In spite of this, I manage to either grow or buy cheaply in season
items for canning or jar. I (the husband) personally enjoy the
activity and sharing with friends. Regards - Jim in So. Calif.

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
...
> Help an old demographer out: How many of you who are currently involved in
> canning and preserving your own food, whether you grow it or not, were
> raised in rural areas? Conversely how many were raised in urban areas?
>
> My answers: Miz Anne and I were both reared in a rural area just outside a
> major urban area and our fathers were gardeners and we were both taught to
> preserve food at an early age. Now we live in a small town of 35K good
> people and a few bad ones and garden on an 11250 square foot city lot with
> a 2000 square foot house on the land. We still preserve a good deal of our
> food ourselves.
>
> Curious George

I lived in a rural area until I was 7. My mom grew up on a farm and my
dad's grandparents ran a dairy farm. We had a garden and my mom canned
tomatoes. I think that was the only thing she canned.

We moved to another state and the suburbs at age 7. Did no canning at all
until I was about 19 or 20. This was close to 30 years ago. I bought some
jelly jars and proceeded away, doing what I now know was totally wrong.
None of my jars sealed properly. I don't know why I even bothered since I
don't eat a lot of jelly or jam to begin with. I believe I picked my own
berries though.

Now we live in an area that was once rural but is now considered suburbs.
It's good for growing things though. We have two apple, two pear and a
cherry tree. I can apples and pears when we have enough to do so. I also
got a dehydrator, but was dismayed to learn that anything I dehydrate must
still be refrigerated. Or so it says in the instructions.