Canning season is upon us....

Last Friday I made a quick stop at the local Amish fruit-stand before they closed for the week. I was able to pick-up 12 bunches of nice beets for $4.50. I got 5 pints of pickled beets. I love pickled beets. Terry doesn't so I won't be sharing. The kids aren't sure whether they like them or not....

Today I went to the same fruit-stand on my lunch hour. I was able to pick-up a 15# box of green beans and a 5# bag of yukon gold new potatoes. I brought them home and we all set around the kitchen table snapping beans. The kids had never snapped beans before and Terry entertained us with stories from his childhood of snapping beans with his grandmother "Inee". We all got a good laugh. The beans and potatoes ended up yielding 25 quarts of beans with potatoes and 1 quart of potatoes. Not too bad. I spent $24.00 for the produce but had all my jars and lids already at home. I think I did pretty good. I have beans in my garden at home but don't think I will get enough so I decided to supplement.

So far everyone has pitched in and been alot of help. Hope this continues through the entire season. I'm making plans to get together with a couple of blogger friends to do some canning. That should be tons of fun. I am really looking forward to it. We need to get a date in mind. I also have plans to get together with my friend Jen and do some mad-canning of pickled hot veggies (cauliflower, peppers, carrots, celery, garlic, dill) you know that yummy stuff. Canning doesn't seem like work when the whole family or friends join together. I think this is a living example of community.

My goals of self-sufficiency coupled with long-term storage building really got a good boost today. I can't wait to see what it looks like at the end of a very successful canning season. I look forward to sharing more with you and hearing of both your successes and failures. We can all learn so much from each other!!