I have been canning for nearly 20 years. I am not THAT old but putting that in print sure makes it sound like I am!!
I have rented one of the Reston Association garden plots for 21 years. Some of the years my produce has been so amazing that I had to figure out what to do with all those tomatoes, squash and beans! Other years were slim pickings and I had to buy from the farmers markets to make my batches of tomato sauce for the upcoming year.
There are a number of things I have learned over the years:
~ make sure whatever you put in clean, hot jars is HOT because if it is not, your jars will explode when put in the hot water bath.
~ make sure to space out your workload so that you don't have to do everything in one batch of 6 hours!
~ you can use canning salt to keep the pH correct in a jar of tomatoes OR you can use lemon juice.
~ keep your jars in a cool, dark spot if possible so that the food inside is not affected by light.
~ don't stack your canned food jars on top of each other because the seals might not stay 100% shut and the food will spoil.
~ you don't have to can the food right when it is picked. You can actually freeze the fruit (depending on what type of fruit it is), take it out in the winter months and make the jam or sauce when you have more time.
~ buy canning lids whenever you see them on sale because you can never have enough!
And something I learned just today: I have always wondered why pictures of jars on posts or in magazines don't have the ring around the lids. I figure that you need to have the ring so that you can keep the food fresh if you don't use it all in one sitting. For example, how many people are going to eat 8 ounces of blackberry jam in one sitting?!
The reason is explained on this link, http://www.sbcanning.com/2012/06/rings-and-stacking-what-you-need-to.html. The author mentions that, with the ring on the jar, you can't see if there is any bubbling out from a poorly sealed lid. If this happens, you will be eating contaminated food. With the ring off, you can see what is happening and take action to dispose of the food before serving it to family and friends.
This makes sense, doesn't it?!
I have organized all of my empty jars and canning supplies in the garage in totes and boxes. If I can keep the area organized, it will not be too difficult to locate the rings when I need them to close up and refrigerate the leftover canned goods in the next year.
Virginia Tech's Extension Department has good information on canning safety if you are interested. http://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/category/food-preservation.html.
