“I need you to stay out of the kitchen for a while. I am pressure canning green beans,” my mom would say.
I’d be stationed at the picnic table on the patio, trimming and slicing green beans. After the beans were cut in uniform lengths, I brought the beans to the front door for further rinsing and processing in the house. I stayed outside.
Every year, I’d hear the story about my neighbor’s pressure canner blowing up and blasting pinto beans all over the walls and ceiling. That’s how I developed a healthy respect for food preservation.
As I cut bucket upon bucket of beans that I had helped pick, I vowed I would 1) never have a garden and 2) never preserve foods.
Fast forward to today — I am now an avid gardener and food preserver who has eaten those words many times. Growing and preservi