We harvested our cabbage yesterday. It wasn’t our best crop of cabbage, but it was better than we thought it was going to be so we were pleased with it.
Several heads of cabbage were lost to slug damage. I hope to remedy that next year. The weed barrier we use underneath the cabbage is wonderful for preventing weeds inside the row cover, but it gives slugs and snails a good place to congregate.
As soon as Matt pulled up the cabbage I started in making kraut. All the kraut from last year was eat up a good while back so we’re looking forward to this year’s batch.
For several years I’ve been making my kraut in the jar like Granny did. You can see how Granny and Pap make kraut here.
I have canning jars that I inherited from family and friends. I also have canning jars I’ve bought over the years Matt and I have been married.
As I was filling an old jar with chopped cabbage I started thinking about how many times I might have filled it with food over the years.
In the past it might have held green beans, tomatoes, cabbage, pickles, grape juice, blackberry juice, tomato juice or potatoes from our garden. It might also have held deer meat. Since the jar is quite old it was likely used by someone before me. No telling what food it held to feed their family.
I have a great fondness for the canning jars that sit on my canning shelves and I’m thankful for the nourishment they hold.
Tipper
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I had to leave a slew of jelly jars back home when we moved to Arkansas after retirement. We had a large pomegranate tree out front in California for over 20 years. my husband would fill dozens of sacks full and juice them while I got all the jars I could find and prepared the most wonderful jelly. Gave most away for Thanksgiving and as Christmas gifts to friends and family. Needless to say, very few jars came back, so most were bought the next year. The larger jars were inherited from my mother-in-law, who taught me how to can peaches, pickled stringbeans, and other goodies. I did bring a few Canning jars with me, but I think I just like to look at them for the memories.
Really enjoy watching your Canning episodes, Tipper, especially the kraut and 14 day pickles. Make my mouth water just to think about it. You make me happy.
Funny story but true when I couldn’t afford to buy canning jars i’d always run down to the local cemetery and go out back where the grounds keepers would throw out the dead flowers and what ever pots they were in and collect all the canning jars I could use for free
I love canning jars. I always wonder about the story behind them and especially what food may have been in them.
I loved this post. Thank you!
There is a “thread that runs so true” throughout BP&A. I think we each recognize it but likely would use differing wording if we tried to describe it. But I do think maybe the woods “canning jar” or a picture of one opens the gates of memory that illustrate what that thread is. Of course canning jars are not the only thing. There are many here, but they all circle around a common theme. One might say the theme is what makes for a good life?
I have seven quarts full of green beans in the pressure canner right now. Just put them in. I don’t know if they are Ball, Kerr, Golden Harvest or Atlas, I have some of each. Doesn’t matter, they’ll be good this winter. I also just put my last quart of last years beans on the stove for tonight.
All the canning jars and equipment that my mother had went to my sisters. I’ve had to buy new jars for the little canning that I do. I must say, though, that I have them in multiples of all sizes from half-pint to half-gallon. We don’t garden (being past 85) but we do buy from local farmers and can their produce.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. My granny used to make hers in a crock that she kept in her pantry. I’m gonna try yours this year.
I love this post! I’m so fond of my canning jars. I have so many from both sides of my grandparents and great grandparents. They are so treasured and they too range from half pints to gallons. Some are even very old syrup jars. There are so many types and colors. Momma had one from her pa that still has coffee beans in it. I’m so grateful to have it. I used one of Mamaw’s Atlas half gallon jars and filled it a third full of pinto beans and a battery candle. It represents so many things to me. I’m so blessed to carry on our ways. Thank you for sharing your story so we can share ours.
God bless all y’all!
I have about quit canning and had maybe 150 jars of different sizes. Most of my friends are aging out of canning also. In inquiring around I found the Mennonites would like to have them. Instead of throwing them away I found a purpose for them.
I have never thought about who used the old canning jars and what they would have had in them in years before or who all they would have feed. That really is a thought to behold in those that have been passed down or gotten from others in various ways. I found a bunch in my parents attic when I cleaned out their home. I kept them but would be afraid to use them other than for just dry storage since they were housed in the attic for many years – that maybe they would be too fragile & break if used to water bath can much less pressure can now. I never knew my mother to can anything though I am sure she did either when I was really young or before I was born and I had several aunts who did yearly. I just recently bought a canner from an estate sale and a newer book on how to can. If our garden gives us enough tomatoes this year I will try to put up however much as possible; I am hoping one of the ladies from my church will take me under her wing and teach me.
That is so sweet to think about. I love learning to can things.
I love canning jars too. My Mama and my grandmothers canned. There’s just something about them that brings me a comforting feeling, whether they are holding food or not. I would go to the garden with my grandmother when I was a little girl. She would let me get some of the food that had bug holes or something wrong with it and I would take it to my play house that I made at her house (*wood shed that was empty in the Summer) and I would pretend to can my vegetables. After I had filled the jars I would line them up on the rungs of the ladder that was built in against the wall. It lead to an attic space for storage. I loved those days. Special memories for sure.
My Grandma Flora had stoneware crocks that she made her sauerkraut in. She would put a foil-wrapped brick on top of the lid to keep the fermentation from blowing the lid off. I always remember her little house trailer as smelling like sauerkraut and tea
I also love my canning jars and reuse them for many things from leftovers to salt, pepper, spices and baking soda, cocoa powder etc. – even as a teaspoon holder on counter, as a pen/pencil holder or a flower vase when needed, and of course for canning!
If you’re going to make kraut, change it up a little now and then and make a few jars more like a chow chow-tasting or a kimchi-tasting fermented cabbage. I do like kraut, and it does help clean you out, but variety can be the (literal!) spice of life!
Back in the day I loved watching mom and mawmaw can various. They made sour pickles, kraut, pickled peppers and tomatoes. They “put up” lots of sour cherries from the 2 big trees in mawmaw’s back yard. But my favorite was when a group of ladies got together to make apple butter. The air smelled sweet from the apples and spices as it simmered over a hot fire in the yard. They would put it up in quart jars and put clean silver dollars in the jars. They said it killed off germs. Later I found out that was correct. Those were great days, in Bluefield back in the 40’s and 50’s.
I too love old canning jars, if they could only tell us their stories.
I really enjoyed Paul being on the live last night. Please have him on again soon.
As always, Praying for Papaw Tony.
Canning jars are absolute proof that a simple thing can be among the most useful inventions of all.
Grandma had the old-style canning jars with a red rubber seal and a wire bale that fit tightly in a groove atop the glass lid. I haven’t seen one in years, not even in a sidewalk sale or antique shop. The 2-piece, self-sealing lids that replaced them are superior anyway. To hear their thin lids pop down as the food cooled was music to our ears. I remember hearing that sound in bed. Occasionally a jar didn’t seal. That food was prepared the next day.
It’s good to hear someone else use the term “kraut” instead of “sauerkraut.” I’ve never made kraut myself, but my mom made enough during her lifetime to feed an army. She would proudly hold up a jar and say, “Look how pretty and white it is!” As a child, I didn’t pay much attention to it—just one more thing I regret. Mom built a fire outside under a galvanized tub where my sisters and I would wash the old jars we kept stored in the dusty canhouse. We had to be extra careful not to break any of the precious jars that were most likely given to us by our grandparents. It wasn’t for the sentimental value as much as our need to fill the jars we didn’t have the money to replace.
I have lots of canning jars and I love them all. My mama had so many, and I am sad to say I don’t have many of them. When they decided to sell their home and move into a small apartment, she left her canning jars in the old well house, where she stored them over the years. It was way before I ever got interested a lot in canning—because I was working full-time everyday, taking kids to ballgames, band activities, keeping house, and cooking meals. I now, of course, wish I had gathered them all up and stored them until I had time for gardening and canning. Our garden didn’t do well last summer, but our apple trees and honeybees did. In our basement, there are many jars of apple pie filling, applesauce, apple butter, and honey. I love the idea that Freida mentioned in her comment about storing leftovers in jars—and that mayo lids fit regular mouth canning jars—I am going to start doing that myself! Have a wonderful rest of your day everyone!
Just last night, my former sister-in-law and I were visiting and the conversation took a turn towards canning. We were both lamenting how much we hated pulling weeds as kids but know that we’ve had our own yards for 50ish years, it’s pride and the love of yard and garden that spurs me on. She has a lovely yard & flowers, but no garden. I do can small amounts ,mostly my sweet & sassy salsa for my grandkids. She never learned to can or had the desire. She was the eldest daughter in a family of 6 kids and many of the “worst” jobs were put upon her. Dragging dirty, buggy jars from the old dirt basement and scubbing/sterilizing them in an unairconditioned house was purely miserable. Hence, the lack of desire to ever do this again once she was married and out of the house. My mom didn’t can. We had tomatoes, green beans and sweet corn (my dad did a run at the end of a field) and we just ate the goodies during the growing season. My maternal gma had a lovely 2nd kitchen set up in her pristine basement where she canned pickles and tomato juice. She made everything look fun and easy & that’s where I got the desire to preserve just our favorites…not work myself to death. It was so fun and interesting to look back at how our childhoods clearly shaped how we do things today. Last year, I froze my salsa because I didn’t have enough energy left over after the yard & garden care. This year, inspite of chemo treatments, I’m planning on a few runs of salsa, providing my tomatoes continue to put on. I’ve taken stock of jars, lids & rings!! I love reading about other’s canning experiences and watching you and Matt(& Corie) preserve your garden treasures ♡
I recently passed on some of my old and new canning jars to my niece. She and her husband are helping their best friends with their big garden on their farm. They plan on canning most everything they harvest this year, so my niece will get hands on experience with canning. It’s a good learning experience for my niece and her husband. I have so many jars, I wanted to pass them on. My daughter or granddaughter have absolutely no interest in gardening or canning, so I’m very thankful my niece has seen the benefits of learning to do both. I also gave her some of my canning books and my old canner. I found some of my gardening books I plan to give her so she can read about companion planting benefits. She has already said she wants her own garden next year so she can grow some things her family enjoy eating. I still have lots of jars and when the time comes I won’t need them anymore, then I’ll pass them on too.
Good morning, Tipper! Like many of you my mother canned anything she get her hands on. She canned everything from the garden, fruits of all kinds, jams and jellies, soups she made in abundance, and the list goes on. We never went hungry! Like a couple of you had posted, we did not eat out, no money for that! The first time I ate out with my parents was for my high school graduation, I was 18 years of age. My husband and I rarely eat out, only when we have to travel to the city. We’re content eating from our garden as well. Have a great day everyone!
What a sweet way to think about canning jars. My granny, and her 11 signings, always had a garden and did a lot of canning. My mom did not as we lived in the city and were 2 hours away from granny. With that said, I do love old canning jars but I buy mine at thrift stores and they usually hold crochet hooks, pens, cuttings from a houseplant, buttons, or small balls of leftover yarn. Thank you for sharing, as always, and be blessed!
A touching thought, Tipper. This post makes me think of your wonderful poem, “I Am From Canning Jars.”
Daddy and momma bought her mother’s home and acreage after Mamaw died. For 9 years, momma’s old maid brother lived on there, alone. By the time my folks got ready to go there to live, the whole place needed a big refresh, garden and pantry included. Momma had a great time gardening and canning. Daddy painted the pantry, shelves and all, vivid Caterpillar Yellow. I believe the prettiest thing I ever saw was that bright yellow pantry filled with rows and rows of momma’s canning jars filled with the reds and yellows and greens of momma’s home grown, home canned tomatoes and summer squash and pink half runner beans!
The name of the community where that all occurred is Pleasant View, Kentucky. Very Pleasant, indeed!
Your jar right there was made from 1923-1933. There’s a chart I keep handy with all the different logos the Ball jars went through.
I imagine there there was all sorts of goodies in that over 100+ years!
I used to watch my mom can green beans and peaches. Those peaches were so good!
I use extra canning jars to store leftovers from our meals. So much better than a plastic container and easy to see what you have in the fridge. I have found that the plastic tops off of Dukes mayo jars fit the regular mouth quarts perfectly.
Freida, I remember when glass Dukes mayonnaise jars would sometimes be used for canning jars, but probably not in a pressure cooker. The canning rings and lids fit these jars perfectly.
This is a good idea and probably takes up less room maybe too.
I have many half gallons that I store dry goods in. They are definitely handy as a pocket on a shirt!
My mother had tons of canning jars, old ones that Mamaw and her sisters gave her, along with some new ones she had bought. She had all sizes from half pints to gallon-sized. Some of the older jars were colored blue. Every summer the canning process began. Daddy’s huge garden produced mounds of vegetables– corn, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cabbage, and some experimental vegetables like Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli. He also had fruit trees and strawberries which Mama made juices, jellies,and jams. The list goes on. My mother prepared almost every bite we ate. There were very few restaurants and no fast food places. But we would not have been able to afford them anyway. We had a large canning room where the filled jars were stored and a huge chest freezer that was also filled.
Tricia, your comment and some of your other past comments are a perfect description of my life and the way it was in both my life and in many ways my wife’s family. I think we would have a lot in common. This is especially true at least until I married, if we didn’t grow it, we didn’t eat it. We didn’t eat in restaurants. Even as married adults, we didn’t eat very often in restaurants of any kind. One other thing, there were no “picky eaters” in my childhood, you had two choices when it came to eating-eat what was on the table or go hungry, it was strictly left up to you.
That’s right, Randy. You either ate what was on the table or you went hungry. My parents grew up dirt poor and didn’t go along with you being picky or refusing to eat. They always reminded us of how fortunate we were to have anything to eat because they often went hungry while growing up. The first time I ever entered a restaurant was when I was in a 4-H Club at age 12 or 13. The lady over the club wanted us to experience one and I was awed. People today are not appreciative of what they have. I count my blessings every day.
Jn a ” one and done world”, canning jars live on.
I love my canning jars, too. A lot of mine came from my grandmother, and using them helps me feel like I’m still connected to her. I’m so thankful my mother instilled in me a love for canning.
I have a good many old canning jars made by Ball and Atlas. They were used by my grandmother, mother, and wife. Now instead having food in them, they only hold good memories of past times that will be no more with these loved ones. I read this over the weekend in an email from Gregg at the Hoss Company “ the north has sauerkraut, the south has fried okra, I think the south won.” I love fried okra but not kraut.
No Kerr jars? Kerr invented the two piece lid and the wide mouth jar. The wide mouth design meant that many a manly man could slip his hand inside to warsh out the remains of last years harvest. I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
Ammons, there may also be some Kerr jars, I had forgotten about that brand of canning jars. I know some of them are wide mouth. Another good memory from my youth. A dearly loved country preacher at my church when I was a kid would always drink his sweet ice tea out of a wide mouth mason jar at any church function that included food.