The Journey (Part 1)

I have come a long way since I began my grad school journey and in my food journey as well.  In a series of posts I want to describe the steps I have taken on this journey while also offering a critique of this process.

After watching Food, Inc. (read Here) my husband, Nick, and I decided to put in a garden and begin putting up our own food and buying from the local farmers market.  We had put in a garden previously - way too many tomatoes!, but not really devoted ourselves to gardening and actually putting up the produce.  I was raised in a home where my mom had a garden every year and every summer and fall was spent putting up fruits and veggies for the winter, tending the garden and picking vast quantities of blueberries and strawberries.  I felt I had the knowledge to can, preserve and put up my own fruits and veggies in a safe manner.  I bought Ball's Blue Book Guide to Preserving; several boxes of jars, lids, rings; a water bath canner with all the accessories and set to work putting up our own food.  I have been canning and freezing our own produce for the past two years and while it is a tremendous amount of work it is incredibly rewarding.  To open a freezer full of food throughout the winter or to open a pantry lined with rows of beautiful jars filled with fruit is a sight to behold.