Time to "put up" or shut up

Aug. 7—Editor's note: This column is being republished today as it was inadvertently cut off in Sunday's edition.

One of the childhood memories that comes to mind this time of year is the dank, cool root cellar at my grandparents' old farm house near Clara City. A heavy door lying flat on the floor was lifted up and a few steep steps took you down to a low-ceiling room of stone walls lined with shelves.

As late summer and fall pushed in, the garden overflowing with vegetation, it was the time for Grandma to fill a countertop full of Mason jars with pickles and carrots, green beans and squash. Soon the empty shelves in the root cellar were refilled with canned goods next to boxes of potatoes and other root crops.

Back then it was simply called "putting up" — stockpiling food to carry you through the winter.

There aren't a lot of true root cellars anymore, although they are making somewhat of a comeback to keep food from freezing in the winter and cool during the summer. There are all manner of plans, from simple to extravagant, to build a root cellar in your basement or in a mound of dirt in the yard.

The spike in interest in gardening and canning hit during the pandemic lockdown and continues, with shortages of jars and other canning supplies continuing.

You don't need a lot of supplies for canning, and with a few basic precautions, you don't have to worry about inflicting anyone with botulism.

Today canning is more of a hobby and enjoyable pastime than a way to avoid starvation, and preserving melds with the growing interest in knowing your food, as much as possible, comes from local sources.

While people have preserved food with salt and other ways for centuries, being able to preserve it in jars got a big boost in the late 1850s when John Landis Mason invented the Mason Jar and Ball Co. and churned out the aqua-colored jars with glass lids and a rubber seal. Having jars that properly sealed their contents was revolutionary and they were prized possessions until they broke.

Preserving in cans and jars peaked during World War II as food was rationed to support the troops.

We just canned some pickles and will soon do some marinara sauce and salsa and freeze the overflow of green beans and tomatoes.

People can pretty much can anything, even zucchini and kale. My wife swears zucchini and kale have redeeming qualities, but I have yet to see them. (I like to tell her to be sure to use plenty of oil in the fry pan when sautéing them because it makes it easier for them to slide out of the pan into the compost bin.)

As canning becomes more widely embraced, it's gotten gussied up by food connoisseurs. While many of us are fine with a good cherry, raspberry or strawberry preserve, a guy from Napa Valley suggests cherries pickled with hibiscus, red wine vinegar, sugar, tarragon and star anise.

I've canned venison and some other meats. It keeps them fine for later use and they're tasty, but the pale grayish color of the meat after canning doesn't exactly get your mouth watering. Making jerky seems time better spent.

If you want to experiment with canning, the options are endless. If you come up with a zucchini-kale-venison-hibiscus recipe that makes your mouth water, let me know.

Tim Krohn can be contacted at tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com or 507-720-1300.