Friday, September 11, 2009

Canning corn

'Tis the season for canning. I know this for a fact because there isn't a canning jar left in any thrift store in the region.

Last week our neighbors "the Jones's" called. They have a large garden they're sharing with other neighbors, but the other neighbors (we'll call them the Smiths) have been so busy they didn't have a chance to pick their share of the corn. And the corn was ready to pick. Did I want it?

You bet! Corn is by far our favorite vegetable. The girls and I went over with every laundry basket in the house and picked six rows of corn. I agreed to share the canned result with the Smiths in exchange for keeping some for ourselves.

Some of the Jones' kids and all of the Smith kids came over to shuck the corn. We saved the shucks to feed to the cows, who think it's better than candy.





This is how much corn we got:



After slicing the corn from the cobs (the cobs go to the chickens, who think it's better than candy), I washed and boiled the corn, then canned it.


We got 42 pints, of which 21 go to the Smiths. I'll exchange empty jars for full ones with Mrs. Smith.


Our own corn isn't quite ripe yet - we're in a race against the first frost - so even if we lose our own corn we have 21 pints in the pantry, thanks to the Jones's generosity.

5 comments:

  1. You are very fortunate to have such generous neighbours.

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  2. Nice windfall, a blessing for sure. I noticed in the pictures that everybody but the little hell raiser in blue has on cold weather gear, coats, hats, long sleeves.......the boy ain't a little hyper is he? I only ask because 100 years ago when a was a kid I wouldn't wear my coat either, unless mom reeeally insisted. ;-)

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  3. How big is the pantry? I am a city boy, so to me a Pantry is a small room off of the kitchen and is about 5 foot by 5 foot.

    Dave Jones

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  4. Right now our "pantry" consists of the pantry, a lot of the floor outside the pantry, unused portions of one daughter's closet, parts of the barn, the space under a couple of beds, and some shelves in the washroom.

    In late October when we're a little less pressed for time, we'll be taking a seldom-used bathroom, gutting it, and remodeling it as a walk-in pantry with a *lot* of shelf space. I, for one, cannot wait.

    -Patrice

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  5. Reminds me of when I was a young girl. I can remember our family sitting around outside shucking corn and Mom and my Grandmother canning corn and other veggies. All the kids helped as well doing the shucking. Good memories!!!
    Thank you for sharing...Okie Girl.

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