Canning summer goodness Story by Cathy Spaulding
ort Gibson produce grower Deno Clopton gets up early to prepare her jars of fruit preserves and apple butter for market. "I was cooking this morning at 3 a.m.," Clopton said while selling at a recent Muskogee Farmers' Market. By mid-morning that day, Clopton had sold all but a couple dozen jars. Canning is one of the best ways to keep the goodness and nutrition of summer produce into fall, winter and beyond. Rebecca Jennings of Fort Gibson said properly canned foods can last for years. "It's like canned food you buy in a grocery store, except it's healthy and fresh and it's in glass jars," she said. "Canning preserves it."
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Summer Edition 2021
Fort Gibson grower Deno Clopton rises early in the morning to prepare her canned goods for Muskogee Farmers' Market.
Jennings grows her produce on her Fort Gibson property along the Grand River. She said she starts canning "as soon as the garden starts producing." The work starts "in the heat of the year," Jennings said. "The worst time to be in the kitchen as a canner is the best time to can — the hottest time of the year." There are two main ways to can food. Pressure canning involves using a special pot with a regulator to help control pressure inside the pot. Water canning involves boiling jars of food. Food safety is paramount in canning, said Melanie Taylor, McIntosh County Family and Consumer Science educator. "You can get a lot of things in there, spores and things that cause botulism," Taylor said. "You definitely need to watch your canning times and make sure that you're hot water bath canning or you're pressure canning, depending on the acidity of the food, just to make sure that it's going to be safe." Food acidity determines whether to can with pressure or hot water, Taylor said.
