Backyard Basics Workshop to Focus on Jamming

An abundance of home grown fruits and vegetables often triggers the desire to can foods at home.  While this can be a fun and rewarding way to keep foods long after the season ends, care must be taken to assure that foods canned at home are safe to eat.

Not all recipes for home canning have been tested for safety. Sources of tested recipes include the National Center for Home Food Preservation (http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/), USDA, and manufacturers of home canning equipment and supplies.  Recipes from cookbooks, outdated Extension publications and the Internet should not be used. There are many other aspects to canning that one needs to consider, including water bath or pressure canner, appropriate recipe, jar size, headspace, and recommended processing (canning) times. 

Wise County area residents who are interested in learning how to process their own jams and jellies are invited to attend a Backyard Basics workshop on Wednesday, July 15 from 1:00-3:30pm hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Office of Wise County.  Cost for the workshop is $20 per person. The boiling water bath method as well as freezer preservation will be presented.  To register, please call 940-627-3341. Space is limited.