It’s incredibly satisfying to spend time preserving and canning food. Although it might sound old-fashioned (and it is!), it’s actually a great way to eat food from your garden (or a local farm!) all year long.

Preserving and canning food isn’t just  mushy vegetables or gloppy jams, either. Yes, canning basics like green beans, tomatoes and pickles are still popular, and are a great way to feed yourself. But these days, canning recipes are intricate and creative, yielding delicious food that’s ready to eat or add to a recipe.

Food preservation isn’t just about canning. It includes drying and dehydrating as well as freezing and salt curing. It’s easy to find recipes that don’t just keep food from spoiling – they actually create delicious, artisan foods. Think home-cured prosciutto, custom blended herbal cocktail bitters, chutneys, salsas and much more.

Be sure to check out these posts about how to dry herbs, what you need to can food safely and how to set up your longer term food storage. There’s lots great information to help you get started with food preservation. And I have more articles planned.

And don’t forget to grab a copy of my Printable Canning Planner or my ebooklet Storing and Preserving Food in Small Spaces.