Canning is on the Rise

The more people that we've talked to the more that we've found that there are many more people who are planning on planting a garden and canning vegetables this coming spring, summer, and fall.  A lot of it has to do with the economy, and some of it has to do with the grassroots movement that seems to be making its way through society right now (do the two go hand in hand? Perhaps, but we'd love to hear your thoughts on that).

So, you have big ideas and maybe your New Year's resolution is to plant a garden this year and to can your hard worked for veggies.  So is there anything you can be doing now in order to prepare yourself for the hard work this spring?

1. Clean!  You can go ahead and decide what area of your yard you want your garden in and start removing dead flowers, shrubs and other plants.

2. Plan!  Start learning all you can about what types of vegetables you want in your garden, how you want it laid out, whether you want to do raised beds, etc.  If you aren't sure what kind of veggies you want, you might want to go ahead and purchase some books about canning and see which things you'd be interested in and keep a list.

3. You may want to start stocking up on seeds, mulch, and fertilizer, as sometimes the winter prices on these products are cheaper.

4. Do all the research that you need to do.  It will make things go quicker this spring if you have the knowledge already there and can stay steady with the job instead of having to start and stop in order to look things up.

5. Draw a map/plan of your garden so that you know how the spacing between plants needs to be, etc.

Have fun with your winter preparations for your spring garden!  We would love to hear what kinds of plans you have in mind.