Inspiration

       I have studied this impressive photo on flickr.com several times and it has provided me with some inspiration for the coming year and brings questions to my mind....         

How strong do those shelves have to be?         

How many hours did they spend canning?       

 Are they insane?         

Am I?
      

Well, I might be crazy, but I do like the idea of growing and preserving my own food. It takes me back to my childhood on the farm when everything was a bit simpler and even tastier.

The accomplished owner of this pantry says her main garden is 40x80 plus a corn garden and twenty-one fruit trees. She does admit that she sometimes over does it, but, she says, "you just never know which crop will fail, last year it was tomatoes."

She says the shelves are just L brackets screwed into studs...really?
        

I also love to spend hours looking through my Ball Canning Book dreaming of receiving exotic free food to preserve into beautiful jars of treats to squirrel away for winter.

I love the colors of the jars and think they are just beautiful, like this photo of applesauce blends from familyfeedbag.com.

"Put 'Em Up" is my newest resource for preserving. Besides canning, collecting books about canning seems to be my newest hobby. This book is full different techniques and methods of preserving foods with recipes organized in alphabetical order of the produce you are preserving.

Maybe it's cabin fever playing tricks on my mind, but I am so excited about this summer's garden and, best of all, laying up food for next winter. Maybe I too can become a fanatic like this canner.