Local workshops make home canning easy

By Christine Hill

Learn to preserve your own food this summer with local canning classes and workshops.

Whether you are canning goods from your home garden or local farmers market, preserving can stretch the fruits of summer labor far into winter, for a fresh homegrown taste all year round. Preserving some of your own produce is not only a fun and useful skill to acquire, but is also a healthy, cost-effective way to cut back on consuming processed food.

Homemade salsa, green beans and various jams and jellies are a few types of foods you can learn to safely preserve. Water-bath canning, pressure canning, pickling and freezing are all common food preservation methods. Many vegetables and other low acidic foods can only be canned by pressure canning in order to destroy bacteria and prevent botulism.

Locally, the University of Missouri Extension offers hands-on canning workshops that teach proper preservation methods for high quality, safe, home preserved food. The “It’s So Easy to Preserve” Home Food Preservation Series is hosted at the University of Missouri Extension River Market, 105 E. 5th St., Suite 200, Kansas City, MO. Classes include:

Salsa From Your Garden

1 – 2:30 p.m., July 27

Learn to make and water bath preserve your salsa and fruit.

Making Fantastic Jams & Jellies

2:30 – 4 p.m. , July 27

Learn to make water bath and freezer jam.

Registration is required by July 20, and each session costs $15. To register, call Missouri Extension at 816-482-5850.