It’s that “snack, crackle, pop” time of the year. The weather is hot, the wind gets wild, it may or may not rain, the _eld corn is tasseling, and

the sweet corn is saying pick me, pick me. The pumpkins are NOT ready at this time but I am seeing watermelon along with the tomatoes and other great seasonal yum yums. When you start seeing bushels of cucumbers and tomatoes at the Farmers Market you know it getting to be canning time and getting ready for who knows what this upcoming winter.

Did you think of thanking Napoleon Bonaparte for some of the things we use everyday? Yep, that guy who did not have to duck going under most doors, liked to wear his big hat and ride his horse into war. Back in his day and all times before that, food was a super major issue to keep on hand for the _ghting troops.

Napoleon put out an award of 12,000 francs ($1,600 in today’s $) in 1795 to anyone who could come up an answer to preserving food with other than salt and a few other primitive methods.

A Frenchman, Nicolas Appert, came up with an airtight glass bell and heat method and got the award in 1810. The glass bells were pricey and fragile but it was a big _rst

step in food preserving. Englishman John Hall then took it a step further using tinned iron containers and launched a system that has evolved into today’s canned foods. At _rst this “jarring” system was a mystery as to why it worked and it was not until the late 1800’s that French bacteriologist, Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) came up the microorganism factor. Heat and airtight seals helped prevent the growth of bacteria and other organisms to keep canned foods safe. The cows also are glad that someone came up with a way to keep their milk safe for future use and sale. A big thank you to all those dudes and people who listened and liked their ideas.

A large number of us are very happy to have someone else do the “jarring” and and we are willing to pay them to be our food source. Home canning has always been a part of some peoples’ lives. For some it is a must and for some it’s a hobby and/ or bragging rights to say “I made these pickles all by myself at home”. Home canning is a big world and today’s technological information is available at your _ngertips.

Books and magazines are also helpful as well as grandma, but be aware that new things are always being developed so keep current so you can make safe homemade products. You will be dealing with terms like high acid, low acid, pressure cooking, hot water bath, and many other terms. Heating time is also a critical issue to safe canning.

Canning supplies are available at a large number of stores and you can also check out auctions and garage sales to get some of the basic needs. You most likely will need a trip to the store for things that need to be replaced each time you can. If buying used jars, be sure that the rims are chip free. It’s best to leave the old green and blue jars for decorative use and avoid single use jars.

If you have been thinking of doing some fall gardening now is the time to get real serious about that plan. Even though it is hot right now, the cooler fall weather will be coming and that is what the “cool weather veggies” need. These would most likely be the same things you planted early, just after the frost went away in the spring. A number of your hot weather veggies are done producing or close to it, so you probably can make use of the same gardening space. Remember, large pots and the like are great for things like lettuce. You can move them around for sunlight and you can also move them inside if things are occasionally too cold. (Yes, I know I had a hard time keying in that term “too cold”, but it will come).