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When I was a young child, I found a Con-Servo Steam Canner in one of my Grandparents attics. Being curious, I had to examine it carefully and ask lots of questions. It was a large metal box with a door and two sets of shelves like an oven. In the bottom was a pan for water. I was told a lot of jars of food could be canned in this at once, using steam instead of hot water. Most people were still pumping or even carrying there water by hand... Read more →

Until a hundred years ago, the majority of Americans were farming the land for a living. Most foods were locally produced and consumed. In my home library, I have a number of market garden books written by Peter Henderson in the late 1800's. He started out growing food for the New York City market, and became an authority on the subject. Henderson bred new varieties of vegetables, and founded a large and successful seed company. He recommended one able bodied man for each acre of market garden. My own great... Read more →

I save a lot of money for other projects by buying large containers of foods, and repacking them. This article will describe a few examples. I love to add garlic to all sorts of foods, and a very inexpensive way to buy it, is chopped and dried. Garlic prepared like this will keep on the shelf for a long time, if it is protected from moisture and sunlight. We use small canning jars, and repack the large tub of dried, chopped garlic, and store it inside a cabinet, protected from... Read more →