Active Aging: A local, longtime canning enthusiast shares her secrets

by Mary Schwark

When Mary Schwark gives away canned goods, she always ask for the jars back— sometimes is happens, and sometimes it doesn’t. Photo by Angela Khebou at unsplash.com.

End-of-garden canning is one of my favorite things to do. I learned a lot about canning from my mom, Helen King. Then I discovered more on my own as I got older. It is a lot of work, but very rewarding.

I love to give my kids and grandkids my home canned goods when they come to visit, and I enjoy taking pickles and beets up to the Senior Center to share with my friends there. I love the Stockbridge Area Senior Center and my friends there. I like to give away cans of my apple butter to our members so they can enjoy them at home.

Not everyone is into gardening or canning, so the senior center is a great place for sharing my home canned goods, fresh vegetables and flowers out of my garden. My neighbors reap the benefits of my favorite pastime, too.

I like to can lots of dill pickles, bread-and-butter pickles, green beans, different varieties of mild and hot salsa, stewed tomatoes, tomato soup, tomato juice, spaghetti sauce, pickled beets, peach jam, grape jelly, apple butter and more. I like to prepare and freeze some fresh fruits and vegetables too — like corn — and I love to put up strawberry freezer jam.

Where to start

If you’re interested in canning and preserving, you’ll want to be sure all fruits and vegetables are cleaned properly before you prepare them. If you would like more specific instructions, canning books can be helpful with that. When I need a recipe for canning, I go to the Blue Ball Canning Book. I do many from memory, or I go by taste, especially with things like my spaghetti sauce and pickled beets.

Make sure all jars are sterilized and your lids and rings are sterilized before filling jars. Once filled, I leave them on the counter for four or five days before storing. When I give away my canned goods, I always ask for the jars back to reuse them again — sometimes is happens, and sometimes it doesn’t.

More tips from Mary

• Green beans are the easiest things to can. If you are new to canning, it’s a good place to start. Remove the string from the beans and break them to the size you prefer. Wash them and pack in jars. Pressure cook them for 30 minutes and let cool.
• For pickles, I wash and quarter my cucumbers.
• Unlike most people, I don’t put onions in my bread-and-butter pickles because my grandkids don’t like onions. They won’t eat bread-and-butter pickles from the store.
• My grandkids only eat their Nannie’s.salsa! It’s fun to make in different varieties for different people. Some like it hot, some do not.
• I like to make lots of stewed tomatoes to have on hand for chili and goulash. Fresh canned tomatoes are always more flavorful than store bought.
• Another great garden reward is zucchini. I make delicious zucchini breads of many varieties. My blueberry and pineapple zucchini breads are favorites.

Why bother?

Mary Schwark cans lots of stewed tomatoes because fresh canned tomatoes are always more flavorful than store bought. Photo by Anshu A at unsplash.com.

Growing and tending to my garden is what helps keep me feeling young. Sharing and giving it away is what makes my heart full.

If you’d like to learn more, or just talk about all things gardening, growing, canning and giving, stop by to see me at the Stockbridge Area Senior Center. I work at the Welcome Desk each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9-2. Chances are I have something fresh and tasty for you to try!

Mary Schwark is the volunteer coordinator for the Stockbridge Area Senior Center (SASC), a great place to spend time. Visit stockbridgeareaseniors.org or call 517-480-0353 for information