Sunlight streamed through the windows as if its purpose was to light the room. Little children’s voices bounced off the walls giving a sense of life and fun, while their mother, Michelle Hong, stood in the naturally lit room. Hong uses this room to can and preserve vegetables and fruits.
With all that has happened throughout 2020, gardening and canning have grown in popularity. Canning is a form of food preservation involving fresh produce, canning equipment, various kinds of pressure, and ingredient specifics depending on the produce. Hong, a Chandler local, has been canning since she was a young girl and has had a garden for years.
“I was probably about 10 and my younger cousin, and I told my grandma we wanted to can. The first thing I got to do by myself was pickled beets,” Hong said. Since then, she has canned a plethora of fresh produce and has taught others how to can their produce as well. She and her family will try new recipes every once in a while, and her favorite thing to can is salsa. However, her family has a different favorite.
“Probably one of our favorites is crab apple plum jam. At our old place, we had a couple of crab apple plum trees, they would produce just a ton of fruit, and the sand plums would get ripe around the same time. So, we would make crab apple plum jam,” Hong said. Since she moved, she hasn’t been able to can much, but she is working to set up her garden.
“This year, we haven’t really gotten our garden established. We just have tomatoes, zucchini, some squash and peppers. Usually, we have a big garden,” Hong said. Even though she does not have the large garden she is used to, she is not alone in gardening this year.
“There has been a nationwide boom in gardening. We haven’t seen the results of that yet. We’ll hopefully be able to see that at this year’s upcoming fair,” said Jessica Riggin, the County Extension Director and family Consumer Sciences educator at the OSU extension in Chandler.
Even though there are new gardeners and canners, the actions themselves are aged and true. As the year goes on, Hong will go on to can and preserve various produce for her family with the sunlight streaming through as if it was shining just for them.