It took most of the day and to give you a clue as to how out of shape I am I think I'm already sore from the process. 500 lbs. of beans and grains all packed and labeled ready for the big spider room (storage room) inventory that Paul and I have been putting off.
The novelty of canning at home wore off by the 4th can and the boys were off making their own messes with about a 25 lb. bucket of LEGOS. The girls stuck around for awhile though and Maryanna with a hair net on her head asked "Is this a girl party? Do girls do canning and boys go to Cabellas?" She kept me going with more: "Do houses not move? is that why we need cars?", "Do people not go potty on shows because they don't eat on shows?", "How do babies grow in your tummy?", "Next time can we get two babies?", "Am I a happy maker?", and "Do bad guys live down in the vent?". Clara asked "why" about a hundred times and I hummed away with sealer, nodded, and just chuckled to it all.
The kitchen table was covered in cans so I laid out a blanket on the floor and we had our meals picnic style. This was fun and it was suggested that we continue that once a week and eat with our right hand like they do in India. The clean-up was actually easier than at the table so it may not be a bad idea.
Speaking of ideas I have one more can left and it's April Fool's Day tomorrow. I need to seal it up with something funny. At first I thought a dirty diaper but that would be bad if it got mixed in with my real food storage. I think instead I'll clean up some of those LEGOS and fill them in a can labeled "KAMUT". We'll make a breakfast porridge tomorrow and I'll get one of them to open it. Let's just hope there are not too many messy trick on me because I'm tired and have enough to clean up tonight.
Great job, Al!!!
ReplyDeleteI love the labels .. did you make those yourself?
I may have to copy your project next month when I am not working anymore.
I've been wanting to do this but had not found anyone who has done it before. Did you borrow your stake canning machine to do this? Did you buy the grains from a normal store? I loved reading the questions from Maryanna--so sweet.
ReplyDeleteThose questions just prove that Maryanna is a big spirit trapped in a little body. So smart and fun! I can't wait to talk to her when we are over.
ReplyDeleteThe cans look so cool. I want to can just so that my fruit room can be full of cool looking labels like yours. I went to grainmix.com and was surprised at how cheep it was. Broccoli seeds are everybody's favorite to sprout around here, but the best price we found was $20/lbs. Grainmix.com has them for almost half.
Scott is back and we are off to Triple Play. I will call you sometime when Quinn is napping.
Lara - I reserved the sealer from the cannery. THey also have a mylar bag sealer you can use. I had to buy the #10 cans, lids, oxygen packs, and white boxes from the cannery and it added 1.16 $ per can. It is a better price to can at the cannery but I was doing stuff they don't offer. I got my grains from grainmix.com but there are several other local places here - google honeyville farm, emergency essentials or Walton feed and see who would give you the best price for shipping. Or just go to Costco and get what you want to store ... pasta and chocolate chips are ones I might add later. This was a satisfying project but super messy and I'm still recoverying from the mess of it all.
ReplyDeleteMarie' - call the grain mix lady because I know her prices have gone up since then. She is right around the corner from your brother though so that would be an easy pick up for you. I haven't tried sprouting yet but will get to it soon.... after all the sewing projects!