The Harvest time always seems to be a bitter sweet time for me. I grew up watching my parents and grandparents doing it, and have canned and made fruit leather myself before I was married. I even made some Jam a few years ago, and more recently when I went to visit my grandmother last year she helped me use all my dry beans and can them so that they were ready to use. And I am proud to say that I have used all the bottles of beans that we canned last year. I have found that I like to have the beans canned as it saves a step later when I want to use them. I love getting fresh fruits and vegetables.
One of the reasons I don't can much right now is I live in a small apartment with 4 little kids ranging from almost age 5 down to twins that are 20 months old. And I don't own my own equipment to do it. Last year when I did some with grandma, she had all the stuff and there was plenty of people around to watch my kids while I was working on it ( a year ago the twins were only 9 months old).
The other reason that I don't do it right now with the ages of my kids and small space is because of a fear that happened with a canning accident when I was in the 3rd grade, now this is from my memory, and even though I was at school when it happened, it did effect me and my family. I guess right now I just want to record this so that I don't ever forget it.
It was the day after labor day and I had gone to school like any other day. My lunch recess usually allowed me to see my little sister Emily as she came for afternoon kindergarten. This day I had saved my cucumbers from my school lunch to give to her since she loved cucumbers, but she didn't show up. When I got home from school, Sister Dunn (a neighbor) was there doing laundry and told me that my sister had an accident and was at the hospital. I was to later learn, that she had gotten up on to the table and asked to help my mom with canning. Mom told her no and to go back outside and play in the back yard with the other kids. She had gotten up to the table right by were my Mom had a electric crock pot keeping her lids hot for canning. So Emily got down but got down on the other side of the chair then where she had gotten up. She tripped over the cord and it brought the crock pot down on top of her. The scolding hot water missed her head and her hands. She had 2nd to 3rd degree burns all over her body. She spent 3 weeks in the burn unit at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. They shaved off her hair to take skin from her scalp for skin graft. I seem to remember her hair grew back a lot prettier then it was before. She had a lot of treatments for a couple of years, but has grown up and has a family of her own now. I am grateful for the quick thinking of my mother and her friend who was their helping her that day. Mom hasn't let this stop her from canning and teaching us to can.
So as you can see from that story, I have a fear of canning with little kids around. But I am sure as I move into a home and can plant a garden of my own, that I will over come that fear.
Until next week.
This was written for Slice of Life, please feel free to join us!
1 comment:
Oh my goodness! That is one of my own fears - I become Nazi Mom when I'm canning because of the whole boiling water thing. My adopted son has a burn scar on his face where his biological Grandmother (not my mother) dropped boiling water on him before he was TWO and didn't do anything about it! We keep putting lavender on it and it has faded over time to where you have to really look to it.
This is a great slice! I'm so glad she's doing great... and I didn't can while the twins were little either. Redbeard did it after everyone was in bed - I'd stay up rocking one and watch!
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