Backyard Farming: Home Harvesting: Canning and Curing, Pickling and Preserving Vegetables, Fruits and Meats

The problem was, the writer was trying to speak of all the different methods for preserving foods all within this one volume. But, having preserved foods using these different methods myself, I can positively state the food preservation is not that simplistic. Each method of food preservation deserves a book dealing strictly with itself. This book serves as an introduction only. If you want to learn the details that will make food preservation successful you would need to expand your reference beyond the scope of what is presented within this text.

This book is full of useful information and great ideas for using everything we grow in our backyard. I'm excited to can more and dry out more for long term food storage.

perfect for the beginner canner!

great addition to my library...

Home Harvesting is one book in Kim Pezza's Backyard Farming series. Others include Raising Chickens, Raising Goats, and Keeping Honey Bees, all of which I am eager to one day read as well. Pezza begins Home Harvesting by giving the history of food preservation. Fermentation and drying were some of the first methods used during ancient times. Now, in more recent times, people continue to preserve foods through those mentioned above and also others such as canning, freezing, curing, and smoking. Pezza then proceeds to help the reader determine which methods of preservation would be best for them to try based upon their resources, equipment, and what they want to preserve. She does into great detail for each method, including supplies needed, instructions of preserving, and how to and how long to store the preserved food afterwards. The last section of the book includes helpful recipes for various preservation methods.I was surprised to learn about how certain preservation techniques came about. Who knew that Napoleon Bonaparte had an influence in the development of canning? I certainly did not! Apart from the history of certain preservation methods, I pretty much knew everything that was mentioned in Home Harvesting, having already preserved homegrown and store bought food via canning, freezing, fermenting, or dehydrating. Pezza herself said that this book is for beginners, and therefore is the perfect book for someone who is just getting started on a garden or someone who wants to preserve food in many ways (as opposed to just storing it in the freezer).

good info

Love these easy to read books. Just got my first stock pot for canning & going to use the recipes in the back to get myself started.

Nothing in this book you couldn't get online in a half hour. Very basic.

great if i have a bit of background and can use it for ideas

I like the idea of not wasting food and being self sufficient. This book can tell you how.