Canning prowess: A gardening book in slight review

Urban Homesteader Bethany J. Royer Special to The Garden Island Posted Sep 20 20!! "hile there are many topics in #o$ella %arpenter&s boo' (arm %ity that made me drool the )ritten portion o* her cannin+ pl,ms )as especially )ell drool-)orthy. ./b$io,sly I )ill ne$er be con*,sed )ith Sha'espeare or a P,lit0er pri0e )inner.1 2s she )rites abo,t pac'in+ )hole pl,ms in boiled 3ars be*ore pl,c'in+ them do)n into a )ater bath called ra)-pac' cannin+ I si+hed. Three years a+o armed )ith more tomatoes peas spinach and c,c,mbers than I 'ne) )hat to do )ith and a bo,nty o* pears I set o,t on my o)n to can my treas,res. 2ss,red that my mother&s borro)ed copy o* a homema'in+ class te4tboo' *rom her hi+h school years )o,ld lead me correctly do)n this potentially bot,lism-laced path. 5es it )as some)hat ner$e-)rec'in+ tedio,s and ta4in+ b,t also in$i+oratin+ to be ta'in+ a step bac' in time )ith my *oremothers )ho )o,ld can e$ery *all the s,rpl,s *rom their +ardens. I e$ent,ally lost trac' o* the ba+s o* *ro0en peas spinach and the 6,arts o* pear b,tter pic'les and spa+hetti sa,ce b,t my satis*action o$er a hot steamy sto$e and the pin+ o* settin+ 3ars )as incomparable. In short I )as in an absol,te +ardener&s hea$en. Granted my *ood treas,res did not come *rom an abandoned lot in the %ali*ornia city o* /a')ood as did %arpenter&s b,t rather the tomatoes )ere en+or+ed plenti*,lly in my +arden beds in a small to)n s,rro,nded by corn*ields. The pears )ere +i*ted *rom a *amily *riend by the bas'et-load 3,st a *e) miles o,tside the city limits. Still it )as laborio,s and I dre) hea$ily *rom that said labor )ith a t)in+e o* )orry o$er )hom I )o,ld 'ill *irst )hen I started +i*tin+ my treas,res o,t to $ario,s *riends and *amily. Somethin+ I readily en3oyed doin+ d,rin+ the holidays alon+ )ith homemade coo'ies and do++ie treats. .Gi*tin+ not 'illin+1 The do+ bisc,its yo, )ill be +lad to 'no) ne$er +ot con*,sed or at least no one e$er con*essed to it )ith the coo'ies. 2lon+ )ith the added bon,s that e$eryone s,r$i$ed my *irst timers cannin+ ad$ent,res.

#ote7 this comin+ *rom a +al )ho can ma'e so,p dry. /* co,rse %arpenter&s +arden endea$ors in (arm %ity are *ar more I hate to say romantic beca,se there is nothin+ tr,ly romantic abo,t hearin+ +,n *ire o,tside yo,r bedroom )indo). 5et I can&t 6,ite *ind the ri+ht )ord beyond romantic to describe her ama0in+ )or' at t,rnin+ an inner-city abandoned lot into a +arden paradise. I don&t e$en li'e the )ord paradise8 it simply does not do the a,thor o* (arm %ity 3,stice )hen she t,rned the ro,+h into a diamond. (rom plots o* raised +arden beds to raisin+ chic'ens d,c's +eese t,r'eys and yes e$en pi+s %arpenter has done it all. She&s made that ,rban homestead a reality smac' dab in a city pop,lation o* some 9: 000 as o* 2000. #ot to *or+et her ambitio,s bee 'eepin+ and rabbitraisin+ e$en a !00-yard diet e4periment. .%arpenter spent an entire month eatin+ only *rom her +arden in a bid to be a tr,e ,rban homesteader and to be sel*-s,**icient1 I admit i* I proceeded )ith s,ch an e4periment I&d be in tro,ble )ith the sin+,lar pepper tomato and e$er-berry plant in my mother&s bac'yard. %o,rse the +rass is still *airly plenti*,l here. %an one e$en eat +rass; <aybe i* I )ere part +oat. Bethany J. Royer is a reporter for the Piqua Daily Call and wanna-be urban homesteader. She can be reached at bethanyroyer@yahoo.com.