Thinking about canning the abundance from your garden, CSA, or local farm stand?

Before you harvest, make sure you're using current canning information and tested recipes. And make sure your equipment is in good working order.

Test your pressure canner
Test the pressure-canner dial gauge for accuracy each year before the canning season.

Home food-preservers with Presto-made pressure canners* may bring their Pressure Dial Gauge or Pressure Tru Indicator to a UNH Cooperative Extension county office for testing.

Please call your county Extension office in advance, rather than just walking in with your pressure gauge. If your county isn't conducting testing this year, the Family & Consumer Resources educator there can refer you to a site that will. The educator doing the testing can also inspect your equipment and provide you with recommendations for use based on its condition.

Although weighted-gauge types of pressure canners don't require testing for accuracy, replace the weighted gauge if it's damaged in any way.

*Brand names manufactured by National Presto Industries include: Magic Seal, Maid of Honor, Presto, and National.

Canning workshops scheduled
Although these workshops focus on water-bath canning, but instructors will answer questions about pressure canning, freezing, and drying. (Keep checking this space, as more workshops will be scheduled as the season progresses.)

• August 13: Yes You Can, Exeter Seacoast Farmers Market, Exeter, 2:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call Claudia Boozer-Blasco 679-5616
• August 13: Yes You Can--Preserving Food at Home, Green Thumb Nursery, Rte 116, North Haverhill, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, call Deb Maes at 787-6944
• August 15: Yes You Can, Seacoast Farmers Market, Portsmouth, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call Claudia Boozer-Blasco at 679-5616.
• August 18: Yes You Can, Tracy Library, New London, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. For more information, call Marilyn Sullivan, 225-5505.
• August 18: Yes You Can, Applecrest Farm Orchards, 133 Exeter Road, Hampton Falls, 11:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. For more information, call Claudia Boozer-Blasco at 679-5616.
• August 20: Yes You Can, Wesley United Methodist Church, Clinton Street, Concord, 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Small fee will be charged. Registration handled by the Concord Cooperative Market. Call Ruth Smith at 410-3099 for more information.
• August 25: Yes You Can, Rye Public Library, 581 Washington Road, Rye, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. For more information, call Claudia Boozer-Blasco at 679-5616.
• September 16: Yes You Can, Massabesic Audubon Center, 26 Audubon Way, Auburn, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Small fee will be charged. Registration handled by the Massabesic Audubon Center. Call 668-2045 for more information.
• September 17: Preserving Your Harvest, New Hampshire Technical Institute, Sweeney Building (student center) Room 225, 31 College Drive, Concord, 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. For more information, call Marilyn Sullivan at 225-5505.
  

Photo credit: podchef at Flickr. Some rights reserved.