July 21, 2009

Fresh and Local

By Tiffany Green

With the aroma of fresh peaches and homemade blackberry jam, all you need for a fresh meal can be found at the local farmers market.

Fresh fruits and vegetables, canned relishes, salsa and jams, and fried pies and sweets are all found each day at the farmers market at the Festhalle Market Platz in downtown Cullman.

“I come here for the freshness and to see the people,” said Brenda Vance of Cullman.

Vance is a regular at the market and said she comes not only for the fresh food, but enjoys the atmosphere.

“We use fresh vegetables and make relishes and salsas,” said Barbara Chaney.

Chaney works at Spradlin Farm in Vinemont and makes homemade relishes, jam, jellies, salsas, fried pies and other goods.

“We go by the conventional ways of canning,” Chaney said. “We also use a lot of secrets from our parents. My mom was a great cook, and I learned a lot from her.”

Chaney said she enjoys canning and making the fried pies and homemade breads with flavors like coconut pound cake and blueberry bread.

“We have an abundance of tomatos and do salsas with them,” Chaney said.

She said in the jar, the food should be safe at least six months, maybe longer, but in the refrigerator it should last about one month.

“Salsa is so good, it won’t last a month in the refrigerator. It will be gone before a month,” she said.

Spradlin Farm also freezes fruit for homemade ice cream they sell at the farm and at the market.

Chaney said the this year’s crop has been better than last year, but the farmers could use some more rain.

“The rain affects the amount of crop we get and the size of the crop,” she said. “We had a slow season because of so much rain in the beginning.”

With a lot of rain at the beginning of planting season, many farmers were delayed in their planting, which caused a smaller crop.

Now with the lack of rain, crops are still hurting.

“Corn, beans, peas and tomatoes need considerable amounts of rain,” Chaney said. “But the rain was a hindrance to the strawberries.”

Chaney said each year brings a new set of challenges to a farmer.

“The blueberries needed the rain this past weekend and we could use some more,” she said.

Betty Voight and her husband have been married for 59 years and have been farming nearly as long.

“We grow everything we sell,” Voight said. “Soon we will have cantaloupe and watermelon and field corn if the birds don’t eat it.”

Voight said it is important for the community to help out local farmers by shopping the farmers market.

“I think you get fresher vegetables and you help out the local farmer by buying at the market,” Voight said.

Voight enjoys farming and has some favorite home grown foods.

“I love blueberries and tomatoes and most anything is good if you grow it on a farm,” Voight said.

Corn, peaches, blueberries, black berries, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, squash and zucchini are all in season right now and can be found at the market.

Market hours are Tuesdays and Saturdays from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. and Thursday’s from noon until 6 p.m.

For more information about the market, contact marker manager Jimmy Simms at 775-7207.

Upcoming events at Festhalle

Saturday July 25 will feature chef Earl Sherrill will make and serve samples of chicken macon. It is grilled chicken with peach glaze and pecans. For dessert, Sherrill will serve up banana pudding from scratch.

Sherrill will also serve up a shrimp recipe with a special guest from Soggy Bottom Seafood.

At 9:30 a.m., the Senior Rap and Tap Band, Floyd Bradford and Just Country will perform.

Canning tomatoes are the most widely home canned product in the United States. Now is a great time to take advantage of our great Cullman County grown tomatoes and preserve some for the winter.

Organisms that cause food spoilage — molds, yeasts and bacteria — are always present in the air, water and soil. Enzymes that may cause undesirable changes in flavor, color and texture are all present in raw fruits and tomatoes.

When tomatoes are canned, they are heated long enough and hot enough to destroy these organisms that cause them to spoil. This processing or heating also stops the action of the enzymes.

Waterbath canners are available on the market. Any big metal container can be used as a boiling waterbath canner if it is deep enough so the water can cover the jars at least one inch and have room for boiling. It also needs a lid - to protect you from the boiling water - and a metal rack to keep the jars from bumping and cracking. You can use your pressure canner as a waterbath - just don't fasten the cover and leave the petcock open so steam can escape and pressure does not build up in the canner.

Home canned tomatoes can be prepared in a ready-to-use crushed format, or left whole or halved. Whole or halved tomatoes may be canned by covering with water or tomato juice; or, with no added juice. Crushed tomatoes must be hot packed.

General instructions

Selection: When canning, select only disease-free, preferably vine-ripened, firm fruit. Do not can tomatoes from dead or frost-killed vines. Unripened tomatoes are more acidic than ripened fruit and can be canned safely with any of the following recommendations.

For best results process tomatoes within 2 to 3 hours after harvest or purchasing. Canning whole cherry or grape tomatoes is not advised.

To raw pack: Put raw tomatoes into jars and cover with boiling water. Raw tomatoes should be packed firmly into the jars because they shrink during processing.

To hot pack: Heat tomatoes without adding liquid or in water or juice before packing. Pack the hot food loosely. Then cover with the boiling cooking liquid or juice drawn from the tomatoes.

For either pack, use enough liquid to fill around the solid food in the jar and to cover the food. Salt may be added to each jar, if desired. The salt is only for seasoning and does not help to preserve the food. If salt is used, canning salt is recommended to prevent the liquid from turning cloudy. Usually 1⁄2 teaspoon salt per pint is adequate.

Acidify some products for safety

Because tomatoes may be borderline in the amount of acid they contain, you must take some precaution to can them safely. To ensure the safety of whole, crushed or juiced tomatoes they must be acidified, whether processed in a boiling water bath or pressure canner.

To acidify these tomatoes, add 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice or 1⁄4 teaspoon citric acid per pint of tomatoes. For quarts, use 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or 1⁄2 teaspoon citric acid. The acid can be added directly to each jar before filling them with the product. If this makes the product taste too acidic, add a little sugar to offset the taste. NOTE: Vinegar may cause undesirable flavor changes.

Tomatoes - Hot Pack

Wash tomatoes and dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split. Then dip in cold water, slip off skins and remove cores. Trim off any bruised or discolored portions and quarter. Heat about 1 pound of the quarters quickly in a large pot, crushing them with a wooden mallet or spoon as they are added to the pot. This will draw off some juice. Continue heating the tomatoes, stirring to prevent burning. Once the tomatoes are boiling, gradually add remaining quartered tomatoes, stirring constantly. These remaining tomatoes do not need to be crushed. They will soften with heating and stirring. Continue until all tomatoes are added. Then boil gently 5 minutes. Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to hot jars, according to the directions. Add 1⁄2 teaspoon salt to each pint jar; 1 teaspoon to each quart jar, if desired. Fill jars immediately with hot tomatoes, leaving 1⁄2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids and process.

• Option 1 Process in Boiling Water Bath (212° F):

Pints 35 minutes

Quarts 45 minutes

• Option 2 Process in Dial Gauge Pressure Canner at 10 pounds pressure OR in a Weighted Gauge

Pressure Canner at 10 pounds pressure:

Pints or Quarts 15 minutes

Tomatoes Whole or Halved

Wash tomatoes. Dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split. Then dip in cold water, slip off skins and remove cores. Leave whole or halve. Hot Pack: Place prepared tomatoes in saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and boil gently for 5 minutes. Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to hot jars. Add 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt to each pint jar; 1 teaspoon to each quart jar, if desired. Pack hot tomatoes into hot jars, leaving 1⁄2-inch headspace. Fill jars to 1⁄2 inch from top with hot cooking liquid. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids and process as directed below.

Raw Pack Heat water for packing tomatoes, to a boil. Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to hot jars. Add 1⁄2 teaspoon salt to each pint jar; 1 teaspoon to each quart jar, if desired. Pack prepared tomatoes into hot jars, leaving 1⁄2-inch headspace. Fill hot jars to 1⁄2 inch from the top with boiling water. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids and process.

• Option 1 Process in Boiling Water Bath (212° F):

Pints 40 minutes

Quarts 45 minutes

• Option 2 Process in Dial Gauge Pressure Canner at 10 pounds pressure OR in a Weighted

Gauge Pressure Canner at 10 pounds pressure:

Pints or Quarts 10 minutes

For more information on canning tomatoes contact the Cullman County Office of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System at 737-9386.

Contributed by Elaine W. Cole, County Extension Coordinator, Alabama Cooperative Extension System