Summer time is here. Bringing with it, lots of heat. Be sure to use the repellent when you go outside in the yard and garden.

The vegetables are coming in now, and it's time to start putting up those delicious fruits and vegetables again. We got started about a month ago. We put up 49 jars of plums, not all the same recipe though. We used three different recipes for all those plums. Needless to ask what we did with the rest of the plums, uuhm, they sure were tasty.

For a quick desert, try some fresh plums. Wash the plums, and while still damp, sprinkle on just a little sugar. It is so good. You won't need a desert after having a bowl full of these.

Plums was just the beginning, then the improved pintos got ready, and we canned up several jars of those. Very tasty also. We had to have some of those with our dinner. And then a couple days later, decided to have a few more. Ok, so we didn't can them all.

The tomatoes, okra, and squash come in, and we did the okra and squash yesterday. Didn't count how many jars this time. In all i think we have canned over 100 jars this year of different stuff. Then today we peeled the tomatoes, and will start canning those tomorrow. And another batch of squash came in, so squash pickles sounds like it would be good, since we are running a little short on that this year.

Be sure to use a water bath canner, and the pressure canner when preserving your foods. Nothing like them, and helps to keep any spoilage down also.

If you think canning is not for you, then maybe you need to watch the news a little more often. Things happen every day. I moved up this way out of hurricane country, but that does not mean that something else could happen. The lights can and do go off, all over the country, so i decided canning foods is actually better than freezing foods. Besides, my sisters freezer just went out, and wow, that was a lot of food in that freezer.

Just take some time to think about the situation, and then start preparing your own home for those emergencies and disasters that can and do happen.

Those home canned veggies and fruits, sure are good too. We also plan to can some chicken this year.