**This post has been entered in Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist!** Don’t be afraid of the ‘birthing gown’ …

It’s definitely preservation season now!  In case you’re unsure if/what you want to preserve, you can read my preservation guide. …

If you’re thinking of going local, it doesn’t get much more local than your own backyard. Growing your own food …

Image by karenandbrademerson Why in the world would I write and publish a fall preservation guide in January?  We’re nowhere …

I decided that this year, I wanted to make my own pumpkin puree.  I usually buy a can or two each winter to make pumpkin bread, but of course there are issues with BPA in the can liners.  Making my own seemed to be the best solution!

Tomato sauce wasn’t even my first project, but it was the one that weighed most heavily on my mind. While friends were gathering up strawberries and other earlier crops to make jellies and jams and all sorts of things, I was just waiting. My family won’t eat jellies and jams so there was no reason to make any. But tomato sauce! We go through that like crazy! It was one of the biggest things I’ve planned to can and no, I am STILL not done! But I actually did this one in a few different stages so I “perfected” my technique a bit. I’ll share with you the way that I did it, and explain why some of the other ways are not my preferred way. Here we go…be prepared to get messy!