Tomato Canner by Liz Ray

Tomato canner

Now all you veteran tomato canners, don’t laugh!

Last Tuesday I just did my first tomato canning by myself at the ripe old age of 80.
I am so happy though that I decided to take the plunge; however it was with much fear and trembling as I undertook this new challenge.
My late husband Jim always did all the canning while I was outside pulling weeds or planting.
I had no interest in canning. I wanted to be outside growing the tomatoes, not harvesting them. Let Jim do that!
Well, now Jim isn’t here to do that. But I remembered how delicious his canned tomatoes were, especially since most of them were heirloom with that special old-time flavor.
So last Tuesday I decided to give up some of my time working outside and tackle “this canning business” even though I didn’t want to.
I got out his mom’s old Kerr Home Canning and Freezing Book and looked up how to can tomatoes. Of course, I checked online too but ended up going by the pictures in the canning book.
And, you know, actually it was pretty easy. I just needed to get my confidence up. Before I always had Jim to rely on, whatever question I had I asked him from canning to computers to whatever. But now I had to rely on myself—and God, of course.
I got started for my first solo canning July 8 at 6:14 a.m. and was finished by 8:40 a.m. It was 62 degrees and I weighed 109 pounds. (This detail is for my former students. LOL)
And, by the way, I put all my 109 pounds into this effort. I used the boiling water bath method to can my first ever five quarts of tomatoes.
Success! I opened one to taste to see if I wanted to do any more and it was delicious. Great flavor!
Even though I don’t have Jim here to help me, I know God is always here to help me. In fact, I love this verse and claim it every day.


“Do not be afraid...You will forget your desperate loneliness as a widow. Your Creator will be like a husband to you—the Lord Almighty is his name.” (Isaiah 54:4,5 GNB)


Love in Jesus,
God’s “tomato-canning” servant,
Liz Ray



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