Preserving the past : Youth discover intergenerational art of canning
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008
BROOKE McNEELY Northwest Arkansas Times Kaitlin Freitas, 10, gets a hug from her mother, Becky, Tuesday after learning her apple jam won the division award in the Junior Jam and Jelly category at the Washington County Fair in Fayetteville. 4-H members in the county compete in a variety of events during the annual week-long fair at the Washington County Fairgrounds.
It's an old-time hobby gaining popularity with a younger crowd, and this year's Washington County Fair Junior Canning category has more entries than it has seen in years, according to Canning Co-Superintendent Mary Loftus.
"A lot of the fruit and vegetables reflect this year's garden," Loftus said. "We had a good spring."
The fair saw 481 junior canned good entries. Loftus said that's a little higher than the 400 they've averaged in past years. The hobby involves skill in the garden, kitchen and packing. Kids had to choose a few vegetables, fruit or jellies to start with. Loftus said that they can choose to water bath, pressure cook or dehydrate the food. Finally they must put the product into a glass jar in such a way that it looks appealing to the eye. The idea is to keep the food fresh for a full year.
"This one you can see the knife cuts, and this one you don't," Loftus said while holding up two jars of peaches. "It's definitely an art."
12-year-old Samantha Childress of Prairie Grove got into canning a few years back.
"My grandam started me on it," she said. "I just really enjoyed it. My mom doesn't have the patience to teach me. My grandma cans constantly. If you go into her house there's a counter covered in cans."
Childress put 27 entries in this year's junior competition. Goods ranged from carrots to picante sauce.
"I like doing jellies a lot," she said. "I don't usually eat any of the other ones. I don't really like having to cut up the vegetables."
Becky Freitas of Fayetteville said canning is a family tradition for her, and as soon as each of her kids could chop vegetables she started teaching them the skill.
"It's definitely one of those lost arts," Freitas said. "Sometimes it's a bit of a process. "
Freitas' three children, Shelby, 13, Kaitlin, 10, and Josh, 8, all had entries into the competition.
Kaitlin Freitas said she likes working on the cans with friends, but Josh Freitas said all the hard work pays off for him when he gets the chance to eat his creation.
Glynis Rardin of Fayetteville got her kids interested in the hobby through a class at the Washington County Cooperative Extension Service. Loftus is the one who teaches the class every year in the third week of June.
"They actually entered seven of the jars they made at the class," Rardin said.
Loftus said the class can fit only 20 children a year, and they've had to limit it because of all the handson work the students do. She added that a lot of kids learn about the skill from family, just like Samantha Childress did from her grandmother.
"Canning kind of jumps generations, a lot of the times kids and grandparents hook up," she said.
For more information on the class contact the Washington County extension service at 444-1755.
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