Summer Squash

Blanch - 15 minutes

Plunge - 10 seconds

Process - 1 hour

Select summer squash before the outside becomes coarse and horny. Wash; cut into slices one inch thick. Put in cheesecloth sack and blanch in boiling water fifteen minutes, to reduce bulk. Plunge into cold water, and pack closely in jars within one inch of top. Add salt, a teaspoon to a quart. The flavor of summer squash is so delicate, that the product is improved if the water used for blanching is added to fill the crevices in the jar, since it contains much of the flavor of the squash. Adjust rubber, cover, and seal lightly. Process one hour.

Tomatoes

Blanch - 1 1/2 minutes

Plunge - 10 seconds

Process - 25 minutes

Select ripe tomatoes and grade for size. Do not use any that are over-ripe or decayed. Wash, put in a cheesecloth sack or wire strainer, and scald for one and one-half minutes to loosen the skins. Plunge. Remove skins and core. Pack directly in hot jars, press down with a wooden spoon, and add one teaspoon of salt to each quart.

Wash bruised or small tomatoes, put in a preserving kettle, skins and all, and cook until soft. Strain through a fine sieve. Return strained liquid to fire, and when hot pour over tomatoes in the jar, within one inch of the top. Adjust rubber, cover, and one clamp. Place in boiler of hot water and process twenty-five minutes. Water should never be added to tomatoes. Jars show shrinkage if poorly packed, or if the strained liquid is not added to fill the crevices, and an unsatisfactory finished product results.

Winter Vegetables

Such vegetables as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, squash, pumpkin, onions, potatoes, turnips, and celery keep throughout the winter in dry storage. To put up in glass what will keep in a root cellar adds nothing to the economic life of the nation, and the practice should be discontinued.

Those who live in apartments, and do not have facilities for storing winter vegetables, will find that it is more economical to buy them as needed from local dealers than to can them.

For those who go camping, or on long expeditions into regions where markets are not accessible, it is, no doubt, wise to have on hand a stock of winter as well as summer vegetables which are canned or dried. For instructions in drying of vegetables, see last chapter. For the home canning of winter vegetables, see Farmers' Bulletin 839, which can be had by writing the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.