Nelson County Cooperative Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences, Danielle Hagler identified a need for food preservation education in her community.   With an increase of home gardening, more members of the community concerned about supply chain disruptions and families with a desire to control the ingredients in their preserved food, the interest level in this education was great. Throughout a series of educational sessions 33 clients participated in food preservation workshops with an additional 10 who had appointments for pressure gauge testing, recipe reviews or trouble shooting.

Danielle presented a series of hands-on educational workshops to increase the knowledge and skills of her community in the area of food preservation.  In August, a three part series was offered that included pressure canning basics, how to make and preserve salsas and how to make and preserve jams and jellies.  The food preservation series was continued in the spring with a dehydrating food class.

As a result of this initial series, all 12 participants indicated are increased confidence in their understanding of food preservation.  One participant regularly brings recipes to be reviewed and has worked closely with Danielle to select additional canning equipment to increase his ability to preserve food for home use.  Another participant was a first time canner and she successfully preserved our 150 jars of food for her family.

The food preservation series was continued in the spring with a dehydrating food class.

 Of the 17 individuals who completed end of program evaluations for the Food dehydration portion of the series:

94% indicated that after the program they could identify safe, research-based methods of home preservation. 

100% have better skills in home preservation methods.

100% can accurately prepare foods and containers for home food preservation.

Follow up evaluations indicated that that 25  reported an increase in food preservation kills (not all responded) and participants preserved:

• 118 pints of fruits, vegetables or fruit/vegetable products canned through water bath canning (e.g. pickles, jams, jellies, sauces)
• 534 pints of vegetables, soups, meats, or other value-added products canned through pressure canning
• 349 pints of fruits or vegetables frozen
• 8 pints of fruits or vegetables dried