Georgia Magazine - June 2010 - (Page 37)

& Turner’s and Flip Burger Boutique. But her message to other families is that you don’t have to farm or can on a large scale to enjoy a little piece of homegrown heaven. Preserving food is not difficult, she says, and you can put up just a few jars at a time. In fact, she often makes jams in small batches. “I want people to understand that you don’t have to have a huge place to grow your own produce,” she says. “I think agriculture is a dying thing for the children who are growing up right now. Most of these children, and their parents, have never had the opportunity to be in the dirt. But they appreciate it.” At each of Nichelle’s day camp sessions, the children get to try their hand at harvesting something—and eating it. Parents can rest assured that there are no manmade chemicals on the food. “We eat our produce. We don’t just sell it. We’re not going to do anything to it, because we survive on it, too,” she says. “And my little boy just picks something off, and he’ll eat it. A little dirt’s not going to hurt him, but it’s got to have no chemicals.” Because of the sheer range of produce they grow—about 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables—the Stewarts practice what could be described as a large quantity of small-scale gardening. In addition to six large garden patches, Tim also tucks plants into nooks and corners on their property. Strawberries line their long drive in raised beds; blueberry bushes run the edge of the yard. Tim is even trying a few cranberry, current and gooseberry plants in some shady spots. “Some people say I won’t be able to grow them, but I guess I’ll find out,” he says. Three of their larger gardens are on neighbors’ land. “We do all the work,” Nichelle explains. “If there’s something specific they like, we plant that, and it’s just there. They can get what they want.” Although Nichelle does most of the canning, and Tim handles most of the planting, they work as a team. “I’ll do canning during the daytime, especially if it’s cold or rainy out,” Tim says. “I like to make chow chow and the pepper jellies, and I like to experiment with pickles. But I do not like to clean up the mess,” he jokes. Funny, because he’s a stickler for a tidy garden, Nichelle notes. “We get on our hands and knees, and we go down every row and we hand-pull the weeds.” “But we enjoy it,” she adds. “The neighbors will say, ‘I saw you in the garden at 10 at night—and you looked like you were having fun!’ We really enjoy the land, and we like to do things the old way.” Above: Nichelle Stewart shows her daycampers where corn comes from. Inset: Tim keeps his fields in tip-top shape. Getting started If you are considering trying your hand at (or rediscovering) canning, consider these tips from Nichelle Stewart: Great books: Nichelle’s favorite canning book is “The Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving,” sold at the Ball website, www.freshpreserving.com. “That’s where I started,” she says, holding up a well-used book. “And this is, like, my third copy.” Another good one, she says, is “So Easy To www.georgiamagazine.org Contact them: (770) 781-2864 The Rockin’ S Farm Stand is located at 465 Claude Scott Dr., in Canton. June 2010 Preserve,” produced by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, www.uga.edu/setp. Start with jams: It’s hard to make a mistake with jams, Nichelle says, because the sugar helps preserve the food. And they’re a sweet reward for your first canning efforts. A boiling water bath is a good start: Nichelle often uses the boiling water method for her canning (see sidebar, page 38), as it is simple and reliable and doesn’t require any fancy equipment—just a big pot and canning jars and lids. Don’t fear the seal: If the lid locks down after canning, your jar is sealed. If, when you push down on the top, it pops back up, you don’t have a good seal. Don’t fret; just stick the jar in the refrigerator and eat the contents within a few days. Granny Tribble’s trick: “My grandmother’s theory was, you have a big, old towel, you set the [sealed] jars on it and then you cover them with another towel, and they set that way until they’re cooled. That way, the temperature is all even under 37 NICHELLE STEWART CHEYENNE STEWART http://www.uga.edu/setp http://www.freshpreserving.com http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - June 2010

Georgia Magazine - June 2010
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Currents
Special Energy Report
Winning Reader Stories
Honorable Mentions: More Vacation Stories
Georgia on a Budget
Around Georgia
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Gardening Tips
Georgia Cooks
Cookbook of the Month
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - June 2010