For much of I my life I have been involved with a wonderful, and for most of us mysterious substance; glass. I should explain that before my life as a homesteader, I was a chemist and worked first in pharmaceutical chemistry and then as a chemistry teacher. Cabinets full of glassware were my playground and I never lost my love and respect for retorts, conical flasks, delivery tubes and bell jars.
Even before them my childhood was filled with what we call in the UK 'jam-jars' (and what I presume are called 'jelly jars' in North America) filling my bedroom with tadpoles, caterpillars, germinating seeds and slowly growing crystals.
My love of glass jars continues to this day and I spend much time in the summer and autumn, quickly filling them with preserves, pickles and bottled fruit; then, over the winter and spring they are slowly brought out, and their contents appreciatively consumed. You can freeze produce, it's true, but nothing looks so beautiful, or tastes so good, as home 'canned' produce. You can, of course, buy jars for the home preserving of produce, but my simple home policy of 'recycle, reuse, repair and reduce', leads me to reclaim used jars and reuse them time and time again. In fact, it is cheaper in the UK to buy a jar of Polish pickles, eat the pickles, then wash and use the jar, than it is to buy an empty jar!
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My rules for jar reuse are simple;
· Only use those jars which have labels stuck on with water soluble paste. Reject all jars in the store if the labels are stuck on with 'science fiction gum', it is too difficult to remove these gummed on labels, but you might have some luck by filling the jar with warm water, leaving for a few minutes then peeling slowly from one corner. Most jars with heavily gummed labels can only be sent to the glass recycling bin. If possible determine the way the label is stuck on before buying the product, wrinkly labels are generally pasted on and are the easiest to remove by soaking.
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· Even if you cannot reuse the jar always save the lid. Lids, as a rule don’t have as long a useful life as the jars themselves and it is always useful to have spares.
· Keep a store of empty washed jars. Keeping them with the lids on prevents dirt and dust getting in and stops spiders making a home in them. You need to wash the jars before you store them and again before they are sterilised for use.
· Always gently lever off jar lids, if you pierce them with a small hole they will be of no further use to you.
· Never buy gummy labels to put on your own produce jars, always use paste which is easier to clean off for next time. You can make a paste from flour and water (adding some salt acts as a preservative), or buy decorator wallpaper paste and mix a spoonful with water. Keep your made-up paste in a jar.
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How to use your Jars
Buy dried goods in recyclable paper, polythene or ‘cellophane’ bags and empty them into appropriately sized screw top glass jars. Don’t use a jar too small or you will be left with half a packet that won't fit! Label your jars and store them out of direct sunlight. Use them for preserving your produce, jams/jellies, chutneys, pickles canned/bottled fruits etc. Salads can be made directly into a jar, with a little dressing, and placed in the refrigerator for later in the day, packed lunches or picnics.
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More Uses
Jars make excellent vases (in fact, I like them better than vases). A jar with a candle in is a perfect table decoration, outside or in! Drinking from a jam jar always makes the drink, taste more ‘rebellious’ Cloches made from jars are excellent and the weight of the jar makes them fairly windproof. In my garden I raise runner beans, French beans and sunflowers in this way.
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| (C) http://www.seasonalgardening.co.uk |
You can keep some frog-spawn or tadpoles for a few days to give your children, and yourself, the joy of watching them grow. Choose somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight and then put them back in the pond. You can take some from the pond every few days to watch their development.
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| (C) John Stokes http://fineartamerica.com/featured/jar-of-tadpoles-john-stokes.html "My earliest childhood memory is watching the sunlight through a jar of amber full of wasps." Amanda Harlech |
(C) Ray Lovegrove 2015, 2021
