On Saturday May 6th, Extension’s Harvest Kitchen and high tunnel were filled with families and friends enjoying the beautiful sunny day during the Grow and Preserve Open House. Visitors learned about numerous food preservation and gardening resources available at Extension through an assortment of activities. We shot some photos of all the happenings, check them out below!
Within minutes to the end of a workday, my energy was waning when the phone rang and the caller ID said Denver, Colorado. The person asked for me by name and then shared some lovely news. She was so tickled by the idea of our Canning Jar Drive, she went online, ordered new jars, and had them delivered directly to the Extension Learning Farm! She has family in the North Country and they love participating in Extension programming. I was touched by her generosity and after chatting for a few minutes, I set the phone down.
Two minutes later, the phone rang again. It was an elderly gentleman in Chase Mills. He said he and his wife had canned and preserved food for decades and now they were ready to pass on the supplies to others to carry on the tradition. He planned to drop off the canning supplies when he was next in Canton for an appointment.
These calls happened within minutes and energized me! They are fabulous examples of the thoughtfulness and care in our community, and showcase creative ways to participate in this brand new activity at Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County.
Just like these generous callers, you too can support the preservation programming offered by our Extension educators and Master Food Preserver volunteers by participating in the Canning Jar Drive. Our preservation workshops are hands-on and offered in a sliding scale format where participants can choose how much to pay $10-40. Your donations will offset the costs of programming while also helping your fellow community members gain the supplies and skills to preserve foods.
1. New or used jars welcome. Collect canning jars from your storage areas or friends and family. If you’d like to support our programming but have no jars, simply purchase a case to donate. Make sure the jars are intended for canning, such as Ball, Kerr, Bernardin, etc. All sizes welcome.
2. Drive jars to the donation site, the Extension Learning Farm in Canton. Donations are accepted anytime Monday through Friday 9am-3pm throughout the month of April.
If you want to order online and have them delivered here as in our kind caller, send to Harvest Kitchen 2043B State Highway, NY 13617.
3. Deposit jars in the shed. The shed is on the right side of the driveway when pulling into the farm so it’s easy to move jars into this covered location. Read more Contributing to Future Food Preservation
Every business owner comes to their work with unique strengths. Some folks start with a solid background in planning and business, while others know kitchens and food safety well. One business owner might have building and design experience, while others are proficient at developing marketing materials and outreach. Each one of these skills and many more are required when running a food business. One aspect of my job as manager of the shared-use Harvest Kitchen at the Extension Learning Farm is offering technical assistance to food entrepreneurs. Part of the technical assistance equation is understanding a person’s strongest foundational skills and filling in with supportive information and resources where needed.
This winter, based on the most common questions I was fielding throughout the year, I designed a 3-week class called Creating or Renting a Commercial Kitchen for Your Food Business for the Ag and Food Producers Academy. In January, the group met together online in the evenings for three sessions, and we all came together for a field trip at the close of the course. 19 businesses participated and had wide ranging business ideas including dehydrated products, baked goods, prepared foods, and more.
At the close of our month together, Extension asked the class participants which aspects of the course were most valuable for them as they move forward in diversifying an existing business or starting fresh with a new idea. We had so much fun together unraveling this important and complicated topic, I wanted to share some of their comments below alongside photos of the course experience.
1. Making Connections
“I gained some new friends and I learned what others are doing locally with commercial kitchens.”
2. Learning about Recipe Approvals
“It really demystified the scheduled process for me and the whole process is much less daunting than I originally imagined.”
