Garden at Bay Haven Inn of Cape Charles
Summer might be officially over but the temperatures are stretching into Fall. And our vegetable garden is giving up its last bounty to us.
I’m sure that when John Mason invented the glass container that would start the canning revolution in 1858, he had no idea how much he would give to all of us.
For example, Jim and I both grew up in canning kitchens with moms that loved to cook. Both of our moms taught us how to can. And to this day, it’s a tradition that’s near and dear to us because it brings back wonderful memories of families.
And we get to can some really good food from our own backyard garden!
Homemade Salsa
That’s why canning is way more than just preserving vegetables for the winter. It’s warm memories of a simpler time.
Whether it was your mom or grandma “putting up” produce for the winter, canning is a nostalgic look and reminder of simpler times.
Not only that, canning is a process that honors the food that was grown with a simple, uncomplicated process. And hey, you can pronounce all of the ingredients, too!
Jim and I like that as well because it fits perfectly with the Cape Charles lifestyle, which is affectionately known as “the land of gentle living.”
Gardening for Our Guests
Here at Bay Haven Inn of Cape Charles, we like to pass on that gentle living to our guests. That’s one reason we can as much as possible. We absolutely love fresh fruits and vegetables! The difference in taste is obvious, and our guests tell us that, too.
Our own garden has grown some beautiful peppers and tomatoes for us this year. We used them, along with our wonderful housekeeper, Nuri’s, cilantro, to make salsa.
(Nuri gets free range of all the produce we grow as a perk for contributing her fragrant cilantro.)
We also use our garden peppers for our peach pepper jam. Guests tell us that it’s another “YUM!”
Then there are the figs, which are so plentiful here at the shore. We don’t grow them at the Inn but do get them from an historic tree at Erye Hall.
We use the figs to make our ginger fig jam. Add a dollop of that to Sweet Potato Ham Biscuits, and it is nothing short of slap your mama good!
Without a doubt, there is NOTHING better than opening up a jar of our roasted red pepper tomato soup in the middle of January…AAAHHH, summer in a jar!
The other thing that’s a real perk for both us and our guests is the aroma of canning. Our guests love to come “home” to it. And, of course, to see the dining room table filled with all that we’ve canned.
Tomatoes From Our Garden
It brings back fond memories for them, too. So to John Mason, we say a hearty “thank you” for inventing canning, for giving us yet another reason to love food.
Canning is a true labor of love for us, one that we thoroughly enjoy sharing with our guests. We love feeding you like family! Book your stay here.
We went to a cannery yesterday in the rolling hill country around Roanoke, Virginia. There were people there canning beautiful fall apples. We canned cakes in tin cans which was so much fun. Google Caklaway Cannery.
Nancy, that sounds like so much fun! I have never canned in a tin! We had a guest share with us a special German bread her grandma canned in jars, cannot recall the name but it was so amazing!
Love this post. I always look forward to picking green beans with my boys in my dad’s garden, then bringing them down the street to make pickled green beans. Also enjoy making jams with whatever falls into.place!
Laura, I LOVE pickled beans and have NEVER done them! We should team up next summer and have some fun canning together! It is a lost art and so happy to carry forward our Aunts, Mommas, Daddy’s traditions.