Pressure Canner From Outer Space

Our first rows of beans/peas we planted (pintos, dragon tongues, and crowder peas) we picked and dried.  This worked, but the drying process takes a while and I had cookie sheets with beans and peas all over the place.

I had already wanted to get a pressure canner, but originally thought I’d wait until next year.  This was our first year having a garden. I didn’t need a pressure cooker just yet, did I? But as our first round of beans were winding down, we decided to pull them up and plant a couple of rows of bush green beans.

The days following planting them we started talking about how we needed a canner of some sort, preferably a pressure canner for the green beans. Although we may cook some fresh out of the garden, we would need to either freeze or can the rest as they are not preferred dried.

Even though I had not canned anything since I was about 19 years old I had decided I wanted to go ahead and start looking for a pressure canner. I looked at Walmart, Kmart, Amazon, and Lehman’s. Pressure canners come in all sizes, quality, features (pressure gauge or not). Both of which impact the price of course.

The more I looked the more my heart got set on Lehman’s High Quality Pressure Canner. The quality was impeccable and the reviews were as well.  I must have this canner!  Then I had to decide what size did I need as it came in 5 different capacities from 10-1/2 Quart up to 41-1/2 Quart.

  • 10-1/2 Quart: Jar Capacity: 7 pt or 4 qt.
    Dimensions: 7-3/4″H x 10-1/2″ID (11-1/2″H with lid), 12 lb.
  • 15-1/2 Quart: Jar Capacity: 10 pt or 7 qt.
    Dimensions: 7-1/2″H x 12-3/4″ID (12-1/2″H with lid), 17 lb.
  • 21-1/2 Quart: Jar Capacity: 19 pt or 7 qt
    Dimensions: 10-3/8″H x 12-3/4″ID (15-3/4″H with lid), 18 lb.
  • 30 Quart: Jar Capacity: 19 pt or 14 qt
    Dimensions: 14″H x 12-3/8″ID (19″H with lid), 21 lb
  • 41-1/2 Quart:Jar Capacity: 32 pt or 19 qt
    Dimensions: 14″H x 15-1/4″ID (19″H with lid), 33 lb

I decided not to get the 41-1/2 Quart canner.  It was $419! That seemed excessive to me and I doubt I would need to can that much at one time. Then, I thought about how I would eventually want to be able to can half gallon jars for juice and thought I will definitely need a tall one.  I would not want to be limited. Obviously, I must have the 30 Quart capacity for $279! I love me some Lehman’s too by the way.

Wow, that is a lot of money, but it is an investment in our family’s future and I’ll never need to buy another one.  So, I rearranged the ole financial budget and found some room for this little gem of a purchase.  I would be able to get it mid August just in time for our green bean harvest!  I will have to can a lot of green beans to pay for this thing, but it was worth it. I was so proud of myself.

So just in time, this Gi-Normous box was delivered to the house. Yay, my canner has arrived. Wow, this thing was heavy. I proceeded to open the box and what I found inside looked like a pressure cooker from outer space! At a minimum, this thing should be in laboratory or something! I had never seen such a pressure cooker in all my life!  I thought my Mama’s was huge, but it was nothing compared to this thing.

It is gorgeous and pristine, but I think I may have been a little over zealous.

Bring on the beans!

Conceal Carry Permit (CCP) Class

Initially, we have put a lot of focus on gardening because food is a top priority. If you don’t have food and water nobody will last very long. However, Jon and I both know that personal protection of ourselves and family is also very important.

Neither of us have a great deal of knowledge with guns but we did have a little exposure to them over the years. My Daddy always had several different kinds growing up, but I never really did much target shooting. About the most I ever shot was a 22 rifle and that was many years ago. We had both been wanting to get some training and also get our conceal carry permit.

This would be a costly process. There was a cost for the class, a cost for the CCP application, and of course a large cost for a firearm. We were finally ready financially to take that plunge. So what did we do on one of our first days off of our “vacation” this summer? We attended our CCP class at First Shot Personal Protection, Inc. in Walkertown, NC.

There are many places where you can go take CCP classes around here like the Sheriff’s department or the nearby indoor shooting range. Before we found out about First Shot Personal Protection, we really hadn’t decided on where to go. A girlfriend of mine from work actually told me about it because her and her husband had recently completed their class there.  She highly recommended it and now I know why.

Larry is the instructor and him and his wife Kathy do the classroom instruction in their home in the basement. They are such a fun couple. They do give classes for groups, but I was happy to know they would let us take the class just by ourselves. You see I am a bit of a perfectionist. For some reason I think I should be able to do everything perfect the first time. Well of course that is not humanly possible so in situations like this I can have a little performance anxiety. So, it was nice to know we could schedule a small intimate class. Additionally, as I did not have a lot of hands on experience with firearms, I did not want to be in a large group where I would feel rushed and unsure of myself. I really appreciated the individual personal attention. It really helped with my confidence level.

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