Toiling over the ground; tilling until it is just right. Mixing fertilizer until your hands are stained black and neat little rows are prepared, equal distances apart, to ensure the best end results. Laying down the seeds with care, making sure they are properly spaced and judging the depth of each different variety by your well-trained measuring utensil, otherwise known as your pointer finger.

Tending to the seedlings you watch them sprout and grow up into magnificent plants. It is now August – harvest time – and while you may have the proper tools to harvest your prized crops, there are some other gardening supplies and accessories that you may not have considered to help you keep and store your hard work for later use.

Supplies

Remember the story of the ant and the cricket? The ant worked hard to make sure there was food for the winter while the cricket had fun. Being prepared for the winter makes living a lot easier and tastier as well. Some of the tools you will need to can for the winter is a boiling water canner and a pressure canner, jars, lids, rings and of course, hard work gathering the things you want to can.

While these items will help you, there are some other things you may want to consider such as recipes, a temperature and pressure guide for canning. Don’t for the most important and final part, family and a few friends to share your delights with.

Storage

While it is always great to can 100 jars of your favorite strawberry preserve, it might help out to have a place to put them all. Make sure you have enough room to store all of your canned goods. The way to store your jars is in a cool room that does not get direct sunlight. This will keep the cans under pressure so they hold the seal. Remember, the heating then cooling off is what created the seal in the first place; getting them hot again will only loosen the seal and cause the goods to spoil.