Preserving a way of life through canning, gardening
HODGES — Tracy McCauley believes preserving food isn’t just about stocking a pantry, it’s about preserving a way of life.
McCauley lives with her husband, Doug, on a small farm in Hodges. This year, she expects to put up 50 to 60 jars of tomato products. She’s been canning for more than 30 years. It’s a tradition rooted in her childhood.
“I grew up on a farm and used to help my mom can,” she said.
Her go-to is spaghetti sauce made from homegrown tomatoes, basil, onions, oregano, and garlic. She uses an immersion blender to get the texture just right. She adds salt, sugar, olive oil and cooks it until it thickens (or she thickens it with tomato paste).
McCauley then puts it in hot, clean jars and adds one-half teaspoon citric acid and one bay leaf per quart, adds canning lids and then transfers to the pressure cooker.
Tomatoes and tomatillos cook in tomato juice with leaves and rosemary on top.
PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED/TRACY MCCAULEY
She says citric acid ensures a safe acidity level during the canning process when working with tomatoes.
McCauley’s garden also has potatoes, small fruit trees, and herbs, including oregano and chocolate mint.
“I don’t do as much big gardening anymore,” McCauley said. “Just enough to keep up with what we enjoy.”
When there’s an abundance, she freezes fruit or cooks it down and cans it. Peaches are frozen. Apples and pears become pie filling or something she can use later. Even venison gets pressure canned.
Tracy McCauley uses an emulsion blender to get just the right texture.
“You have to be careful with meat,” she said. “I cook everything fully before canning, then use a pressure cooker for a long time. It’s very safe the way I do it.”
She doesn’t take shortcuts. No water baths for her tomatoes, which she says can pose risks if not handled properly.
“Tomatoes must be done right. Botulism is a real risk,” she said. “I always use citric acid to keep the acidity level safe. You’ve got to follow directions.”
Tracy McCauley uses her tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce – shown here with fresh-from-the-garden ingredients – basil, onion, garlic, oregano and tomatoes.
McCauley adds bay leaves to almost everything she cans, but it’s not just for flavor.
“Bay leaves are antimicrobial. I even put them in jars of dry rice to keep bugs out,” she said. “They don’t soften during cooking, so you just remove them after.”
Canning is time-consuming, but she’s found a rhythm.
“If I prepare ahead, I can do one or two batches a day,” she said. “I don’t try to do a wheelbarrow full of tomatoes all at once like I used to. It’s more enjoyable this way.”
Tracy McCauley enjoys canning tomatoes to be used for a variety of recipes.
The blanching stage is key. She boils the tomatoes just until the skins split, then transfers them to a bowl to cool. Once cooled, the skin slips off easily, making the rest of the process smoother.
“It’s not hard once you get into a routine,” she said. “It’s like cooking dinner. You just follow the steps.”
She finds the work deeply satisfying.
“Even if you’re tired at the end of the day, it’s that good tired,” she said. “You’ve accomplished something.”
Gardening gives her a similar feeling. She calls it therapeutic.
Tracy McCauley blanches tomatoes to get the skins to come off easily.
“It slows you down. I need that,” she added. “There’s something peaceful about watering the garden in the morning, pulling weeds and just taking care of things.”
McCauley wishes more people, especially kids, would try growing and preserving their own food.
“There’s something nostalgic about it,” she said. “Like picking corn with your grandpa or canning with your mom. We’re going to lose that if we’re not careful.”
She believes that homegrown food is healthier and tastes better. She also questions why so much storebought produce is imported.
“Why are we getting apples from other countries? They were picked before they were ripe, sprayed with who knows what and they’ve lost all their flavor before they even reach us,” she said.
Her husband shares her love of growing and preserving. He dehydrates herbs including chocolate mint for teas and ice cream. He also slow cooks wild lettuce to make an herbal extract they take by the tablespoon like a daily vitamin.
A bowl of blanched tomatoes.
These days, McCauley balances farm life with a semi-new career as a dog groomer. A retired hairdresser, she apprenticed with a friend and found that her skills translated naturally. She now operates a grooming salon from home.
Doug, now retired, has started his own venture too. He converted an old ambulance into a mobile sharpening business, and he works with salons, groomers and others who need precision tools kept in shape.
The McCauleys enjoy the life they’ve crafted. It’s one that focuses on their shared desire to be as selfsufficient as possible while working to know what’s in their food as part of striving to be as healthy as they can through knowing what they’re eating.
“Things really have just fallen into place where they should be for us,” she said.
As for growing their own food, McCauley feels strongly about the value of going to the effort to do what’s needed to be able to make it work.
“When you grow something yourself, you know what’s in it,” she said. “And nothing tastes better than a tomato from your own garden.”
