Greene County Extension Announces “Food Preservation Camp” for June 15 at Botanical Center in Springfield

Contact: David Burton, civic communication specialist
Tel: (417) 881-8909
E-mail: burtond@missouri.edu

Greene County Extension announced plans this week to host a “Food Preservation Camp” from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 15 at the Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center in Springfield.

University of Missouri Extension nutrition specialists will be instructors for the classes and will use research-based curriculum to teach the most up-to-date methods of food preservation.

Participants that enroll for the camp (at $85 per person) will spend the entire day in sessions learning about pressure canning, dehydrating food, making salsa, pickling and jams and jellies.

Registration can be done online at http://www.eventbrite.com/myevents?org_id=3892129 .
Participants will learn to pressure can vegetables during the first session of the camp. During the “pack a pickled product” portion attendees will learn to quick pack dilled green beans and learn water bath canning basics including how to pickle other products. As part of “Salsa Made Easy,” participants will learn water bath canning basics used with tomato and fruit based salsas. During the “Jams and Jellies” segment instructors will cover both cooked and freezer jams, as well as water bath canning basics. The “Freezing and Dehydration” segment will address freezing for best quality and the basics of dehydration.

A boxed lunch will also be provided to participants.

“The full-day camp is a new way to present this information that is more convenient for participants. In the past this series has been spread out over five different ways,” said David Burton, county program director for Greene County Extension. “We are also offering a nice discount over taking these classes individually for $20 each.”

Advance registration is required in order to have the necessary supplies for the hands-on class. The class size is limited to 20 participants.

Registration materials are available on the Greene County Extension website: extension.missouri.edu/greene. Printable enrollment forms are posted for download and payment with a check or an online credit card enrollment option is also available.

Space for this MU Extension program in Greene County is provided by the Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center.