THOMSON, Ga. – A bountiful harvest of green beans, tomatoes or other summer crops can mean storing them up for later months, and the Thomson High School FFA Cannery is there to help.
The small building on White Oak Road is one of about 30 community canneries in the state of Georgia, and during the summer months, Rick DuBose and several of the students from the high school operate the cannery. The next closest cannery is in Twin City.
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Outfitted with pressure cookers, basins for steam baths and other equipment, the students spend summer morning hours at the cannery preserving fruits and vegetables for later.
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During the month of June, the primary crop has been green beans, DuBose said; by next month, tomatoes will be the featured vegetable as vines produce a bumper crop.
“Tomatoes are our biggest product,” he said.
Last year, students’ hands were stained red from handling so many of them.
The canned product does well as the base for sauces and soups in the winter months, he said.
DuBose said the canning process undergoes stringent safety and quality tests to ensure harmful bacteria is killed.
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Some crops don’t perform well under the guidelines set by the University of Georgia Extension Agency. Squash is one of those. It liquifies in the pressure cooker.
They’ve also preserved fruits such as peaches, apples, pears and figs.
He’s been working with the cannery project for about two decades now. In 2004, a new building was constructed to house the process.
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People often ask how much they need to bring?
No order is too small. He’s had people bring enough green beans to fill one can, while others have enough for multiple cans.
The cannery was closed during the summer of 2020, but DuBose said he did notice an uptick in people requesting its services last year. More people had planted gardens during the pandemic in 2020 and kept the trend into summer 2021.
“Last year, there were tons of tomatoes in July — more than I’ve seen in 20 years,” he said.
The cannery is a long-time tradition in McDuffie County, and it’s somewhat of a lost art as fewer people have gardens and can their food.
Opening the cannery during the summer gives students a new experience because many of them have no idea what earlier generations of gardeners and farmers did to preserve food, and it provides a service to the community, he said.
The cost for canning is 75 cents per quart-sized can and DuBose said that covers the cost of materials. The students will also shell items such as peas for 20 cents per pound.
The cannery will be open from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. June 27-28, July 1, 6-7 and 18-22.
For more information email duboser@mcduffie.k12.ga.us or call (706) 986-4297.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the managing editor of The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
