Page 14 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • September 19, 2012
When Karen Lyman’s daughters went off to college, the busy Midland Park homemaker turned to canning as a way of sending some “home cooking” with them. Now, six years later, the project has turned into a fun, rewarding hobby. Karen started by making salsa at the suggestion of her sister-in-law, turning out 75 quarts of the tasty sauce that first year. She gets her tomatoes at the Paterson Farmers’ market in 55-60 pound crates for $16 a crate, picked fresh the day before she uses them. “I only buy Jersey Roma tomatoes
Canning is more than a hobby to homemaker
because I like to support local farmers, and Jersey tomatoes are the best,” says the proud “Jersey girl,” who’s lived in Midland Park with her husband Dave and daughters Kristi, now married with a baby of her own, and Melodie, a college senior, for the past 25 years. Karen said that although she is attracted to canning’s health benefits and green advantages, it has also been a great way to build relationships with her neighbors. An avid walker, she chats with residents about canning as she walks around and has dis-
Karen Lyman in her kitchen.
covered that there are many fruit trees in backyards that are feeding more deer and squirrels than people. “Midland Park is such a friendly town, and most people were so willing to let me pick their unused produce - less that they
had to rake off the ground - and they were delighted when I thanked them by giving them back mason jars filled with pears, apples and jellies for Thanksgiving,” she says. (continued on page 18)