Preserve with Pride, Even if Ambition Exceeds Reality.

Ah, canning season. Every year, I imagine it differently. In my mind, my pantry is a rainbow of gleaming jars—jalapeños, tomatoes, pickles, and preserves stacked so high my kids will marvel: “I can’t believe you and Nana made all of this!” There’s a sense of pride in imagining the perfect harvest, the perfectly organized shelves, the perfect gift-worthy jars lined up like little soldiers of culinary achievement.

And then reality happens.

This year, my ambitious pantry dreams met a tiny, stubborn garden. The harvest was… modest. Four jars of jalapeños. Four jars of pickles. That’s it. My overflowing rainbow of preserves? More like a cute little corner of the pantry giving me a quiet nod: “Well, at least you tried.”

But here’s the thing: preserving isn’t about quantity—it’s about pride, love, and joy in what you did manage to create. Those four jars? They are proof that we tried, that we grew, and that we celebrated the garden’s small victories. They’re proof that ambition can exceed reality, but reality is still something to savor.

So yes, the pantry isn’t overflowing. Yes, my kids might have to squint to see the bounty. But when I look at it, I’ll remember time me and my mom spent together, laughter over a messy kitchen, and the little victories that make gardening so wonderfully human.

Preserve with pride, my friends—because even when your ambitions exceed reality, the love you put into it always counts.

…the pantry isn’t overflowing.

But when I look at it, I’ll remember time me and my mom spent together, laughter over a messy kitchen, and the little victories that make gardening so wonderfully human.