Interested in safely preserving food for you and your family but don’t have time for traditional classes? It is time to think about gifting yourself or a loved one with an online, hybrid course, Preserve @ Home. Oregon State University Extension Service invites you to enroll in Preserve @ Home, a national award winning, food preservation course. Participants learn how to safely preserve a variety of tasty food products with high quality. The science behind food preservation and food safety will be explored. Individuals with full-time jobs or live in remote areas may be very interested in this course because it is self-paced. There are weekly topic releases and a hands-on lab offered in several regions in Oregon at the end of the series. The Tillamook hands-on lab will be Saturday, March 9, 9 am.
The first session of the 6-week course opens on-line on Thursday, January 17, 2019. Each lesson includes online text that can be downloaded and printed. Additionally participants discuss topics in an online forum and a real-time weekly chat with instructors. Beginning on Thursday, January 24, 2019 from 1:00 to 1:45 pm. Topics to be covered include: Foodborne Illness – causes and prevention, Spoilage and Canning Basics, Canning High Acid Foods, Canning Specialty High Acid Foods – pickles, salsa, jams, jellies, etc., Canning Low Acid Foods, and Freezing and Drying.
The optional regional hands-on labs will feature pressure canning and boiling water canning. The Tillamook session will be on March 9. Other hands-on session locations include March 1 in Wallowa County, March 2 in Deschutes County, March 7 in Klamath County and March 9 in Polk County. Harney County will also host a hands-on lab, date to be determined. In the online registration, participants choose a location to attend.
Cost of the course is $55. The registration deadline is Monday, January 14, 2019. Many of the supplemental materials are available free, online or may be picked up at the Oregon State University Extension Tillamook County office. Class size is limited. This course is offered cooperatively with the University of Idaho Extension Service and eXtension, a national resource for online courses offered by Extension professionals. For more information and to register, visit this web site: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/deschutes/events/preserve-home-online-hybrid-course. For other questions contact Glenda Hyde, Oregon Preserve @ Home Coordinator, OSU Extension educator in Deschutes County at glenda.hyde@oregonstate.edu or call 541-548-6088 or Nancy Kershaw, Tillamook County FCH faculty at nancy.kershaw@oregonstate.edu, 503-842-3433.
Preserve @ Home won the 1st Place Award for Food Safety Education from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in 2016.
