Q and A: canner lid stuck, pantry moths, and contaminated soil

Canner lid stuck

I did a bunch of canning of very cheap ground round and then tried to unlock the canner by turning it and it was stuck tight. I let it cool down a little and it was still very difficult to open. The seal is a couple of years old so I am perplexed. What can I do to prevent this from happening again and me losing the canner or at least the handles? I am wondering if something got cooked on the grooves and over the years is baked on real good and if I could use oven cleaner to get the stuff off of the groves or petroleum jelly to slick it up.

Michelle
Fresno, Ohio

Usually when this happens, a light coating of petroleum jelly on the gasket and pot rim will relieve the problem. Be sure to let the canner go completely to zero pressure; wait 5 minutes after the dial reads zero before attempting to open the lid. There may still be built up pressure inside of the canner. If it still sticks, remove the weight or open the petcock and re-heat the canner until steam comes out of the vent. The lid should then be easier to remove. — Jackie

Pantry moths

I can’t get rid of pantry moths. I’ve been using traps for 2 years now any more ideas? Please help they are driving me nuts…

Brandy Gunderson
Wyoming, Michigan

Find the source of their breeding. No breeding; no more moths! I recently had trouble like this and found my moths were coming from my open bag of black oil sunflower seeds I feed the birds. I moved the seeds to the barn and the moths slowly reduced. Other sources of breeding are open bags of flour or even breakfast cereal deep in the cupboard. Good luck; they are annoying! — Jackie

Contaminated soil

I have an area where I had a garden at one time and later realized that under the topsoil was a very black layer of ash from tires that had been burned. Even though this would have been close to 40 years ago when the burning occurred, I am concerned about my vegetables being contaminated by trace dioxins in the soil. I have researched the Internet and cannot find sufficient information for my concern. I basically have two questions:

1) Can plants absorb dioxins through their root systems?

If so, I would like to build raised beds in the area of concern. I would need the raised beds to have landscape fabric in the bottom to prevent the roots from interring the contaminated soil.

2) So how deep would the raised beds need to support most vegetables/herbs since they will not have roots penetrate the soil below the raised bed?

Jason Riggs
Cleveland, Texas

I’m glad you found out what the black layer was from; it could be a potential hazard. Yes, plants can absorb dioxins through their root systems. I would advise either moving your growing area or building raised beds well separated from the soil below via landscaping fabric or plastic. I like my raised beds at least a foot deep. More is easier to work with and will grow better root crops and other large-rooted plants such as tomatoes. — Jackie