1/2 Pint Canning: A little garden, a lot of heart

by Jacob Venuti

For Nikki Thompson, canning isn’t just about preserving fruits and vegetables, it’s about preserving family, tradition, and a way of life that has been passed down through generations.

A Leland resident for the past twenty years, Thompson’s roots in the Mississippi Delta run much deeper. Her family has called Leland home since the 1960s. Her grandfather, Chris Chrestensen, owned a small television repair shop, while her great-grandmother, Bertha Ainsworth, became something of a local legend as Leland’s beloved “carport sale lady.”

Growing up surrounded by hardworking family members who built lives rooted in community left a lasting impression. But the inspiration for her newest venture came from the other side of the family. Her business, 1/2 Pint Canning, is named after a nickname given to her by her grandfather, Eugene Summers. As a tiny little girl, he would smile and tell her she wasn’t a whole pint, just a “half pint.” The name stuck, and years later it became the perfect way to honor the man who first gave her that affectionate nickname.

The heart behind the business, however, belongs to her grandmother, Syble Summers.

“My grandmother inspired me to learn how to can,” Thompson said. “I wanted to carry on something that reminded me of home but especially of her.”

She began with homemade jams because they seemed like the simplest place to start.

“You just mash it all up and cook it down,” she laughed.

Before long, curiosity led her to try jellies, which quickly became one of her favorite things to make. But it was when she started canning cucumbers that something unexpected happened.

“We Delta folks love our dill pickles,” she said.

Thompson began bringing jars of her homemade pickles to softball practice at St. Joseph Catholic School, where she helps coach. The players loved them, and before long friends, family, and fellow parents were asking if they could buy a jar.

At first, she wasn’t convinced. “I never imagined selling them,” she said. “I just enjoyed making them.” But, after enough encouragement from those around her, she decided to take a chance. “Why not?” she thought.

Today, 1/2 Pint Canning is exactly what Thompson hoped it would be, nothing big and fancy, but a small business built with love, tradition, and plenty of Delta sunshine. Each jar represents more than homemade food. It represents generations of family recipes, lessons learned in the kitchen, and memories of grandparents whose influence still lives on.

As Thompson puts it, it’s “nothing big, just a little garden in a little town with a whole lot of sunshine being canned.”

Sometimes, the sweetest stories really do come in half-pint jars. Thompson can be found on Facebook: 1/2 Pint’s Harvest.