Canning was for when we didn't have freezers and you needed safely-preserved food through the winter. Obsolete now, and the people who've jumped into it under the guise of saving money are bad at math. Probably a fun hobby esp. if you have a prolific garden, but don't kid yourself that it's economical.

I can. I dehydrate. I freeze. Quite a bit. I agree that sometimes it's not economical when compared to commercially canned food, particularly when I factor in my own time. Some of it is a wash, particularly when I use produce I get cheaply or free from my yard. Got my jars at yard sales or from folks that give them away when they lose interest.

However, my preserves are usually organic, have less salt and/or sugar than their commercial counterparts, and taste better. I don't worry that I'm exposing myself or my family to BPA or other chemicals that are used in can linings or commercial canning processes. I support local farmers' markets and my local CSA. And it sounds corny, but I enjoy participating in an activity (putting up food for my family) that links me to previous generations in a visceral, fundamental way.

As a cost saving exercise, home canning doesn't have the scale to compete. But there are lots of reasons to do it anyway.

As far as being "for when we didn't have freezers and you needed safely-preserved food through the winter" -- who's to say those days won't come back?

It feels good being able to grow and preserve a little bit of my own food, because it makes me feel like if I have some skills that might be useful in case of some disaster where the supermarkets and the freezers for some reason became useless.

It's not that I'm some Peak Oiler or anything, but there's no harm in learning how to survive without supermarkets and freezers.

So I learn some cool skills, and get some fantastic Meyer lemon marmalade that can't be bought in any store, at any price.

That's what we did over the 4th of July weekend. And it is good. In fact, it is very good. Good enough to hand out this Christmas instead of spending money on cheap plastic crap from China at the local Wal-Mart, and that's good enough for me. That is, if we have enough left over after spreading it on our English muffins. Good enough to justify the effort, and then some.

Next comes the tomato sauce from the dozen Roma tomato plants we have in the back yard. I made a small batch last year because we got Romas by mistake, and it was awesome, and well worth the effort.

And then there will be sweet corn and green beans to be blanched, put into bags, and frozen.

And then there are the crops that do not require processing, like potatoes, which we carry to the basement by the wheelbarrow-load. And butternut squash, which also keep quite a long time. Yes, you can put away quite a lot if you work at it, and I need the exercise.

When did canning and preserving ever go out of fashion? Maybe I'm a freak because I grew up on a property with apple, pear, plum and pie cherry trees, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. We would get boxes of peaches to can, pick up walnuts and hazelnuts to shell and dry.

One day my mom asked me to go get a flat of berries and make jam. So I did. When she came home she was angry because a) I didn't use local berries and b) I made regular cooked jam and put it in jars instead of making her beloved freezer jam. Whatever.

My point is that to many of us with similar backgrounds canning and preserving is nothing new and for people to characterize this as a new fad seems rather amusing.

BTW I have a copy of Harrod's Book of Jams, Jellies and Chutneys that frankly makes for some interesting reading. Nicely photographed as well but alas, now apparently OP.

A three hour round trip to the local blueberry farm (did you know most blueberries are grown organically anyway? At least where I live in Alabama. Very few blueberry pests, I'm told), a bag of sugar, two boxes of Sure Gel (the cheaters way, perhaps- but easy), two boxes of ball jars and one Friday evening canning (with a big caning pot borrowed from my grandma) and I've got about 20 cans of the best blueberry jam in the world. Six months later, a yard of pretty fabric and ribbon cut to fit over the lids makes for $3/jar organic Christmas presents that everyone on my gift list adores - not matter their age, sex or marital status. Not so expensive after all...

(And the older folks, who know this drill, all returned the jars so I can use them the next year.)

I make my own jams, relishes, preserves and whatnot. There is an initial start up cost in terms of jars and lids, but if you're willing to take a little time and you know what you're doing, even that isn't so bad. Poke around and you can find cases of jars at garage sales. Lots of people get pulled in by the novelty of canning and realize it's actually hot and time consuming work. Their jars can be had for next to nothing. Late summer/early fall they are on sale at hardware and farm supply stores.

Putting up food you've grown yourself is the most cost effective but if you are without room for a garden, then do some research. Make deals at the farmers market, buy things as they flood the market. During Door County Cherry season, I have a friend pick up a few 5 gallon buckets of cherries for me while she is on vacation. These are surprisingly cheap. Don't buy your fruit from the regular grocery store, it will never be worth it. Save your citrus peels, they go in marmalades. An overabundance of carrots and green beans from the CSA last year brought us firecracker carrots and beans and some were mixed with the oh so many heads of cabbage for a spicy tart relish.

My sister has a warehouse market membership and in exchange for some jams she takes me there to buy 25 pound bags of sugar and bulk bags of peppers, mangoes and whatever else they might have.

The real drawback to canning, the real reason that most people run screaming from it, is that it is HOT work that takes place in the hottest times of the year. Most of my canning gets done in late August and early September. It's too much of a money drain to run the a/c during this time so we open the windows and run some fans and I process batch after batch of whatever I have. Sugar gets insanely hot and I have my share of little blop shaped scars on my forearms from not taking care when stirring the jam.

I have a pressure canner, but I rarely use it to pressure can things. Most of the stuff that requires pressure canning I prefer to eat from frozen, but I do use it to make beef stock and chicken stock, that gets concentrated and frozen.

People suggested I sell some of what I make. My peach and clementine jam (Merciful Peaches) and my lemon ginger marmalade are pretty damned good, but it's not worth it. If I sold it for what it was worth taking into account my time and energy, it would only end up with a limited market. That market that gets oh-so-derided here in the letters every so often ;)

In 1997 I pulled 2 quarts of wild blueberries from the BWCAW and ended up with 7 very coveted jars of jam. You can't really put a price on wild blueberry jam on homemade bread for breakfast.