This year for the first time, I am canning. And I haven't seen mention of the "real" Bible of preserving---Putting Food By. It was the gold standard for years; my parents & in-laws swore by it.

I garden organically, and I'm a Peak Oil-er. I'm canning so that I know how to do it & have most of the bugs worked out of the process, should I ever NEED to do it. So far my plan is to put up a batch of tomato sauce & juice and maybe some beans. Nothing extensive. Maybe some preserves when the grapes get ripe. Someone else mentioned doing chicken and beef stock which piqued my curiosity---perhaps I'll try that too.

initial outlay is a bit steep, but used equipment and jars are everywhere. The real savings come on repeated reuse of jars and lid rings and the ability to store the harvest.

The knowledge of how to can is a basic skill and allows us to know what goes into our bodies.

The real miracle of canning and freezing for us is winter pleasures. Especially up here in Ontario, when winter fruit comes from very far away and rarely tastes like much when it gets here, the pleasure of a fresh jar of jam or sauce made with put-by tomatoes is the bright, vibrant flavors. They taste like food should taste, are free of pesticides and all but the simplest preservatives, and keep the taste of deep summer available year-round.

We made 17 jars of strawberry jam with lemon zest this morning, and I guarantee that every puffed-out hot breath of aggravation this morning will be worth two sighs of deliciousness in January, when there's a foot of snow outside but it smells and tastes like July in the kitchen.

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.

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.)

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.