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.

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.

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.

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.