Jar canning seems to have gone the way of the Dodo

[Primalclaws1974]

My grandmas both canned when my parents were little. My mom canned tomatoes, potatoes, and fruits. The only thing she had not be successful with was keeping tight seals on apple jelly. But I enjoyed that food, and thought everyone did it. Fast forward 25 years, and I cannot tell you a single person that jar cans anymore. Even the people that have gardens just make enough to eat as they harvest. Why don't people do it anymore? Is it that freezing it is cheaper and easier? Your opinions?

 

[marlingardener]

You're hanging out with the wrong people! I can, my friends can, and the local grocery has trouble keeping lids in stock. I know an 18 year old girl who picks the garden before going to classes, and then comes home and cans up the produce.
Some things I used to can I now freeze (green beans, peas, corn, etc.) because we like the taste and texture better, and I now have a large freezer.

 

[Chuck]

I grew up canning and still can at least 50% of my vegetables and freeze the rest. Properly canned foods will have a much longer shelf life than frozen although I think frozen tastes better. It may just be a Texas thing but most gardeners that I know also can. About 10 years ago I lost power for 2 weeks because of a flood and would have starved if not for my canned stuff. When I make chili or stew I always make a lot more than we can eat right away and can the rest if there is a lot left over.

The only reason I can think of that canning is going downhill is that most folks don't have a large enough garden or the time involved to harvest and can a substantial amount

 

[claudine]

We don't can, because we eat most of our vegetables and fruits right after harvesting them
My mother makes wonderful pickles. They're super delicious, I love them, I can't imagine dinner without them

 

[CanadianLori]

I can something just about every month. These are some of my christmas handouts - hot pepper jelly, wine and hot pepper jelly, cranberry and hot pepper, etc. Using peppers grown in my own little greenhouse!

 

[Durgan]

I grow a large garden about 1500 square feet and produce enough fruits and vegetables for two for about six months of the Winter season.

My main method of preserving is making the produce into a slurry , juice if you like, and pressure can. I produced about 500 liter jars of the whole gamut. Consumption is about two liters per day often mixed in the drinking glass.A small root cellar is used, as is dehydrating, and a bit of freezing for immediate use.

I keep a Garden Journal and photograph all my endeavors, which will be posted when I can use links.

 

[Primalclaws1974]

Maybe beyond the time and space (in the garden or in the house for storage), is the cost involved. Is it really cost-effective to can when you can buy the same thing for 79 cents in the store? After you figure the money spent on water, fertilizer, seeds, jars, lids, and other items needed, I cannot see it worth it. But most people derive pleasure from growing their own food, and I don't think it's really about the money. I make cheese by the pound, and it costs a lot more than the $4 a block costs at the store, but I enjoy making it myself so I continue to do it.

 

[Durgan]

To my mind home preservation is about quality. Economics within reason is not part of the equation for a small garden, but it can be if one is so inclined. I have enough expertise, to judge much commercial supermarket produce poor quality for various reasons.

Growing your own food takes a bit of effort. But I know what is being ingested.

 

[Chuck]

Maybe beyond the time and space (in the garden or in the house for storage), is the cost involved. Is it really cost-effective to can when you can buy the same thing for 79 cents in the store? After you figure the money spent on water, fertilizer, seeds, jars, lids, and other items needed, I cannot see it worth it. But most people derive pleasure from growing their own food, and I don't think it's really about the money. I make cheese by the pound, and it costs a lot more than the $4 a block costs at the store, but I enjoy making it myself so I continue to do it.

I think that is one of the main reasons canning is going away, but, there are still a lot of us out there who depend on a garden and we save, at least in my case, a lot of money during a growing season although I do have a larger than normal kitchen garden. I save seeds, make my own compost and am a total organic gardener. I grow a large amounts of what we will consume and do not grow stuff we will only consume a small amount. I don't grow dried beans for instance or onions or garlic or potatoes because they are cheap at the store. I grow corn, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, cole crops etc that cost a lot of money at the store. Down here corn is 4 ears for dollar, green beans $1.79 a pound on sale. I grow root crops in large quantities, large enough for 2 or 3 years worth. During harvest I will have two 23 quart pressure canners and a couple of 19 quart water bath canners going at the same time. But, as I said you have to have a large enough garden to do this. The bigger the garden the more you can grow and the more you can save

 

[marlingardener]

Chuck, I agree. We grow what is expensive or hard to find, but we do grow our own garlic since at 3/$1 we could go thorough $5 worth of garlic a week! We have an asparagus bed since asparagus is always expensive, and I put in 'way too much corn for two people, but it freezes well and there is always someone who appreciates a few ears of fresh corn.
We rarely buy vegetables at the grocery, since we have a pantry full of our own in jars, and ours taste so much better (just my humble opinion!).

 

[Chuck]

Chuck, I agree. We grow what is expensive or hard to find, but we do grow our own garlic since at 3/$1 we could go thorough $5 worth of garlic a week! We have an asparagus bed since asparagus is always expensive, and I put in 'way too much corn for two people, but it freezes well and there is always someone who appreciates a few ears of fresh corn.
We rarely buy vegetables at the grocery, since we have a pantry full of our own in jars, and ours taste so much better (just my humble opinion!).

And not only that, but I bet you don't have have any of those chemical preservatives that you cannot pronounce, nor any GMO's nor any carcinogenic pesticides or herbicides that commercial growers habitually use.

 

[marlingardener]

Chuck, how did you guess?

 

[zigs]

We don't can stuff in England, but we do do a lot of bottling

Just opened a 3 year old jar of Chutney today, lovely

Not got a fridge or freezer so everything has to be dried, salted, smoked or bottled

 

[CanadianLori]

Your bottling eqals our canning.
I have never understood why it is called canning here because we use glass jars too!

 

[CanadianLori]

Forgot to ask about your jar supplies. Where, who do you source them?