How many of you are doing any canning

Just a thought I had about how many people do any home vegetable canning. I prefer fresh veggies over canned, but in the winter a jar of canned beans or other garden raised canned veggie is still pretty good.

So, is canning in general becoming less appealing because of the work and the convenience of lg food stores, or do you think it's still popular?

I don't grow enough vegetables to can though I do grow enough to last the season. What I do grow are herbs, spices and peppers. Now I have a large 4' x 4' x 18" deep garden window that I grow things like parsley, chives, thyme, tarragon, dill as well as jalapeño, habaneros, cayenne peppers as all are fairly smaller plants. Out doors we grow a couple of tomato plants, egg plant, cucumbers and a bunch of basil. For the last 4 days we have been dehydrating basil steady around the clock, grinding it down a storing it for the winter when it won't grow. We also have enough seed to grow a new batch for next year. This year due to the strange weather I doubt any of the tomatoes will get large enough to bother with however all the peppers are all doing fine as is the egg plant and cumbers. Last year I had a bumper crop of peppers and dehydrated it then ground it do into powder to use in recipes so that works out well as I don't think I've purchased cayenne, jalapeño, or habaneros powder in a couple of years now.

I would love to know how to do it. But have never really tried it. I recall my mom and dad doing it, but for the life of me, have no clue what the heck they were canning.

I just made some strawberry preserves for the first time in my life.... thank God I made a tiny portion! Because the rest is supposed to be canned.

I always try to can some tomatoes, etc. Its a nice little taste of summer when winter starts to bear down on us. Although it has occured to me that even if you paid yourself minimum wage, it would still be cheaper to by them at Kroeger!

I guess its just a time honored tradition-

I used to can fruits and veggies, but now I either freeze them while still fresh, or dry them. That way, I don't have to add sugar or salt.

sattie said:

I would love to know how to do it. But have never really tried it. I recall my mom and dad doing it, but for the life of me, have no clue what the heck they were canning.

I just made some strawberry preserves for the first time in my life.... thank God I made a tiny portion! Because the rest is supposed to be canned.

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I certainly understand what you mean about not knowing how to do it. This is my second year of canning and although we canned quite a bit this summer, I have to re-read the canning book every time.

I think the hardest part for me was learning to dedicate the time to it. Once I had a little experience, (under my wife's direction), I got hooked. Now I think it's fun, and I learn something new each time we try something different.

Ok, you are getting me interested in this canning process, surely it can't be all that hard!