[Carp614]

There is a lot out there about laying back soup mix, dried beans and rice, emergency food packs, and MRE's. These portable emergency rations are important for preppers who are planning to bug out. But there are other options too. plenty of folks are buying canned vegetables as a critical part of their preps. But how many of you using traditional canning techniques?

I would like to know how people are preserving the vegetables they are growing themselves and how this affects their preps.

The reason this has come up is because my thinks I am absolutely crazy for thinking about prepping, but she loves her garden and she loves canning her veggies. So she is engaging in a hobby that makes her happy, saves the family money, AND contributes to our preps. That's what I call a win-win!

She has been doing this for several years and we have eaten through what she put back every year. This spring I doubled the size of her garden plot and she has broken her own records this year. She has put back more than 50 quarts of green beans and dozens of pints of pickled peppers and spicy jelly.
People say that home canned foods won't last as long as store bought.
Betcha they will!

Let's talk about it!

 

[split]

my thinks I am absolutely crazy for thinking about prepping, but she loves her garden and she loves canning her veggies.

Watch the documentary "After Armageddon". Its on youtube, but you can download it as well. I think it was made by the history channel. Crazy? Not after you watch that.

Canning...I need to find more things we like that we can can. We currently just do pickles

 

[HuntingHawk]

If you look at a can it may say canned in the USA but that doesn't mean the product was grown in the US.

Even if you don't have enough garden or garden at all, purchasing from a local produce market & canning it yourself will give a better product.

Most items will store longer in jars then cans.

 

[sparkyprep]

We canned a LOT of vegetables when I was a kid, but I was very young. I would love to learn the ins and outs of home canning. I might have to have a long talk with my mom.:smile:

 

[Moonshinedave]

I did some canning this year, first time for a long long time. Canned some bread/butter pickles, Dill pickles, hot peppers, and some apples, not all that much, but it's a start.

 

[BeefBallsBerry]

my wife is going to start canning. I myself am a big fan of dehydrating things.

 

[dwight55]

Watch the documentary "After Armageddon". Its on youtube, but you can download it as well. I think it was made by the history channel. Crazy? Not after you watch that.

Canning...I need to find more things we like that we can can. We currently just do pickles

Just for the record, . . . there really is very little that cannot be canned and preserved. Some items take more preparation, . . . some are finnicky, . . . but if you get good directions (think Ball Canning Book type directions), . . . you will do well.

Take your time, . . . don't do shortcuts, . . . if you can cook it, . . . you can can it, . . . about 99% of the time.

May God bless,
Dwight

 

[IngaLisa]

I suggest you purchase reusable canning lids. Lids would be hard to come by if SHTF. Another good way to preserve food is drying. We grew a lot of soup beans and dried them in the shell on the plant. Sunflower seeds are good too. Corn can be dried for cornmeal. We bought a rocket stove in case we ever had to can without the benefit of a gas or electric stove. It's great your wife loves canning! We usually can hundreds of jars of fruits and veggies, but it is very time consuming and very physical work. I'm getting kind of old to do it in the scale we have been doing it for the last decade. I think I will take a break next year.

 

[alterego]

You folks should see my wife in action, she is 39, my 78 year old mother taught her and my wife has mastered the art.

I am proud of her.

 

[Montana Rancher]

Yes
If you don't have reuseable canning lids all the other post are irrelevant after 1-2 years

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[IngaLisa]

Yep, I bought 120 or so of them. I don't use them now, they are stored for when SHTF. Darn things are pricey. :/ I would like several hundred more.