WHY do you prepare? Why whole wheat?

[freemotion]

For those who are preparing might I suggest stocking up on canning lids & rings too, as they might be hard to come by in bad times too. I have decided everytime I go do our shopping(every 2 wks) I will pick up a pack of lids as I have a lot of rings but I might get a few extra boxes of those too, just to be safe.

They are very expensive here this time of year, about $3 per box of 12, more for widemouth! So I bought three CASES of boxes from Fillmore Container Inc, 2316 Norman Road, LANCASTER, PA 17601-5960.....they end up being cheaper than the cheapest I can get at Walmart, even with shipping. I feel good having enough to last for at least....oh, who knows, we will see!

It is not worth paying for shipping for jars, though, so I will have to wait for Walmart next summer to get stocked up. One of our hardware/feed stores carries them year-round, so I have been picking up a case or two when I have no empties.

 

[Homesteadmom]

I have mostly got my jars at thrift stores & yard sales, but I need jam jars so I guess I will have to break down & buy a few cases of those. $3 for a box of lids???? Wow that is horrible! I paid $1.39 for a box of 12 @ Fry's grocery store(Kroger branch). They carry the canning supplies year round but Walmart doesn't here & I don't know why, since we can garden pretty much yr round here for root crops, we've been eatting fresh beets once a week all winter long. I am thinking I might get a few more cases of quart & pint jars to be on the safe side as I plan to make a whole bunch of salsa this summer & can it(we are just about out 1 pint left in the pantry). I am making more apple sauce this week & canning it too so there go more jars too. I am planting strawberries this yr so if they do well I will make some preserves with them too. So not sure I have enough jars even with all that I have & if things go as bad as I have heard some people predicting, none of this stuff will be readily available. So we better stock up now. I wonder if Kerr will let you amke a bulk order on lids & rings cheaper than the store? If so maybe I can get our co-op to go in on a order & get them even cheaper. Have to check that out.

 

[freemotion]

Jars just do not exist here at tag sales, craigslist, etc. Just the glass lid ones, which I use to keep dry goods in and they look so nice on the shelves. The rings are next to impossible to find and very expensive. I also don't know about pressure canning with them, better safe than sorry.

But I figure it is an investment, so I will stock up as soon as Walmart has them again. I like the pint jars a lot, it is a good size for the two of us. And holds one day's worth of catfood for the two cats.

I keep checking craigslist, nada.

 

[TanksHill]

Homesteadmom--- Let us know if you find some place to by the seals in lg quantities.

Duppydo--- do you have and links or sites for those "communal" people on the west coast?

Thanks again to everyone for all the great information.

 

[Homesteadmom]

I think most of the sales I find them at are from an older family member who passed away & the rest of the family has no desire to use them so they sell them. I buy the whole kit & kaboodle when I find them like that! With 2 kids still at home for awhile I need quart ones too!

Tanks I will research & get back to you on the bulk buy.

 

[DuppyDo]

Homesteadmom, thats a great idea getting a supply of canning lids, i do the same thing.I've found prices at local hardware and five & dime stores anywhere from 2.49 per 12 to 2.99...Then by accident i found some in a local IGA food store for 1.59 per 12 , i bought them all..!
Same here with Walmart, they have no canning supplies aftee late fall, their prices are about the same for lids, 1.59...but its hit or miss, they go fast.
I've read that once lids are sealed on the jar you can remove rings and reuse...don't know about that one..hmmmm.....any comments...? so one would only need to replace lids as you reuse jars and rings....

Freemotion, i hear ya on the expensive lids in the northeast...! I guess i just lucked out finding them by accident in a food store. I've gotten a couple good scores on qt /pt canning jars by putting a free ad on a local radio station...one was ols couple who can't do the canning work any more and one was a younger gu with a bunc of wide mouth pint jars, brand new in the box,,,15 cases for $60.00..! I only buy new when Walmart has some, all the other stores are expensive. On local hardware store has even started selling 1qt. jar with a lid and ring foe 2.99 each...! crazy....!! I read that sales were up 30-40% for the Mason Ball company,that sure tells you people are canning again...!

 

[dacjohns]

The rings hold the lids in place during the canning process. Once the lid seals to the jar the ring is not needed. Some people, as has already been mentioned, keep the rings on, or wash and the dry the rings then replace them, for added protection.

I guess in theory you only need rings for the jars being canned and cooled at any one time. I think it is a good idea to have a bunch. They do rust and get bent.

 

[freemotion]

Freemotion, i hear ya on the expensive lids in the northeast...! I guess i just lucked out finding them by accident in a food store. I've gotten a couple good scores on qt /pt canning jars by putting a free ad on a local radio station...one was ols couple who can't do the canning work any more and one was a younger gu with a bunc of wide mouth pint jars, brand new in the box,,,15 cases for $60.00..! I only buy new when Walmart has some, all the other stores are expensive. On local hardware store has even started selling 1qt. jar with a lid and ring foe 2.99 each...! crazy....!! I read that sales were up 30-40% for the Mason Ball company,that sure tells you people are canning again...!

That's why I finally ordered them...they came out to, if I remember, like $1.17 per box or less even with shipping. Much less than Walmart. And I think, too, about all the time and trips I'd have to take to get them locally, it lowers the cost even more.

I like the radio ad thing, we have two stations locally with the Sunday morning tag sale....I hope they still have it. I think older folks like that their stuff is going to be used. I got 2 dozen quarts w/o lids or rings from one older couple and a dozen of the glass dome top jars from another couple when they found out I love my new canning obsession.

 

[lupinfarm]

I know how you feel. I've grown up like that, and not because we didn't have enough money.. we just had money infrequently. My dad works on contracts and can go anywhere from a couple weeks to 6 months between paycheques.

Make sure to buy seeds for your garden that are of a variety that does well in freezing, buy two or three varieties, early, middle, and late harvesting as well ensure some of those are freezable. Freeze more than you need or more than you think you need. Vegetables, meats, bread, and milk last longer in the freezer than many think.

Freeze eggs for baking later on.

Freeze your bread, we used to buy bread... 30 loaves at a time and freeze them, now we bake our own and freeze enough for the week or two weeks. With the cost of gas and maintanence on the truck, the cost of making your own is actually lower than buying at the grocery store.

Freeze LOTS of fruit, berries, melon, .. etc

Make up fruit salads and freeze them.

Raspberry, Strawberry, and Blackberry mix makes a really good fruity sauce for on top of pancakes or belgian waffles and all you need to do is thaw them out, and bring to a simmer in a pot on your stovetop. Make sure there aren't a lot of lumps, you can add sugar or sweetener.

... Yeah I think about this stuff a lot LOL because I have lived and still do live like this on a regular basis.

 

[SKR8PN]

The Wife and I are of the same mindset as DuppyDo and a few others here. We now have over 50 DOZEN wide mouth canning lids in our inventory. We buy them every week or so and have been for quite some time. Probably have 8-9 dozen cases of NEW wide mouth qts and 10-12 cases of new wide mouth pint jars new in the box's. This is in addition to the 30-35 dozen that we have in use now, and also used jars in storage. I just ordered and received 6, 5 gallon food grade buckets and 6 or the Gamma seal lids. We plan on storing wheat, flour,rice, beans, sugar and whatever else we can think of in them. We also can chicken, venison stew, chilli, beef stew along with everything we freeze. WE have worn out one vacuum sealer already!
We also have TWO large freezers full, and are seriously considering a third just for the "overflow".