# How much money do you save by canning and gardening?



## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

I have a few questions for the people who are very active in home canning and home gardening:

1.) How much money are you saving by doing this? 
2.) If you had more time on your hands than opportunities to earn money (say you're retired, for instance) could you save even more money?

3.) Is there anyone on this board who has taken food self-reliance to extreme levels and basically is self-supporting, say with vegetables, fruit, livestock, hunting, etc?

4.) Is anyone doing processing for staples? Here's what I mean - taking apples, making cider, then making vinegar, then distilling that and using it for canning vinegar. Or growing your own sugar beets and then making your own sugar. Or going down to the ocean and bringing back barrels of sea water and then evaporating it and harvesting the salt.

5.) If the above is too involved to answer, maybe the simpler question would be what must you buy that you can't grow?

6.) How self-sufficient can one become in terms of food?


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Bobbb said:


> I have a few questions for the people who are very active in home canning and home gardening:
> 
> 1.) How much money are you saving by doing this?
> 
> ...


It depends ... For me it is a lifestyle.


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## siletz (Aug 23, 2011)

I think a good way to check how much money you could save by having a garden is to keep track of how much money you now spend on fruits and veggies from the store. Gardening can be accomplished very cheaply if you are willing to do a lot of your work with hand tools. While I will never be completely self-sufficient from what we grow, I would rather see self-sufficiency as a sliding scale rather than all or nothing. We are more self-sufficient now than we would be if we did not garden. Plus, I have the added bonus of knowing what goes into the food we are eating. If you don't garden now, I would strongly encourage you to do so. In most parts of the country, there's still time to start a fall garden. Lots of food can be produced before the first frost.


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## LilRedHen (Aug 28, 2011)

I saved $85.00 this month on my grocery bill because of all the produce from my garden. This only happens in the summer, usually during July and August.


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## Moby76065 (Jul 31, 2012)

Holly smokes Bobb that's a BUNCH!

I can and save by only buying meats on sale.
Because pressure canning will "break connective tissue" down fast I can often buy
lower cuts of meat such as brisket. It takes me 6-8 hours of slow smokin to break down a brisket proper.
2 hours in the mason jar at 10 psi does the trick real well.
A local supermarket had chicken on sale for a $1 per pound. I purchased 50 pounds and canned it.
Buy canning two things happen. I save money and the wife likes it cuz she can hijack a couple jars and she doesn't have to cook, just heat. And as any married man knows, it's always good to keep momma happy.

I personally believe that anyone without a pressure canner needs to be lookin at one real hard real fast.
Canned goods last a long time. And meats can last decades properly stored. Everyone should have at least 30 quart jars of meat stored. And that is only a level 2 preparedness on the LDS prepared scale. That's about where I'm at. I think I'd like to get to level 3, or 3 months worth of readiness. Ultimately one year. But I'm not there yet.

I don't garden much but want to.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

a few years ago I worked out how much it cost me to can my own tomatoes and tomato sauce. Rounding up and including lids and what hubby thought it cost extra that month for gas.. The break down was for the quarts only.. each quart ended up (this is rounded up ) .65cents. and that wasn't counting the fact that I didn't used all the sauce in the canning I cooked pasta and we had a big dinner with about 2 quarts(cuz family heard I was making sauce and pasta.. it was like a herd of elephants come charging.. they even brought the garlic bread and salad).
it was more like .75 cents tho when I canned for my daughter's wedding. I had a bad pepper year and had to go and buy a few and I bought a half bushel of tomatoes youpick just in case I needed more. that added to the costs that year.
Personally even having to buy your produce at a roadside stand at peak ripe and grown nearby and canning it is better than having to buy canned/store sauces for tomatoes.
I also buy peppers in bulk(.40cents each or $8 a half bushel) and chop and freeze as they don't need any other prep other than chop and freeze and I have peppers for the rest of the year.
Many have heard of "shopping/eating seasonally" but I also can/prep seasonally.. when it is in season and at it's best is the best way to get it for the rest of the year..


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Bobbb said:


> I have a few questions for the people who are very active in home canning and home gardening:
> 
> 5.) If the above is too involved to answer, maybe the simpler question would be what must you buy that you can't grow?


This is the goal that we shoot for.

A few years ago we did an experiment that was to see just how well we could survive on what we grew. It was only in the spring and summer months when the garden was at its peak. The best month we had, we spent somewhere around $75.00 at the grocery store and that counted total purchases food or whatever. It was for a family of 4 and our diet did not suffer in the least.

You brought up some good topics for discussion in this thread.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

I'm with Andi, more a lifestyle then anythin else.

Never put pencil ta paper. I know exactly what goes inta mine. We still stock up some canned goods cause we just ain't got time ta grow everthin we need.

Meats we can when we get a good deal one em, er ifin a farmer happens ta have some we can use. Here again, I know what I'm eatin.


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## radio477 (Feb 9, 2012)

i have canned and dehydrated just enough to assure myself i could do it if i had to, I actually hate doing it and find my time better spent in other ways. I would rather spend the extra money buying dry goods and canned goods each week, (building my stockpile) and spend the extra time working on my home, truck and other projects. Beans and rice are cheap and the boys are at the gun club drinking beer and wasting bullets!!


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## DKRinAK (Nov 21, 2011)

*It depends on where you live*

When we lived in the Spokane area, we did all our own jams and jellies with a fair amount of garden produce.

Now that we live in Alaska, it is just less expensive to use store bought. Our garden have been a bust for he last two seasons owing to the cold weather - yes, cold The snow didn't all melt until mid-June and it snowed the first part of this month.

Add in all the kiddos being out of the house, and you lose a lot of the incentive - we still do some small batches, as gifts mostly and to keep our skills alive, but we don't make a production of it anymore.

But if you live in a moderate climate area, it takes some time, but that is paid back many times over when you eat that food you put up...


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## ContinualHarvest (Feb 19, 2012)

Well let me give an example. Bought a chicken from the grocer. $7.99. Fed 4 people for one night. Two people lunch the next day and 3 people chicken salad for dinner that night. Go on and price out chicken dinners, chicken lunch and chicken salad pre made....
Then broke the bones and used the scrap meat and veggies from the garden to make stock. Price out cans of chicken stock. Got about 12 pints from this one particular chicken. 
We made out money back and then some on that purchase. We also have a fair sized garden. Here, good tomatoes are about $2.99 for 3 vine ripened (on the vine). I've had tomatoes with every lunch and dinner since July. Paid less than $10 for the heirloom plants we have. I also have a huge pot of tomatoes I'm boiling down for sauce. Now go on and price out roughly 2 good sized tomatoes per day since mid July and two 8 quart pots of tomato sauce from the grocer.
I also grow berries and squash and herbs and a host of other vegetables. 
We have saved hundreds of dollars by canning, preserving, fermenting, and making things at home.
Do you folks like beer? How about Killians Irish Red or Blue Moon Cream Ale? I made clone brews of both for under $20 per 5 gallon batch. You'll pay over $4.00 per bottle at the bar plus tip. 5 gallons is around 54 of the 12 oz. bottles, give or take a bottle. The same goes with wine. I make some good tasting wine and sometimes get the fruit for free when the harvest is done. You do the math. You save a TON of cash by making your own. 
I recommend that everyone have a garden and grow at least a little of their food. Break the chains of the corporate franken-food machine. Save some money and have something fun to do with the kids.
It's made going back to school full time a bit easier for me and the family and I saved enough to buy a rifle. Will be using said rifle to put meat on the table. Also saved enough for a new shotgun. Will be filling up the freezer with deer this winter.


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

Truth be told, I don't save a damn thing. Maybe in 5-10 years I'll save something.

Buying all the canning equipment, cookers, jars, lids, accessories... made it where it costs more.

That said:
a) The quality of the products blows away commercial.
b) I don't care that it cost more.
c) I now have multi-use equipment that I wouldn't have had I skipped canning.
d) It tries to keep me out of trouble. Drink a 6-pack of beer or can 20 quarts in an evening.
e) It's fun (but the kids don't think so... yet).
I could go on...


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## timmie (Jan 14, 2012)

OldCootHillbilly said:


> I'm with Andi, more a lifestyle then anythin else.
> 
> Never put pencil ta paper. I know exactly what goes inta mine. We still stock up some canned goods cause we just ain't got time ta grow everthin we need.
> 
> Meats we can when we get a good deal one em, er ifin a farmer happens ta have some we can use. Here again, I know what I'm eatin.


i agree with this and would just like to add that since i started back canning a few years ago i never buy fruits and veggies. we eat fresh when we have it and frozen or canned when we don't. personally i wouldn't have it any other way.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

I don't know how much we save, if we save at all. Mostly, we have been gearing up to produce a lot and that can be expensive. Then this year, wife and I were both sick at planting time, and for 6 weeks after. So, only one out of 4 garden patches got planted, and it went to weeds. Thankfully, this isn't a problem because we have enough left over canned goods to get along fine. 

In a better year, we produce nearly all the vegetables we eat, most of the fruit, and a fair amount of grain, a few chickens, and all of our eggs. The herb garden keeps us stocked on that sort of things. We start our own seedlings for the garden, have a summer kitchen for canning, make our own hand soap and laundry soap. Wife cuts my hair, I fix whatever needs it, and we are working on solar electric. Have a cistern that provides our own water complete with a hand pump on the back porch and gravity supplied faucet in the basement. Converted to a wringer washing machine to save water and electric power. Have a treadle sewing machine and a stock of fabric and sewing supplies. 

We only have an acre lot, but it is very rural which makes things easily available, such as firewood, beef, pork, and grains. For ten years prior to my retirement, I did farm machinery repairs in our own machine shop, plus welding and sheet metal work. If need be, I can re-open that business and either make enough to buy what we need, or trade for it. I make a lot of my own tools and machinery for both shop and garden use. Have a blacksmith shop and experience with it. Most of our buildings are made of recycled (junk) materials that we got for near nothing. 

We're working diligently on reducing our energy use, with insulation, porches to keep the house cool, energy efficient appliances, and hand powered tools for everything. I'm doing a complete second wiring system in the house for 12 volts. I put in a 2,500 gallon tank for irrigating the gardens. It collects water from the shed over the tank and from the workshop roof. With good fortune, we should have DC lighting this year. Meanwhile, I am collecting cheap candles from anywhere I find them (mostly Goodwill stores) and learning to recycle them into new taper candles. (Lots cheaper than buying candles, or buying materials to make them.)

I come out far better that way than trying to produce it all myself. It also means that even though I am 66 years old, I can readily do a days work in the shop, rather than half a day cutting firewood that would wear me out. We planned it that way. 

Our neighborhood is all farmers who tend to be pretty self reliant. It works out well for us.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

I do know the amount of money saved is unreal in my herb garden ... :ignore: The herb folks made a killing off of me last year ... but that has changed with my "herb garden" 

And again ... I know what is in that herb I'm putting by.

Just the herb and what I add to it! lol


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

I'm appreciating the responses everyone is offering, especially the very detailed ones with pricing information.

In terms of paying for equipment to can and freeze and store, etc, I'm looking at those expenses as a sunk cost, meaning once the money is spent it's spent and I'm not trying to recoup it in savings down the road. I look at that equipment as a necessary expense. When the SHTF I absolutely must rely on my pressure canner, so there can be no thought given as to whether it is an investment which will make money. I bought it, the money is spent, and the money I spent is forgotten.

I'm planning on the same mindset for my underground root cellar, the icewell attached to the root cellar, the salvaged restaurant-sized freezer that will be placed into the root cellar, etc. I'm not counting the money that goes into setting up the infrastructure to store food.

What I'm curious about is after I get all that set up on the homestead, would the store bought goods still be cheaper to buy due to economies of scale and the efficiency of mechanized processing? Stranger things exist. A huge bakery is probably buying their wheat/flour by the 1,000s of tons where I buy it in 100 lb sacks from a retailer, not direct from the farmer, so all the middlemen take their bite.

On another front, in preparing for a downfall in the machinery of society, I believe that for the preps to work they have to be in place before they are needed, rather than after they are needed, and this means that I need my land to grow my vegetables, fruit, and support my animals and their feed or have viable means of local trade to provide me with what I can't provide easily for myself.

What I'm grappling with now is the nitty-gritty of the actual food that one adult would eat per year (I can then multiply that to match my family's particulars) and how much storage space I need in a freezer and root cellar. I believe this to be a critical design calculation because if I shoot too low and the worst comes to pass, then with no safety net about, I'm going to run out of food before next year's harvest.

I was focusing on costs in my OP because I was curious whether retired folks with more capital than income in these low investment return days could actually save money by investing in self-sufficiency infrastructure as a means of reducing their living expenses. I know retired folks in just this situation - big nest eggs earning very little and actually growing smaller from investment losses. These folks have lots of time on their hands and they love gardening - would it make sense for them to go full-on in terms of trying to be as self-sufficient as possible by spending their capital in return for minimizing their monthly expenses?

I realize that I'm mixing and mashing different questions and themes in this thread, but hey, it's a conversation right, and conversations always follow a crooked path.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

We started to figure it up once then decided it didn't matter. The quality of the food we grow and the knowledge that it's purely organic and not loaded with preservatives would keep us doing it this way no matter how much it cost. The taste too, is much better than store bought foods.

Then there's the security factor. We aren't depending on trucks, factory farms, migrant workers (or illegal aliens), computerized inventories, telephone, internet, to bring our food to the grocery store from half a world away.

Our grocery store is as close as our own backyard.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

mosquitomountainman said:


> We started to figure it up once then decided it didn't matter. The quality of the food we grow and the knowledge that it's purely organic and not loaded with preservatives would keep us doing it this way *no matter how much it cost.*


What costs are you incurring?

Here's what I can think of as recurring costs:

-Canning lids.
-Electric/gas costs associated with canning.
-Seed costs.
-Fertilizer costs.
-"Flavor" costs (salt, spice, etc)
-Watering costs.
-Storage costs (electricity for freezer)

-Whatever costs you assign to your labor with respect to harvest and processing.

-Purchase costs of food that you don't grow.
-Animal purchase costs.
-Animal feed costs.
-Animal care costs (Vets, shots)

Am I missing something?

The way I see it, when the SHTF, seed costs can be eliminated by using heirloom seeds and incorporating seed harvest into the farming process. Fertilizer can be eliminated and produced on-site via organic methods. Electricity can be generated on site. Water can be pumped on site from a well.

The sticking point is having enough lids for the canning because once the SHTF I doubt that lids are going to be easily available. Other than this what expense is there?


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Bobb try not to think of things in a cost only basis. Sure its probably cheaper for some items to be store bought but learning to can and butcher and preserve what you need is essential if there is a breakdown. Its almost impossible to be 100% self sufficent in everthing from making electricity to fuel to food that you use to food for your livestock but the closer you get the better off you will live. Every time i think ive hit a new level i realize how much further i need to go to be completely self sufficient in all needs.


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

Andi is right. If you grow your own herbs, you save a fortune. As for the garden, I have raised beds which require very little maintenance and weeding and you can grow an incredible amount of produce per sq ft. 

When I lived in VA, I grew 90% of what we consumed between the garden, the chickens, the sheep, and having a pig each year. Here in TX, I only grow about half. 

The trick is that most people can't grow enough to feed their family no matter how much it costs because they don't have the skill. That's why I am always harping on prepper friends to get out there and practice now before the SHTF.


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

Bobbb said:


> What costs are you incurring?
> 
> Here's what I can think of as recurring costs:
> 
> ...


Bobbb, 1) you can use Tattler reusable lids. 2) you can give your own shots to your livestock (I have done it for years). 3) the water comes out of the well and is drawn by the windmill 4) the livestock eat grass and cactus most of the year with minimum supplemental feed 5) I use manure as my fertilizer-- no chemicals 6) I grow heirloom veggies and save my seeds 7) I can or dehydrate-- I do not use a freezer because of the chance I'll lose everything in a power outage 7) I grow my own seasonings and only buy salt.

If you are doing it right, you won't be spending a ton of money.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Bobbb said:


> What costs are you incurring?
> 
> Here's what I can think of as recurring costs:
> 
> ...


Buy canning lids in case lots realizing that they'll have a limited shelf life but that might be several years. As they age you'll have to boil them longer to soften the seals. You can sometimes reuse lids but keep the food where you can keep an eye on it in case the seal breaks. If it does and we didn't hear it pop loose we feed it to the dog or chickens when we find it.

We've begun to rely more on dehydrating our food. We can store it in any kind of jar. We often use canning jars with used lids for storing dehydrated food.

We also use the root cellar for root crops. Our potatoes, carrots and other root crops store safely for months in the root cellar. We plant the leftovers in the spring to grow new potatoes.

We store squash in a cool, dark room in the cabin. We've kept spaghetti squash for a year that way. The same ith pumpkins and other winter squash.

We dehydrate onions for storage. We've never been able to keep them long otherwise. We dehydrate about everything except root crops now and save the canning for meats and prepared food like chili or stew.

Our meat is 90 percent wild game and fish. The rest is organic meat we purchase from a local butcher shop.

If you plan on saving seed be aware that some plants don't go to seed the first year. Carrots, for example, go to seed the second year and the seed does not store well. I'd advise getting started on that now. Plus there's always a learning curve involved. It takes a few years to get proficient.

Our soil is poor here. It takes us three years (and literally tons of compost) to get it in good shape for growing crops. We try to add a new section to the garden every year. Composting takes time and when TSHTF manure will bring a good price as will rabbits. chickens, goats and other livestock. Again, start doing these things now so that if/when the times comes when you must do it you'll know how.

I've got a book coming out this fall (September) that has a lot of information like this in it. I'll post it when it's in print. I'm not just trying to peddle the book. It really will be helpful for those wanting independance and self-sufficiency. My blog also has lots of good info in it but it's pretty much about our daily life so there's no TOC or chapter divisions. It sometimes takes awhile to find posts that address your needs.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

Bobbb said: "...I was curious whether retired folks with more capital than income in these low investment return days could actually save money by investing in self-sufficiency infrastructure as a means of reducing their living expenses."

That is our goal. We have done a number of things that are long term investments to reduce living expenses. Some "pay" better than others, of course, but all are aimed at self reliance rather than store reliance. 

Saving seeds and starting plants are not big paying items, but they do have a consistent payback for our efforts. Our cistern water supply is only worth about $30 a month now compared to the public utility cost, but it is also much better water. (Our county water utility is famous for the nasty taste and chemical foam out of the faucet.) 

Simple stuff often is the most bang for the investment. Clotheslines, fresh garden produce, and wood heat pay back better than solar PV, but there are other reasons to do solar PV. Having our own power means we will be able to afford some electricity even if the cost from the utility gets stupid expensive, or isn't available. Insulating the attic is not a 'sexy prep' like other items popular on many forums today, but it still pays back really well. 

We garden in order to avoid medical bills from E. Coli on imported salad greens, have really fresh food, avoid pesticides and other poisons, and to have food security. Just knowing that we can do this (and have for 40 years), gives us peace of mind. We do make it pay as well as we can, although we have a big investment in our garden setup. It involved having our steep sloping lot terraced with 3 steps, each 30' x 80 ', hauling in massive amounts of soil improvements, and collecting a lot of equipment to make the heavy work easier for us in our old age. It was not a "paying" proposition in the financial sense, but it makes sense to us.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

I’m sure if I had to pay myself at a rate comparable to what I make at work, gardening would be a losing proposition. Buying lean cuisine or some other microwave instant meal would be a much cheaper alternative. Same with fishing or even hunting. Some years you can spend days in the woods or at the lake and not get anything.

Now let’s look at the other cost/benefits of a garden. What does a gym membership cost? Tending a garden gives you lots of outside time and exercise. Just being outside in the sunshine and the vitamin D is a benefit. Ever have one of those days at work? Well, cheaper than a psychiatrist is talking out your problems with the plants. They listen really well. Frustrated? Take out your frustrations on some pesky weeds or do some digging for rocks in that new section of the garden. Need a pick me up after a long day? Walk through your garden and pick a fresh, ripe tomato, a little salt and munch away. A few fresh string beans munched right from the plants, or maybe fresh peas, spinach or a carrot! Need to relax and unwind? Sit next to a plant and take a look, a really close look around you. You see the plant but don’t you also see what is going on all around you? There is life everywhere! Bees, worms, little critters you never knew existed before. Just relax and watch them go about their lives as they take care of business, it is really relaxing. Watching them grow and fruit is a very rewarding experience. As you check for a ripe anything you think back to when they were just tiny sprouts that grew into what they are today.

Then we get to the actual food value. Compare anything store bought to anything you grew yourself and ate fresh and ripe right off the plant. Remember that three dollar and ninety-nine cent green pepper you bought last week? Think back as you bite into one you just picked. Any difference there? Then the tomatoes, fagetaboutit. You KNOW there are no pesticides or chemicals used to grow what you are eating and it tastes it. 

As far as capital investments, I don’t really cost them out. They are a onetime capital investment that I now own. That BCS tiller I bought? It will last my lifetime and go on to serve someone else after I am gone, money well spent. That American no seal pressure canner? Heck, it will outlive a few generations.

I don’t do much canning but have all the equipment to do so. I do dehydrate some but mostly eat fresh out of the garden. This time of year what is for dinner? Tomatoes, squash, butter beans, peppers, cucumbers and something else. What is for dinner tomorrow? Same thing. I eat seasonal here, at least from the garden. I don’t mind having string beans every day for weeks as long as they are producing. It is like strawberries or blackberries. I have them every day they are producing and then have to wait until next year to have my fill again.

I have never put pencil to paper to calculate my actual food savings, I get more than just that from a garden. What I do know is that first fall trip down the produce isle scares the bejesus out of me!


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

Bobbb said:


> I have a few questions for the people who are very active in home canning and home gardening:
> 
> 1.) How much money are you saving by doing this?
> 2.) If you had more time on your hands than opportunities to earn money (say you're retired, for instance) could you save even more money?
> ...


You could argue that the experience you get in self-sufficiency is so valuable that it's almost priceless. You don't want to plant your first garden the day after the collapse. A lot of things are more complicated than you think and they're more work than you think. A lot can go wrong. I'm sure that like a lot of things you get better at it as you go along.


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## pat4us (Aug 16, 2012)

*HUGE SAVINGS IN CANNING YOURSELF!* Some 80% or so!

Our sun room garden and outside garden saves us a lot of money. At first it takes some capital to get started but the payoff is good. Conversely, buying freeze dried food is easier but MUCH more expensive then canning yourself. Let me give you an idea.

We recently started canning ourselves. We make a lot of tomato sauce. EASY ! Anyway, a case of 12 cans of sauce purchased from wallmart is around $24. I case of canning jars with lids in walmart cost $7. Our tomatoes are FREE from our garden. By the way, a tomato is about one dollar each at walmart! They are getting expensive. Anyway, if you figure the cost per jar including salt, garlic and other flavors the sauce is costing us about $75 cents per jar to can ourselves. So that $24 12 pack of tomato sauce only cost us about $9 to make.

Remember, you only have to buy the jars ONCE and you can use them over and over again. Now, if you already have the canning jars saved from last year they are now essentially free. You're total cost for canning *12 quart size jars of tomato sauce is about $3 case!!!!!* Who wouldn't run at that deal in a store? That is a savings of $21! That is what, a savings of around 85%! Put in other words, .25 cents a jar. This is a powerful old school tool.

Depending upon what you grow and can you will save a varying amount of money but there is no question, its a lot cheaper AND HEALTHIER!


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

kejmack said:


> When I lived in VA, I grew 90% of what we consumed between the garden, the chickens, the sheep, and having a pig each year. Here in TX, I only grow about half.


Now that got my attention ... And I know it could be for a lot of different reasons ... care to tell me more. (if you don't mind)

On a sidenote:
This will be my first year at a "true" winter garden ... Which should be fun and educational!  lol


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

ZZ has it right, not a damn thing.

BUT, I'm stocking while things are going well, I'm getting an unmeasurable higher quality product, and it just tastes damn good.


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