Since this is my first post I will let you know how I got started on being self-reliant. It started in the spring when a good friend of mine (Terri) was talking about getting ready to put out her garden. I decide I would try one this year. It had been at least 20 years since I had a vegetable garden (always planted flower gardens). I planted a garden and things grew real well. Then came the problem with what was I going to do with all of this food I was growing. Decided to can the tomatoes (since I plant approx. 36 plants), then I decided I wanted to learn to pressure can food. So I got me a new pressure canner then there was nothing safe in the house. I pressure canned everything. Then I thought about food storage and wanting to be able to feed my family all year without worrying about making trips to town. That was when I started to do all the research on canning and food storage and found a website (Backwoods Home Magazine) and that is how I got started.

So far I have canned:

Spaghetti Sauce: 12 quarts, 16 pints
Tomato Sauce: 7 quarts, 59 pints
Diced Tomatoes: 37 pints
Salsa: 21 pints
Pizza Sauce: 18 pints
Potatoes (diced):18 quarts
Corn: 7 quarts, 46 pints
Green Beans: 45 pints
Dill Pickles: 9 pints
Bread & Butter Pickles: 9 pints
Pickled Beets: 7 pints
Bean & Bacon Soup: 5 quarts, 17 pints
Chicken Soup: 7 pints
Chicken: 18 quarts, 16 pints
Roast Beef: 2 pints
Pork: 8 pints
Sausage: 6 pints
Hamburger: 8 pints
Turkey: 8 quarts
Peaches: 5 quarts, 38 pints
Pears: 42 pints
Apple Slices: 2 quarts, 5 pints
Apple pie filling: 7 quarts
Applesauce: 21 pints
Peach Syrup: 8 - 1/2 pints
Peach Jam: 6 - 1/2 pints
Grape Jelly: 4 pints
White Grape/Peach Jelly: 3 pints
Banana Jam: 5 - 1/2 pints
Zucchini/Strawberry Jam: 3 pints
Zucchini/Raspberry Jam: 5 - 1/2 pints
Honey: 22 quarts, 6 pints
Peach Honey: 3 pints

I also got gallon bags of carrots, green peppers and several (2 cup)bags of zucchini in the freezer.