I live, write, and garden in the PNW with my husband of 27 years, disabled daughter, college-aged son, and my 84-year-old mother. We have paid off $250,000.00 worth of debt (if you include the interest) in the last fifteen years and as of 6/12/2020 are 100% DEBT FREE!!!!Every year I make up a food preservation plan, which is an overarching pantry plan, really. I keep the previous year's plans so I can see what I planned before, what I actually achieved, and what I might want to do more or less of. This includes a canning plan, a dehydrating plan, a freezer plan, and a long-term staples plan. It's really quite in depth and when I make them up, I feel like I've got a really good handle on things for the coming year.
This year I will need to fill 1,316 jars, 626 quart jars, 28 pint and a half jars, 573 pint jars, and 89 pint and a half jars. I have around 750 reusable canning lids, but will need to buy more and maybe some metal ones if I can find them. I prefer metal ones for waterbath canning, but reusable for pressure canning. They are supposed to be back in stock now, but there was huge shortage during 2020 due to people growing and canning a lot more food because they were worried about food shortages. I think I have enough jars, but if I need to, I can store the culinary herbs, medicinal herbs, and teas I grow in take out soup containers or spaghetti sauce jars.
Knowing how much I want to do, helps me to plan how much of what I am going to plant in the garden, how much freezer space I will need, and how many mylar bags and food grade buckets I need to have on hand, and of course the aforementioned jars and lids.
All of this, if I can achieve it, should cut our grocery spending by half. That is assuming a good growing season and a good harvest year. It is worth it to me even though it is a lot of work. When you have to eat gluten free and you don't want a ton of processed food in your diet, and you prefer organic, you have to find other ways of doing things so you can actually afford all that.
In my case, it turns me into a prepper, at least with food. Not a crazy one, mind you, but like what our grandparents and great grandparents did, because they had to. I will be most comfortable, especially in these days of pandemic, to have a year's supply on hand. That is my ultimate goal. We have been building it back since the year we had to use it almost all up when DH was unemployed for 10 months.
Anyway, if you would like to see my 2021 Food Preservation Plan I made a video of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iDcIjsSbTI Maybe it will be helpful to anyone else who wants to build their own plan. Mine is for a family of four adults.
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I've been searching for lids around here and so far, no one has any. I think I have enough for my personal canning if I don't go crazy, but, I usually give gifts of some of our canned stuff and jams and jellies and that might not happen this year.