The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor

[Retrograde]

92. It's not quite that easy

*Some* vegetables - high acid ones, like high-acid tomatoes - can be canned with a water bath. Others require pressure canning, which although it isn't really hard requires a pressure canner and rigorous adherence to canning guidelines. I can meat stocks regularly, and even though I've done this every 3 months for a dozen years I always re-read the USDA guidelines beforehand and follow them to the letter. I've never seen sealing wax (aka household parrafin) used with anything other than jams and jellies, which have enough sugar to discourage microbes.

If you want to make the investment, canning's a great way to preserve the harvest, but you need to be scrupulously clean, and follow the guides for processing times. And if you're using Ball or Mason jars, the lids aren't reusable, but since they're about $0.10 a pop it's not a big expense.