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Can It!! This is my first year growing a "good garden".  When we lived in town, we had just a small area for a garden.  While I did have success growing some vegetables, I never had enough to  freeze or can for later.  This year we moved and we now have room for a larger garden.  I have had a great harvest of peppers, carrots, beans, cucumbers and tomatoes.  Since this is something I plan to do every year,  we invested in a good canner.

I have become addicted to canning!!  I love it!!  I find it very enjoyable to prepare food and store it for the winter!  I love to see the shelves of my pantry filling with jars of vegetables, juices, and sauces.  There is something very gratifying about not only preparing our home with food, but knowing it is home~grown.  I am very much looking forward to using this food in the coming months.

Canning may seem like a costly investment, but it will pay for itself each year you use it.  We not only had the cost of the canner this year, but also a large number of jars as well. Remember, though, that these are one time costs.  But this cost will be well worth it as we are enjoying healthy food that we grew ourselves!  Next year we will have all our supplies, and the only cost will be the cost of seeds and our time.  If I had been thinking ahead of time, I would have started buying the jars during the winter so I would have been prepared.  Then I wouldn't have had all the cost at once!

If you've never canned before, try it!  Preparing our pantry is something you can't go wrong doing!  And you might become a canning nut like I did! Don't forget to enter my newest give~away, a Grace Unplugged Prize Pack.  Go HERE to enter!!