Hit 200 jars of jam canned this season and honestly it shocked me
I started canning in April just to use up my overgrown raspberry bushes, figured maybe 30 jars tops. Between my own garden, my neighbor's pear tree she let me pick, and a farmers market deal on bruised peaches, I kept going. By last week I counted the shelf in my pantry and it was 200 jars exactly, that's not counting the 40 I already gave away. It hit me that I'd spent less than $80 total on sugar, lids, and pectin, everything else was free or nearly free. That works out to like 40 cents a jar for jam that tastes better than the $6 stuff at the store. I never thought of myself as a homesteader type, but now I'm planning apple butter next month. Has anyone else accidentally gone overboard with preserving and ended up with a weird pride about their pantry count?