Yep I have two and half full commercial wire shelves from floor to ceiling, I think its 12 shelves high, I haven't actually bought anything in a can or jar from the grocery store in over two years now, well except condensed milk, I can't make that at home safely, and heresy chocolate syrup (yes chocolate milkshake's are one of my weaknesses.) I also have boxes of jars under tables though out my house as well, they also help hide the light fixtures from the wife I haven't told her about yet, but I also get hundreds of pounds of free fruit and vegetables every year given to me and know where to pick free berries and I get free boxes of old jars all the time, and honestly most people with fruit trees in there yard, don't eat the fruit. So I put them to use, here's the thing about why I have so many, yes I'm cheap and do work in season, but a small group of people from around the area and me get together and we feed about 200 people every second Sunday, it's kinda like a soup kitchen for homeless people in a parking lot where the 7 gallons of soup I make goes in about 15 minutes, and faster as the temp drops, so my canning also gets used, and more gets made and I do give some of it away to people in need as well, and to people who return my jars.. Oddly enough even though I live in the inner city people don't bother me much anymore , I don't get the "you got any spare change" from people as you walk the neighborhood or the threatening gestures, like the other residents complain about at the community league meetings. I get the thanks for the soup, or, what are you making next time..
And while it sounds like a lot of work making that many jars, and I do a 1000 plus a year, if you have a few friends over and have a BBQ, and get them to help, its easy to make 200 to 300 jars in an afternoon with four gas coleman stoves and two picnic tables, and its really not that much work either, we all get to eat, laugh and take some stuff home for later..
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