Enjoy the fruits of your labour through canning
By Fiona Wagner • Bankrate.com

Paulette Lysyshyn has a passion for preserving. Each year, the resident of Unity, Sask., fills more than 3,000 glass jars full of peas, beets, pickles, fish, 5,000 pounds of fruit and anything else she gets her hands on. Not only does she capture the flavour of fresh produce at its peak and know every ingredient that goes into her food, she provides 60 percent of her large family's food needs.

Not all canners are as enthusiastic or ambitious as Lysyshyn. Some only make a single recipe, such as great-grandma's mint jelly. But whether you're preserving 10 or 1,000 pounds of food, canning can be an enjoyable and frugal way to enjoy great tasting and high-quality ingredients year-round.

So if you're thinking of reviving a family tradition or starting a new one, read on to find out what you need to fill your pantry with your own home-canned foods.

Who's canning?
Like Lysyshyn, the typical home canner has been preserving food for years, often passing down family recipes from generation to generation.

"My mother, who's 75, has been canning ever since she got married at the age of 18 like her mother and grandmother did before her," says Emerie Brine, consumer relations spokesperson for Bernardin Ltd., a home canning supply company. "We had a large family and lived on a farm, so anything you can imagine was canned. To this day, she cans everything because that's just what she does."

But rising food prices, economic uncertainty, concerns over food safety and a burgeoning interest in organic foods and a greener lifestyle have ushered in a new wave of canning enthusiasts.

"We've seen some younger people start home canning because they want to know where their food is coming from and they want to support locally grown products," says Brine. "Taste and quality is a huge factor. They want to know what's going into their family's tummies."

Getting started
Home canning isn't difficult -- you just have to follow lots of important steps.