This is one of several posts on maintaining your stock. As we are going into canning season, the first several will deal with canning related topics. However, they can also be applied to stock you have gotten from the store. When I talk about “Your Stock”, I’m referencing the items in your pantry or home that you have preserved, bought ahead or made for your family’s future use or consumption, no matter the amount.
A few weeks back I stopped by a yard sale. As we got out of the vehicle I told the kids, “We are looking for clothes ONLY. Nothing else.”
We walked away with almost 150 canning jars. Yeah. Clothes. Hm.
A few years back there was a shortage of canning jars. Do you remember that? We couldn’t find them anywhere, new or used. They were going for a lot of money at yard sales and auctions, when they could be found. It was at that time that my friend and I said that we would never pass up on canning jars we see at garage sales again. Now, that is within reason, but we have pretty much stuck to it. Granted we usually find 4 or 10 at a time, not 145. However, when I saw these, where they came from and that they were asking $.11 – $.12 per jar I knew I had to get them.
I didn’t need all of them, but know of several other canning friends who would be able to use them if I couldn’t. I also knew how many jars I had as the jars at home were all sorted and in totes. One of my yearly goals is to have more crushed tomatoes in my stock at the end of the season this year. In order to do that I need more quart jars.
All of this is to say something that I don’t always remember, but should:
Know what you need, how much, and at what price you are willing to get it.
And:
Stay open minded. You never know where you will find what you need.
In this case it turns out someone’s mother used to do a lot of canning, but this person is just too busy to do that much. The jars were added to their yard sale. Which leads me to something else I’ve learned:
11-12 cents per jar is a great price, they are a size I use and I need (at minimum) at least another 25 for crushed tomatoes, 52 for tomato sauce, and more for apple sauce if I’m lucky enough to find apples to use.
What is an usual place you have found something you needed for your stock?