If you are not getting the stuff to can from the garden, can in smaller batches. A batch was about 12 jars or less depending on the size of the pressure cooker and jar size. We were canning vegetables, pickles, and kraut as the particular raw material got ripe in the garden. This meant that we were doing multiple batches of each item. We had a set of shelves in the basement. IIRC they were floor to ceiling, 48" wide, & 12-18" deep. I don't remember where we kept the empties but you could put them back on the shelf with the full jars. Occasionally move them so the empties are together. When you have a batch worth, can some more of whatever you are lowest on. This way, you only have a batch or so of jars and the pressure cooker to store. If you don't use the pressure cooker for other things, you could also keep the empty jars in the cooker.

ADDED PS

We currently are only doing an occasional batch of pickles sized to match the recipe and get the cucumbers from the farmer's market. We are keeping empties on the shelf above the full jars. If we start keeping a garden again, we will probably just run multiple batches and put the empties where we can on the same set of shelves.


Edited by UTAlumnus (08/02/15 02:26 AM)