Letters To The Editor

Dear Editor,

In response to your article about higher prices of canning jars and maybe shortages—I haven’t been keeping up with prices of those jars since we haven’t had a garden in years, but are considering preparing our soil this fall for crops next year. That would be less than a half acre since we only have a one acre yard. We are in Jefferson, GA until Saturday morning and I’ve been into three thrift stores while here. In one store, the Humane Society Thrift Store, I found a few boxes of quart canning jars without lids at $5 per dozen jars. There may be more jars in their stock room. Since I haven’t priced jars anywhere else I don’t know how this compares. This store may be able to get more. How does this price sound in comparison to what you’ve found?

Dear CW—

If the jars are regular mouth jars, you can get a case of 12 with bands and lids from anywhere from $12.99 to $26.00 online. If you have a Walmart near you (is there anyone that doesn’t have a Walmart nearby?) or some type of discount store, you may be able to get them a little cheaper. If you purchase just the jars, you’ll spend around $7 for a 12-count box of regular-style lids and bands, or about $13 per dozen for reusable Tattler lids, rings, and bands. Your $5 jars then become the same price as what you can get with lids and bands elsewhere.

However, the expense starts coming in with wide mouth jars. Amazon is selling them for anywhere from $13.54 to $39.96 a dozen. It’s a couple of dollars more for the wide mouth lids and bands over regular mouth, either way you go (standard or reusable). Again, Walmart will probably be cheaper.

I also found our Sam’s Club selling canning jars this year. It was a seasonal item, but they were much cheaper than anywhere else. I went to Sam’s Club’s website, and they’re selling two dozen quart jars for about $24 online.

However… the jars are glass. Do not discount garage sales or flea markets! Many folks don’t know what they have and they’ll price a bunch of Mason jars cheaply to get rid of them. Keep your eye out for these in estate sales, garage sales, or flea markets.

The Editor

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Dear Editor,

I really enjoy reading your publications and receiving the newsletters. I find the entire site very informative. However, my husband tells me I am crazy, because subscribing to “Off the Grid News, couldn’t be any more ON the grid!!”…With all of the stories we hear about Google tracking our information, habits, location etc.., various government entities demanding customer information from merchants that are deemed a threat, and so forth, how can we still access this important information without making ourselves and our information vulnerable and putting ourselves on watch?

J—

Dear J—

Your husband is pretty much right… we do offer this information and products online, utilizing the technology available to bring you news, information, and products that are designed to help you lessen your dependence on the grid. However, there is a great deal of difference from relying on technology and utilizing it to your maximum benefit while always keeping available the means to survive without it. If online use is an issue, then I would say research and find out how you can access Internet content without leaving a personal footprint behind. Just remember, anytime you use a debit card, that you go to a doctor, that you do anything in life in the United States of today (including grocery shopping), that you’re leaving a paper trail of some sort behind you, even if that trail is electronic. One would have to go to a totally cash or barter system and drop out of existence to get completely “off the grid.” Myself? I say use it to the fullest extent, to our advantage, with appropriate precautions. And never depend on it to do things that one needs to learn how to accomplish on his own.

The Editor

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