I have thought about trying my hand at canning. My mother used to can prickly pear jelly and a few veggies. Will have to buy the veggies from the local farmer’s market, since my bucket garden is so tiny that anything that grows to maturity doesn’t make it back to the house.
Both of my grandmothers canned, although I never saw them do it, just ate the results. One aunt would make grape jelly and a cousin (male) cans from some things that his girl friend grows - basil, mint, & other herb jelly. He was the one who was the final “kick” over the edge into canning - his basket of herb jellies made the nicest gift - gave it to my dad on his 90th birthday.
A water bath canner is fine for acidic fruits and vegetables, such as jams, jellies, applesauce, apple butter, and tomatoes, but for almost all other vegetables, like carrots, squash, green beans, corn, okra, etc. you’ll need a pressure canner. If you “pickle” veggies, which uses vinegar that ups the acidic content, you can use a water bath canner.
I enjoyed canning last year, but it was my first year and I was nervous about it - worried about not doing it correctly, spoilage, etc. This year, I’m much more relaxed and confident. It’s a great pleasure to be able to preserve my bumper crop of tomatoes and I have several ‘requests’ for items I made last year and gave as gifts. There’s a lot of work in canning, but the feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment are worth it. :-)