Another shortage caused by COVID

I want to learn to can😩😩

My parents were in the same situation.  And we are in Vermont, canning supplies are everywhere and not unusual.  They just needed the lids, not the rings.  My grandmother was looking for some also.  My  uncle did order some off the internet but they were crazy expensive.

We went to our camp (in a different part of our state) this weekend and they checked the Aubuchon there. The guy laughed at them. He said good luck, you can’t find them.

They then went to a small independent grocery store that they like, because they alway find stuff that they can’t find other places.  My dad said they walked in and there was two cases of the wide mouth lids sitting right there.  So they were able to get some for them and some for my grandmother...and they were the normal price, packs of 12 for 3.99 (or something like that).  They were psyched.  😄


Keep looking in places and hopefully you will get lucky.  Good luck.  If you are anywhere near ST Johnsbury Vermont I can tell you where to try.  Hahaha. 

Apparently pressure treated lumber for decking & fencing is also in very short supply!

DH built a low to the ground (5 cement support columns 4’ deep) deck for our hot tub. The platform is done, but we want a privacy screen built on one side and he wants to put skirting all around the bottom. He managed to find a few boards for the skirting but there are no 6x6 posts to be found anywhere for the privacy screen supports.

Luckily the screen is not essential so it can wait!

Canning supplies are hard to find here, too. My neighbor said that Ace Hardware still had some supplies.

Uh oh, we just canned some veggies yesterday & are almost out of lids. I didn't even think about them being a popular item because of all of the new gardens this summer.

I was anticipating this shortage so in early April, I went to the local Home Hardware store.  Bought everything that I needed.  Dollarama had the lids, pkg of 12, for $1.25.  I have plenty of pectin, pickling spices and jars of all sizes.

I had the hardest time finding lids! 2 stores told me the canning supplies are seasonal, meaning they only get them in at Christmas to use for gifts. My garden would disagree with that timing.

Dollarama stores sell them here. Also try Craigslist etc

I was able to send my niece yeast the same way. Not my favorite brand but it should do

According to my grocery store's app a small dinky store nearby had some regular lids so I stopped by on my way to work. They were out, but had plenty of the lid & ring sets so I picked some up. We have plenty of rings, but at the same time some are starting to show their age as some are from MIL who has been canning for 50 some years. We have tons of jars so I'm trying to avoid buying more just so we have enough lids.

They are definitely a seasonal item and there are years they are harder to find, but every place I looked at online was out of lids, lids/rings, and had few jar choices left. We can always freeze some of our tomatoes in need be (thankfully after today's storm we still have tomatoes to worry about!)

I'm making salsa today and ran to Walmart to get extra lids. I found the ring and lid sets but not the lids only. Canning jars were in short supply though I did see some end caps. Went to another store (Smith and Edwards--might be a local store) and found lots of jars, lids, rings, and other supplies.

One thing I've noticed is suddenly in short supply is canned tomatoes. One week there were plenty, the next week hardly any.

Merilee

I haven’t seen the single cans of cream of chicken soup in months. It’s really weird, I normally shop at Target for the few things I can’t get at Costco. Since the pandemic started I swear their soup section shrunk from about 12’ down to 4’, and what they still have is always empty. DD just likes it as normal soup so it isn’t a big deal but it’s just really odd that there is no Campbell’s soup!

The handful of stores I’ve been in that would have canning supplies have all had stock, at least as far as I could tell in passing but I wasn’t actively shopping for that stuff.

I noticed the empty canning shelves when I was at the store last week. I don't know why it surprised me since lots of people are now gardening.

Another out of stock item in our area is liquid hand soap. Walmart will sometimes have the small size, limited to 1.