Canning classes, & etc.
 

Tossing out an idea My Wife and I have been discussing.....Do you think there is a market for teaching canning? preparedness? Livestock basics,firearms basics, etc.
My wife has over 30 years experience in canning and food prep. I have about the same in hunting & fishing, and I am also a NRA certified instructor.
What would a fair price be? We are in a large metropolitan area and most of the sheeple don't have a clue....But if put into terms they can understand, IE: cost savings, Know whats in your fruits & veggies, fresh foods, etc.
Think it would work?

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

Located at the belly of the beast...Northern Va outside washington DC

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

If I were anywhere near you, I'd sign up. In my area the county Agricultural agents have a Master Preserver program that covers pretty much everything. As for hunting and fishing, I'd say very few people not raised on them (dad, gramps, uncle) get into it later, because the ISN'T anyone to show them how it is done.

As an added bonus, if all goes well, you'll begin to build up your own network of contacts and partners for mutual aid.

A word of caution: You'll want to talk to people who do similar things, because you're probably going to need liability insurance. someone gets salmonella from something they canned, or puts a fishhook into an eye, and an ambulance chaser will be pounding on your door.

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

A lot of the community colleges probably have classes you can teach. Look for things like Continuing Education classes. Our local civic center also has classes offered but I'm not sure if they pay as well as the community colleges. The community college probably pays in the $100-$200/hour range (assume you'd be teaching maybe a 4 hour class or something).

Just curious: is it really cost effective to can? I think the stuff you can get at Sam's Club and such is probably much cheaper. Not knocking canning, just saying I'm not sure there really is a cost savings.

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

There is no cost savings...you can't compete with mass production of anything.......but that isn't the point.

The point is preserving knowledge, methods and putting up food you may have grown under condition you knew.....opening a can from Sams means you have no idea how the food was raised, what chemicals were used in growing and preservation, etc.

Preservation of knowledge is for a day when the lights are off and the shelves of Sams are empty. To walk around Sams, that is very hard to concieve of, I know...that's the way is strikes me......but the one constant of the universe is change......and change isn't always the "good" kind the politicians talk about.

Diogenes:

Wife and I have tossed the idea around as well. We both have a lot of years in gardening, food preservation, and various life skills+ we are both ex-vocational school instructors. I'm constantly amazed at how many people apparently have no idea how to preserve food. Whether you could make anything at it or not, I don't know....we are still in the talking stage as well.

We have a church summer camp not too far from us, and I think we could use the facilities for some courses that could be taught indoors/requiring kitchen.
You might check on such a place ( or 4-H ) camp in your area....make it a "prep weekend".....that was our thinking.....that way folks could drive in from as far as several hours, have a place to stay the night, and go home the next day.

Given your location, you'd have a LOT of population to draw from.....which would be an advantage.....

What to charge ? Heck, I dunno.....you sure aren't gonna get rich at it....the best payment I think you'd get is meeting like minded folks for networking should the poop hit the fan down the road.

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

Thanks for the responses gang/ keep em comin'

Andy,
Thanks for the input, you stated You might check on such a place ( or 4-H ) camp in your area....make it a "prep weekend".....that was our thinking.....that way folks could drive in from as far as several hours, have a place to stay the night, and go home the next day.....your idea has merit!we own 22 acres in central Va.... a primative cabin, no running water so canning may be an iffy proposition....

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

I agree that's not the point. I just was questioning whether he should be selling it as a cost savings.

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

Although I wouldn't want folks on my personal place for something like this, the primitive conditions would be no problem.......use a woodstove, indoor or out, or set up a portable stove top with propane.....this is what I do anyway when I can. Water is easy, portable plastic barrels or tank.....100 gallons will go a long way.

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

Your goal is not to make it cheaper. It is to make it.

And if you get good at it, you can make it 100 x better than you can buy.

Strawberries from field to jar in 4 hours are impossible to buy at Sams.

Bushels of tomatoes in season are dirt cheap and can be put up for the year in sauce, paste, salsa etc... And it tastes like summer in the middle of winter.

Attachment 40355

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

I just found these gems on youtube. Enjoy!

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

Nice find Buff.

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

Definitely don't forget smoking. With the possibility of power outages, one should know how to manage meat thru the various seasons. Very simple, very long lasting and very tasty.

Also as a side note, we grow a lot of produce and always end up with a huge pile of fresh tomatoes at the very end of the growing season. Rather than canning them, my wife has frozen them whole and then when needed they are taken out of the freezer and they skin very easily. Very good for soups and sauces. This is an alternative only while freezing is an option.

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

It seems to me the ultimate survival group has been 4-H. Being socially accepted, unlike survival groups, you can practice and teach your craft in plain view, and people think it's just "quaint". You will also meet people of like mind. The wide range of "OLD" techniques for providing a life from what was available on the farm, which in those days was extremely close to a survival scenario.

Canning, preserving, trapping, hunting, tanning, weaving, sewing with natures fibers, blacksmithing, milling, making rope, baking etc etc etc. And of course the one everyone is still doing, animal husbandry. Everything you need to live off of the land.

You don't need to form a new group. It already exists. Granted, not near like it used too. But it is there.

Buff, excellent find, but nothing can replace a good book. Should the internet go down, and it will, a permanent guide will still be needed. Books can last centuries.

Also, for canning, a good timepiece is needed. You might want to have a mechanical type clock that doesn't require electricity or a computor chip.

SB

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

Yes Diogenes, I think there is a market for such stuff.
There's a lady up in MA that offers full day workshops at her home on teaching people how to make their own cheeses at home.
Just a small niche market but her classes sell out all the time from what I've seen.
Plus she gets plenty of ancillory business by selling the supplies and a newsletter and books videos etc.
I think it is becoming a fast growing market, as many people , though definitely not a large percentage yet, start to think more along the lines of self sufficiency to some degree, or at the very least , a more healthy, less oil-centric food lifestyle.
Check her out here:
http://www.cheesemaking.com/default-cPath-89.php

She's got a good following from what I have read and a pretty savvy marketing system for a small time operator I think.
I know there are others doing similar type stuff too.
Good luck if you do it.

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

Fasttcar, those vids are great.

In the positive news department, a friend told us not only did Austin sell rain barrels at a discount, advertised in the utility bill, and offer a 60% rebate on solar power additions by customers, but their most recent bill had an ad for beginner's survival gardening classes. (Their last 3 utility bills had those ads stuck in. An earlier one advised a full pantry and a bug out bag.)

I looked at the rain barrels. They are a nice design that keeps out leaves and mosquitos and can be connected. Their suggested use is for watering your garden with rainwater during drought, or simply to save drinking water, with water better for plants than tap water. Plants don't like chlorine plus salts build up in soils irrigated by aquifer water.

I think that is a town that is going to make it if the federales don't prevent it. Towns with enough green space really have a shot.

Re: Canning classes, & etc.
 

Thanks for the vids.

Can't help but wonder about women who marry gay guys.