Thanks! I'll keep an eye on Ace's prices, and will start stashing away a bit of cash for the end-of-summer sales.

I bought my canner at Mill's Fleet Farm when I visited family in Minnesota. They had a sale. It's a Presto. I've heard through rumor that you should buy an All-American Pressure Canner, but they're just too expensive.

Really, it was a lot simpler than I expected. I also found a nice pickling recipe for asparagus, if you're looking for that in-between step. I haven't looked yet- is there a thread for recipe exchanges for canning and pickling in this sub-forum?