Wow timely info - my wife and I are planning to can our garden this year because we simply couldn't eat all of it last year!
A note about canning - you can get canning stuff at any grocer. You can get older canning books from the library, but be warned that some of the "older" recipes may in fact be unsafe! The newer books suggested this, and so be aware that some 40-year-old recipe may not purify properly, leading to potential botulism poisoning. Very bad!
Slightly off-topic -
I'm sticking to canning vegetables for now, but I never really considered canning meats. Is there a good book or reference that has how-to stuff? The sheer amount of fish we catch every year here in the Chesapeake compels us to freeze everything, and canned fish would be a nice alternative! Especially if the power goes out
I think I'll make a new thread about canning.