Where to buy canning jars

Q Where can I find 4-ounce canning jars? My fruits and berries are ripening, and I want to store them in small containers.

A You're part of a growing trend. There's been a resurgence of gardeners growing their own vegetables and fruits and preserving them to use during the winter, said Shirley Mah Kooyman, a Twin Cities Master Gardener and avid canner.

"More people are buying vegetables in larger quantities at farmer's markets, too," she said.

Canning jars are sold in a variety of sizes, but the 4-ounce jars are popular to give as gifts.

Audrey Matson, whose recently opened Egg|Plant Urban Farm Supply (1771 Selby Av., St. Paul; 651-645-0818) sells 4-ounce jelly jars, said, "They're very cute and great for herbs, salsa and apple butter spread."

But it might pay to wait a few weeks before buying.

"As the harvest season gets into full swing, a lot of places will have them on sale," Kooyman said.

• Twin Cities Menards stores.

• Twin Cities Frattalone's Ace hardware stores.

• The Ball Jar online store (freshpreserving. com).

• Container & Packaging Supply (containerandpackaging.com).

• Amazon (amazon.com).

It's not butter, or plastic Q I keep getting e-mails saying margarine is one molecule removed from plastic. What's up with that?

A Most statements about something being one molecule or a small amount of DNA removed from something else are specious.

The hoax-busting website Snopes (www.snopes.com) has received a slew of such missives: Cool Whip and Styrofoam supposedly being one molecule apart, Cheez Whiz being just two ingredients different from garbage bags.

"These types of statements (even if they were true) are essentially meaningless," Snopes' Barbara Mikkelson writes. "Many disparate substances share similar chemical properties, but even the slightest variation in molecular structure can make a world of difference."

Plastics are polymers, composed of specific strings of molecules. Margarines are blends of fat (animal or vegetable, usually) and a thinner liquid (water or milk, usually). Even if the latter's double bonds ended up "one molecule away" from the polymers, the arrangement is so different that adding one type of molecule would not even remotely turn margarine into plastic.

"While we have seen some Web assertions that 'Margarine is but one molecule away from being plastic,' this is not accurate," said David Karpinski, the company's senior manager of executive communication.

He also passed along the "most prominent ingredients" in Land O' Lakes margarine: soybean oil, water and buttermilk.

No plastic.

BILL WARD