Sounds like she does the waterbath canning, which is OK for fruits and some vegetables, but to can meats, soups, and the like, it ought to be done with a pressure canner. Those run anywhere from $50 for the cheap ones to close to $300 for the really good ones. If you're careful and care for it, the cheap ones work as well as the pricey ones.

And then there's the can style canning, which, f you have a Mormon facility in town, is cheap enough. You bring your already prepared foods to them and they seal then into tin cans for a fee. You pay more if you're not Mormon, of course.