Beyond the Garden: Creative Ways to Source Food for Canning and Preserving

Oct 3, 2024

3 min read

In my last blog post, I gave a very basic overview of the two different methods of canning that I utilize: water bath canning, and pressure canning. Regardless of which method you prefer, there is still one question to be answered: how do I find a large enough quantity of food to preserve? I’m so glad you asked…

Grow it yourself might seem like the obvious answer to the question above. You’d be surprised how many tomatoes an indeterminate tomato plant will give you, and you can fit more plants than you might think in the space you have. However, if you don’t have the space needed to successfully grow corn, or perhaps you don’t have the time or green thumb to grow what you need, there are other options!

Local produce stands are a great place to start for larger quantities of produce. One local produce stand by me grows their own sweet corn in the fields next to the stand. Customers are able to place larger orders with just a few days’ notice to do with what they please. The added benefit of supporting local farmers is just the icing on the cake. The app “Farmish” is a great resource to find local farmers and their goods. Google maps can also help you locate what’s nearby.

If you don’t have any produce stands near your house, it might be worth the time and travel to find a produce auction. A produce auction is almost exactly what it sounds like: buyers are able to buy large lots for a fraction of grocery store prices. Oftentimes, produce auctions will have rough schedules of when different types of produce might come in; others, it might just depend on what sellers show up. It is helpful to know ahead of time what you are willing to spend on individual produce to avoid getting sucked into the thrill of the auction process. The size of the lots can vary, but having an idea of a price point can help. Additionally, if you’re serious about buying, be sure to have transportation figured out, on the off chance you wind up with 40 bushels of apples to bring home!

Another option to keep in mind is your neighbors. Do you have neighbors nearby who tend to wind up with an overabundance of various produce that you would buy cheaply off of them? Do you have extra of something you’ve grown that you could trade? One of our neighbors always seems to have an abundance of blueberries and zucchini. I’ve learned not to grow either because she will always ask if we want some! She is happy to receive some extra eggs from our chickens in exchange, but more often than not she is just glad the excess isn’t going to waste.

We currently have just one acre for our little homestead, with my garden area barely taking up 10% of that. The season of homeschooling young children that I’m in doesn’t afford me the time or energy to grow all of our food here myself, and I’m ok with that. If you’re not able to “do it all” either, don’t let that stop you from finding food to preserve for you and your family anyway. It can be a little bougie, but it can also be a lot of fun.