My reader Liz sent me a great post about canning her own fruits and veggies. If you are interested in finding your local CSA, be sure to check out LocalHarvest.org.
We joined the local CSA this summer and was soon overwhelmed with sweet potatoes and green beans. I suggested to my husband that we should try canning our surplus veggies rather than let them spoil. Since we didn’t have any of the equipment, cans and lids especially, we did have an initial start-up cost, but very reasonable. We began by canning the sweet potatoes and green beans. And now, in the middle of winter, we still have fresh potatoes and beans.
I am the only one in our family who will eat tomatoes, so I was quickly in abundance of those as well. We found a salsa recipe in a
canning book (check your local library – ours has several to choose from) and we made 4 jars. Yum!
We decided to join our CSAs new winter program. Lots of fall apples, winter squashes, greens, frozen berries picked this summer, and other locally made foods. Hubby has now decided that we need to start dehydrating, so he found one at Bed, Bath and Beyond and dehydrated most of our apples.
We rarely have to buy fruits and vegetables from the grocery store anymore. Our weekly bill has been cut in half. And a good plug for a local CSA, in our area, it seems that the grocery stores have the sprayers always going. So we get home with wet veggies that spoil in a few days, what a waste of money. I’m ecstatic to say that these fruits and veggies last weeks!
If you are new to Couponing, you might want to take a moment to read more in my Getting Started Couponing series.
We live in a rural area so we just plant a small garden ourselves. We buy tomatoe (culls) for $5 a box and put up salsa. We put up 31 jars last year and it didn’t last a month! I have frozen tomatoes in the freezer that I use instead of buying canned. (unless they are free like the recent Target deal on Hunt’s). We have friends who farm so they keep us supplied with fresh corn to put in the freezer, I cut it off the cob for “frying”, we cut it boiling size (on cob) and put up whole ears for grilling. We also have a neighbor who grows what we don’t so we swap with him. Lastly, my husband works for a National supplier of Sweet Potato Fries so we are never without sweet potato fries (which we are not big fans of), sweet potatoes, or now yukon gold white potatoes.
i do a csa also – they want 1/2 up front when you sign up and then usually the other 1/2 at first pick up so have some time in between to save up for it…it is so worth it
Funny you should post this- I just joined a very excellent CSA in my area. I followed their e-newsletters for the past two years and their website to get an idea of what to expect. I can’t wait till May, and the first shares! We’re in Illinois, and the season runs from May through November. Here the shares range between $300-$400. It averages out to 10-$15 a week. The produce is high quality and lasts way longer than what you find in the stores. And the tastes are amazing- nothing beats local and fresh!
Is it very expensive to join a CSA