Before you can start to put up food throughout the year, you need local produce. While you can certainly head to your local market to pick up 20 pounds of green beans to can, it is probably not your best option. Not only will it cost you quite a bit, but even if green beans are on sale that week, you donít usually get the best quality food at your grocery store.
It may go without saying that you focus on finding local produce and in-season in your area. That is where you find the best deals. Occasionally, you might even get lucky and have a neighbor who shares their bumper crop with you. If you are not quite lucky, here are your best bets for finding deals on seasonal, local fruits and vegetables
Hit Up The Famers Market Late In The Day
A great strategy is to head to your local farmers market when everyone is ready to pack up and call it a day. Farmers know they wonít sell much more, and the last thing they want to do is pack everything up and take it back home.
Try making a deal and buy a lot of fresh food at a fraction of the usual cost. Of course, you gotta be to take it home and start working on preserving--aka freezing, pickling, and canning immediately.
Get To Know Farmers In Your Area
While hanging out at the farmers market, get to know the farms and farm stands in your area. Get to know them, buy from them, and check out their farm. As you grow that relationship, you find that you can get some great deals on produce. You may be able to work out a "pick your own" type deal, where you go to the farm and harvest what you need yourself. Or you may be able to get a great deal on a lot of produce that the farmer isnít able to sell in time. As you get to build these connections, they may also introduce you to others in the area.
Get Together With Others To Buy In Bulk
Sometimes, the best deals are buying large quantities of any product. When we talk about buying directly from the farmer, that may mean far more of any one piece of produce than you could need. Yet, because of the price, this can still be well worth it.
The solution is simple. Get together with friends or families who are interested in preserving food. All of y'all can go in and buy the larger quantities together and split them up between each other. This kind of collective food buying results in a manageable amount of food to put up while still being able to take advantage of a great deal.
The next question is, of course, how you find these people. You find them at the farmers market and at the farms themselves. Talk to fellow shoppers as you come across them. Get to know them, exchange ideas and resources, and eventually talk about taking advantage of build ordering by going in to buy together.
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