Summertime and the Preppin' Is Easy.

Man-oh-man has it been busy here lately. 

If the pressure canner isn't "tsk tsk tsking" then there's something bathing in the water bath canner or drying in the dehydrator.  Thank God that food is cheap and easy to come by during the summertime.  Thank God for local farmers who share their bounty.  And thank God for the knowledge to preserve it.  And thank God that I can stay home with my kids and spend the time I need to preserve said food.  Well, okay, just thank God for everything. 

I sort of felt like I had been slacking on preparedness for a little while.  I hadn't bought anything in bulk or FoodSaver-ed anything in a while, but then it occurred to me a few days ago that, just maybe, I'm putting up more in an average week through canning and other means of preservation than I would if I were going out and buying it from the store. 

I would never buy 30 quarts of salsa from Walmart...but I've sure put it up these past 2 weeks. 

And I'd never buy 40 pounds of frozen corn from Kroger, but I put that up 3 weeks ago.

And gallons of dried beans..surely I'd never buy that much, but I grew and dehydrated that much easily.

Gardening and home-preservation of food is such a simple way of contributing to the preparedness of your household, as well as saving money on groceries.  Even if you don't garden, there's produce to be found for cheap or even free but you have to know where to look.  And you have to ask.  Most local orchards/farms practically give away their 'seconds'...after all no one wants to buy misshapen apples or overly-ripe tomatoes or skinny ears of corn.  But here's the thing: misshapen apples can just as well as the beautiful ones.  And they can be had for a fraction of the cost of 'firsts'.

And keep an eye on those farms/orchards towards then end of the season.  They can only sell so much zucchini before customers are sick of zucchini.  Ditto eggplant, peppers, tomatoes.  And after Halloween and Thanksgiving, pumpkins and winter squash are just left to rot in fields.  What they're throwing out can be frozen, canned, dried or root-cellared and can feed your family until the following growing season. 

You can also find an abundance of fresh produce on freecycle.  Especially fruit and nuts.  People with fruit and nut trees in their yards often don't want to be bothered with the mess, and will give it away if you just clean up the 'drops'.  Last year, I received more than 10 bushels of pears from a local elderly couple who weren't able to able to clean up the mess under the tree.  An hour's labor on my part saved our budget at least $100-200 or more.

If you're struggling to feed your family, fill your pantry or put up food for the long-term, keep an eye out for free produce.  Network, ask around and get to know your local food producers.  Fresh fruit and veg CAN be found for cheap/free, you just need to know where to look.