Production

An email went around our Relief Society sisters this past week telling us about a "farmer's market" charity. Apparently, once a month, farmers, stores and other people of produce donate their unwanted items to this charity. The produce is in good shape but does not have a long shelf life.

So, the tons and tons of produce are donated and people can come to this market with a $10 bill and scoop up 60 pounds of produce!  Yes, you heard right, 60#####s!  You take what they have and you never know what will be there, but how can you go wrong?  As the produce is donated, the proceeds from the sale go for shelters and food pantries and feeding the hungry.  And you get a whole lot for a little.  It is a win/win all around.

Tim and I decided to check it out.  There were green beans, green peppers, squash, tomatoes and a little bit of corn on the cob this month. They handed us a big box and said, "fill it up, it holds about 60 #'s but we won't be weighing it!"

So, fill it up we did.  Then, after dropping off some of it to my parents' house, we went home and I promptly began canning salsa, green beans, and stuffing green peppers for our dinner.

Unless you can grow all these things in your own garden, it is not affordable to can these days based on the cost of fresh produce in the store.  Buying food already canned is much cheaper.  However, I am a firm believer in knowing these skills and preserving all you can for a time when perhaps the things on the shelf will no longer be available.

We have grapefruit, lemon, and orange trees in our backyard.  We gobbled down the grapefruit, the orange tree is young and has yet to produce, but the lemons are crazy!  So, yesterday I also squeezed and froze a ton of lemon juice! I feel so productive!

I have been feeling guilty that we have let our garden go a bit and was thinking that we need to get back on top of it.  That still needs to be done but I feel a whole lot better knowing that at least I preserved what was given me and I plan to make this a monthly action!