Finding Free Produce

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Finding Free Produce

Submitted by: Gale Osborn 06/09/2009 1:08 PM

I could write a book but will try a shorter version:

When I married my military man there were four of us. After paying bills we had $40.00 left over for food. Even at that time (34 yrs ago) a family that size needed at least $100.00 a week.

Well, I got busy and found ways to make a good meal from either cheap or free food. My dad had a garden and shared veggies with me. I canned them all.

We lived 90 minutes from home so I checked around and found an older couple that loved to give us their surplus from the garden.

We found apple trees on base free for the picking.

Our local Aggricultra Dept. at the college allowed gleaning.

At the end of the season the city gave us the leftovers after people left their garden plots supplied free by the city.

At the end of the year I had over 500 jars of food. Yes, I canned in mayonaise jars. Especially high acid foods like tomatoes. Over the years I have collected hundred of jars from garage sales. Some were given to me.

Look for free food. We have wild grapes here in Texas, I have 65 qts of juice to use later for jam and jelly.

Times are hard now and I'm so happy to share my experiences.

Recycle everything

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Comments:

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Great tips. Its especially important in today's economic environment to save money any way possible.

One tip is to ask your local grocery store produce manager what they do with their over ripe bananas. They often remove these from the store shelf and throw them away.

The manager may be willing to give them to you instead or charge you a ridiculously low price for them.

At home you can mash and puree the bananas in a cream to freeze and use later to make banana bread, banana smoothies, or banana soup.

Posted by Charlie@PayLessForFood.com on June 10, 2009 5:13 PM

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It blows my mind at all the food that is wasted in this country! Sometimes all we need to do is ask!

Posted by anonymous on June 11, 2009 10:13 AM

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Gale, I have to say I love your can-do spirit. No point in whining, just get out there and make it work.

I come at this from the opposite angle, I have food to give away because my husband is a great gardener, as were his folks. Many older gardeners are in the habit of continuing to plant as much garden as they did when they still had a growing family at home. My in-laws used to always complain that when they offered their surplus to friends and relatives, the response was invariably, "We would love some strawberries... if you bring it to us." They got disgusted and stopped offering.

So when I entered the family, they were so pleased I was willing to come pick blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. I would also take their pears and can them. During the years when we did not live close, they would can for me, knowing that if I was able, I would.

Most gardeners, if they have space, make a habit of planting too much, in case it's a bad year. And so usually have some surplus of something. I do try to find people to come pick, and I also will pick for people who are genuinely unable... such as an elderly woman who lives two doors down from me. I also give away surplus to people with whom I have an informal habit of swapping favors. But I would never pick for anyone if they were able but unwilling to do it themselves, or who don't reciprocate in some way. I live where most people have a plot of ground where they could garden if they chose.

A good way to approach someone who might have surplus, is to ask if there is anything you can barter... such as offering to weed in exchange for some produce. Or if you notice your neighbors fruit trees are going unpicked, offer to do the work and give them half. Or bake them a pie with some of the fruit you pick.

Posted by AnnS on June 11, 2009 12:12 PM

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Wonderful, AnnS, I wish you were my neighbor! I've always made extra jars of whatever I was canning and took it to the person who gave me the food. Surprizingly some wouldn't take it.

There are still really good people out there, we just need to reach out to them. All though once I asked a lady if I could have some pears from her tree in her yard that was dropping them all over and they were rotting. And, she said no. That's not the norm though.

With 4 + kids at home I think I did better by staying home and doing these things than paying out all that day care or for a sitter. My kids and their friends loved helping. We were all so proud of our accomplishments.

Posted by gale osborn on June 11, 2009 2:59 PM

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Great! Thank you.

Posted by anonymous on June 17, 2009 8:48 PM

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in Oregon our church always had a sharing table just bring what you no longer needed or had too much of ,or pick up what you could use. it was a great way to exchange food no mater what size the family. too bad more do not share this way.

Posted by anonymous on June 18, 2009 2:34 PM

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Growing up my father always had a big garden even though we lived in the suburbs. We would share with others all the time. Now that my dad is no longer alive, I have worked out a deal with some friends that do alot of gardening. We barter for their vegetables! They share their surplus and I give them some of everything that I can. Thanks for sharing the information!
Karen S. Placerville, California

Posted by Karen S. on June 18, 2009 3:59 PM

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regarding Gale s comment on canning. I have never canned but how do you can in a mayo jar. Do you have to have lot of fancy equipment to can stuff? I cannot buy any equipment right now.Thanks for the info. Susan in central Illinois

Posted by anonymous on June 18, 2009 4:15 PM

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Wow Ladies! I wish some of you lived near me. I grew up having a large garden and my mother and us girls would be canning through out the summer. My family and I have our own small garden. I was shocked by how many of my neighbors would "reject" our offer of free produce. Once I did share some veggies with the couple next door only to see the husband walk out the back door and throw it away! We only share with our closest friends now.

Posted by DonMarie Prices Corner, Delaware on June 18, 2009 4:45 PM

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Regarding the question about canning in mayo jars: What Gale means is that many people use glass quart mayo jars as they would a standard quart canning jar, as the rim size of the mayo jar fits the standard canning lid. Critics of this practice say that mayo jars are thinner glass and more likely to break in the canning process. However every canner I know, including my in-laws, who surely canned thousands of jars food over many decades, say they never had any problem with using mayo jars.... they were no more likely to break.
This forum is not really the place for detailed information on canning. You should really do some quick internet research to determine if this is feasible for you. Most people find freezing food to be an easier option, especially if you are just getting surplus from others.
People with large gardens usually do a mix of both canning and freezing... for one reason the largest chest freezer is often not large enough for all the food one might want to put away, and still leave room for bulk-buying meats and so on. So if we prefer that food more in the canned version, we can it. If we prefer that food as a frozen item, we freeze it.

Posted by anonymous on June 18, 2009 6:11 PM

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Due to the economy, I started my own very small vegetable garden this year and am hoping to grow enough food to be able to put some away. I checked out and read pretty much every book about gardening and canning my local library has, so that part was free. Also, I found some really great sounding recipes on www.freshpreserving.com Check out the "All New Square Foot Gardening" book by Mel Bartholomew, I loved the book because it tells you how to make the most out of a small garden space. Lastly, I am lucky because my Mom lives only a few miles away from us and she also likes to garden, so we agreed that next year she will grow some of the vegetables and I will grow different ones and we will barter, since it's easier to take care of fewer types of plants at one time. Happy growing, canning, saving, and, more importantly, sharing!

Posted by anonymous on June 18, 2009 6:51 PM

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HI
I smiled at the statements made by these ladies.my husband was a farmer and we always had a garden.how many times did i hear call me if you have any extra produce. so if the butter beans got ahead of me .i called the City Slickers .One said I can,t come until next week as you know the beans would not wait. The CS LIKE TO PICK THE FULL HULLED FAT BEANS I LIKE THE VERY TENDER SMALLER BEANS .SO I LET THEM PICK THE MORE MATURE BEANS AND I WENT RIGHT BEHIND THEM TO PICK THE HALF GROWN BEANS THAT I PREFERRED.NO ONE EVER CAME BACK WHEN THE GRASS GOT AHEAD OF THE VEGGIES.IN OUR FAMILY WHEN YOU GOT TO OLD TO PICK,we wouldsit them down in a comfortable chair with a pan,a box for hulls and a flat pan to shell into.even kids were allowed to help.Remember every bean they shelled ,you didn,t have to shell.I had a good and helpful husband.I was in the garden all day picking.I averaged 4 bushels a day.When he came home from work he carried the beans to a sheller while I cooked supper.Then I was up washing and cleaning them till 12 o,clock. I would blanche them and poured them in the refrigerator pans to cool .I bagged them the next morning for freezing.1 bushel=7 qts beans.
the last yr my husband lived ,he was hell bent to have a garden.while he was in the hospital having kemo.my teenage daughters would call me at the hospital 120 miles away.''Ma how do we can string beans. Do we freeze or can squash? We have a lot of tomatoes. How do we save them?MOM the peppers are hanging heavy how do we pickle them?
I had a high telephone bill but they had filled 15 cases of jars for the future.THESE GIRLS WERE 17 AND 14 YO.I was so proud of them

Posted by lzygranny on June 18, 2009 8:26 PM

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I have a question; I have planted a nice garden for the first time; my vegetables are doing incredible! I do have these beetles; however, I believe they are called cucumber beetles; they have three black stripes and two yellow stripes and there are a ton of them. I am not really versed on the types of insecticides to use or if there may be some netting or other type of protection I could use. I have some blueberry bushes that had a ton of berries last year that as soon as they ripened something ate them overnight; so I was going to try some netting over them too. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Posted by Lisa in Naples, NY on June 18, 2009 9:04 PM

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Hi Lisa in Naples, NY. Most bugs breath through their bodies and soap will stop that process. We used a combination of tobacco, mouthwash, and dish soap and sprayed everything with it.I don't remember the recipe but you probably could find it on the net. We have an ant problem here in Texas and they hate soap. If we found a pile we'de pour soap down the top.If they didn't die they'd leave. That's ok with me just stay OUT of my garden.A few times we reverted to using a mild insecticide called 7-dust. Wash veg. well before eating. Hope this helps, Gale

Posted by gale osborn on June 20, 2009 10:40 AM

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To the lady who doesn't have any equiptment. It's so hard to get a start when one doesn't have anything to start with. Ask around in you church if anyone has any canning supplies to get rid of. Let people know your looking for free things. My first experience at canning I had nothing. Someome gave me a bushel of tomatoes. My friends and I had enough mayonaize jars( qts and pints ) I found jar lids at a discount store at .90 a dozen. I used a metal foot tub for a water bather. it worked perfect and over the years I have collected EVERYTHING! So much was given to me. I can for our seniors and homebound each year, I make sugarfree jam for them. Some of them have given me ALL their canning supplies.I have two friends from South Texas that travel all over and have brought me jars from all over. Lots of them were freebies.Don't give up. Recycle everything. Bread bags are air tight(blow into them to check)You can pack sandwitches and the like for a lunch,freeze in them. Make meatballs and freeze in an stirafoam egg carton and when frozen place in a bread bag and freeze. Chip bags are made airtight. Use them.Put a cup of oatmeal in you ground meat. Nutritious and stretches your meat. All fat can be strained and reused.Seasoned flour can be sifted and placed in fridg, and used again.Watch what is thrown away, you might can use it again in some way.Be a Tip Hero reader. You'l find So much info and best wishes to you and yours

Posted by gale osborn on June 20, 2009 11:18 AM

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