**GIVEAWAY CLOSED**
I don’t claim to be an expert at gardening; in fact, I often tell people that my garden grows in spite of me. I also don’t have the yard space to grow as much food as I need for my family.
How I Preserve As Much Organic Produce As Possible Each Year:
- Grow what I can, making the best use of my garden space.
- Utilize my farmer’s market and learn which vendors grow their produce organically and which ones are willing to “give me a deal” when I buy a large quantity.
- Talk to people. Many people have more apples on their trees and strawberries in their patch than they know what to do with. They are often happy to give me their excess for free.
- Trade. If I have an abundance of potatoes, I’ll trade it for a bunch of green beans. Or, if I don’t have an abundance of any produce, most people are happy to accept a couple loaves of fresh bread in trade!
During the Summer and Fall seasons while fresh produce is readily available, we eat as much as possible. Any extra goes into the freezer or into my jars (and oh wow is there usually extra!).
By the middle of October, I have usually put away enough potatoes, corn, green beans, peaches, pears, applesauce, strawberries, tomato sauce and tomato soup to last us for the entire year.
Also by the middle of October, I am so sick of looking at tomatoes I don’t care if I ever see another one as long as I live! I soon get over it and begin to realize the fruit of my labor as all throughout the coming months I am able to pull delicious organic foods out of my freezer and pantry for our meals.
How Gardening and Preserving Benefits Our Family:
- Our family has saved hundreds of dollars on groceries.
- I know exactly the kind of food going into our pantry and freezers and then into our bodies. I know what I put into my sauces. I know what soil my food came from. I know I can trust the food to be healthy for my family.
- Our family gets to work hard together. Planting, weeding, and picking all becomes a family affair. We are a family with dirt under our fingernails!
- The food is delicious! In my opinion, nothing is better than home grown organic produce!
Be on the lookout now for deals on garage sales on jars and other canning and preserving needs! Brand new jars can be pricey, but at yard sales, you can find them for almost nothing!
Gardening and preserving your own food is a wonderful way to help provide your family with great quality, delicious, inexpensive produce all year round!
Laura Coppinger and her husband have four sons ages 5-12. She blogs at HeavenlyHomemakers.com encouraging women daily in the areas of healthy eating, gardening, parenting, homemaking, faith and fun.
Would you like some help getting started with gardening and preserving? Well, Laura has graciously offered to give away 10 copies of her ebook, Heavenly Homemaker’s Guide to Gardening and Preserving, here today. To enter to win, just leave a comment on this post in the next 24 hours. Winners will be chosen and posted on Monday.
Subscribe for free email updates and be entered to win $100!
{ 966 comments }
← Previous Comments
Next Comments →
Oh this would be such a help! Thanks for the chance!
I am growing my first garden this year! This would be awesome and might cut down on 100′s of phone calls to my master gardening father
I would of copy of this! Thank you for all you hard work!!
I would love to winr this book! I would love to stock up for winter!
I would love to win! Nothing better than home grown produce!
Would love to read this ebook! Thanks for the opportunity!
This would be PERFECT! I’m starting my own herb and veggie garden this year. And, today is my birthday to boot!
I’d love this!
Would love to win this book as I have been doing much research on this subject and would love more wisdom!
We started gardening last year, and I am trying to learn more about it. I would love to take a look at that ebook.
Would love to win a copy! Thanks for sharing these.
I would love to win! Thanks, Tawna
Now that we own a house, I’d really like to start a garden. I hope I win.
I would love a copy of this book! We are just planting our starts in the house now-I have done some tomato sauce canning and pickles before-but would love to get more info.
Sounds like a great book! We are doing our first “real” garden this year since we are in a house now and I am so excited! (previously, we have done our garden in pots)
We finally were able to buy a house last October and I have so been looking forward to planting a garden! Believe me I need all the help I can get, I’m clueless when it comes to gardening, but I can’t wait to eat what I plant & can some of it too!
Oh! I so want to win this!
We just bought our first house and finally have space for a garden. I have started some seeds inside and would just absolutely love this book to help me make the most of my garden!!!
I have wanted to start a garden for a few years and thought it too daunting. This would be really motivating!! Great giveaway!
I’ve been doing a garden for the last two years, but I sure could use a little guidance! Sounds like a great book!
I would love to learn more about preserving. I am pregnant with our first child and I am really looking for ways to save and eat healthy. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing your insight and wisdom with us!
I love your blog!
Thank you for the guest post! This book would really help us to use all of the food we receive from our new CSA membership this Summer!
I am getting ready to plan our garden. What a great help this would be! Thanks!
Hello! I really could use that e-book! Last year my husband and I dug out a 12 by 12 garden (digging through Carolina clay was quite a job!). We amended the soil, followed the directions on the seed packages, and did not do very well. We are trying so hard to lower our food bills, we could really use the gardening tips! Thank-you for your consideration!
Just starting our garden for the first time, this book would be wonderful!
I love organic produce and really want to learn how to grow and preserve them!! PLEASE!!!
I would love a copy of this book! We are expecting our first child so I am really wanting to find an inexpensive way to eat healthy!
We started our first garden last year, and canned a couple things–tomatoes and pickles. We are tripling the size of our garden this year, so I’m sure there will be a LOT more canning things needs done. I could use all the help I can get! lol
Thanks for the giveaway!
i am very interested!
My first garden completely flopped and I think I’m ready to try again! I’d love the help from such a knowledgeable mom!!
I have started gardening 3 years now and try to learn something new each time. I have 5 kids and try to get them in the garden as much as possible and it has become even more fun than flower gardening.
One of my goals is to try to learn about the art of canning and preserving my produce for our family the whole year. This book sounds great, thank you for offering this.
i would love to start growing my own produce to save on grocery bills. i plan on a garden project this spring/summer and have my daughter pitch in. this book would help tremendously as i don’t know where to start. thanks!
I tried my hand at gardening last year, and my flowers survived but veggies did not. I’d love this book to help me along the way and keep us eating veggies/fruits throughout the winter!
Would love to win this book! Just getting my seeds started….
I cannot wait to read more of the website, it is wonderful to see how you can save money, involve the family and eat healthy. I am looking forward to learning all about it!
Third year at gardening, still working out the kinks. Would love to grow enough to can and freeze the leftovers!
I love Laura’s site and would love this ebook!
I would love to win a copy! We finally have some space for a garden for the first time ever and I have no idea what I’m doing! LOL
I’d love to be able to win. I am starting a garden this summer and could use as much information as possible. Thanks.
We just bought a new house on 8 acres (after living in tiny apartments with no sun, for 7 years) and we can finally have a garden……now if only I can stop my “brown thumb” from killing the plants……. : )
I would love this! We’ll be moving into our first home soon and I’ll finally have a yard to start growing a garden in! I definitely have a lot to learn though.
I’m a big fan of gardening… Would love the book…
Trish
With the unpredictable growing season in Colorado I need to be ready to pick and preserve anything that does grow. I need to learn how to do more than peaches, apples, and zucchini.
wow! this is so inspiring! i have tomato seedlings started right now…canning would be a great idea!
We’ll finally have a house with a yard this year, so I would love to win a copy of this book!
would love a copy of this book. laura always has such great tips and suggestions.
We just started our pantry – a book for help with preserving would be fantastic!
Now that our daughter is eating table food we’re really watching what we put on our table. I’m so excited that we’re starting our first garden this year!! This book would be perfect
!
I’d like to garden and preserve food, but it is awfully intimidating. Maybe this book would help!
My husband and I had a great garden last year, but didn’t know what to do with all the leftovers. I froze onions, peppers, and what not, but need to learn about the canning!!!!
This looks like a great book!
We just bought a house with a little bit of land and I would LOVE to get started with a vegetable garden. This book would be most helpful as I am totally on par with Laura’s philosophy.
I finally have a garden space but need help! This would be perfect!
As a newlywed and soon to be mom, I am very excited to learn about canning and preserving fresh fruits and veggies. It seems to be a lost art in my generation and I look forward to the opportunity to bless my family with delicious foods year round!
I’d love to win!
We only have a small square in the front yard. Back yard is cement! Yuk. Don’t ask. Tomatoes were a bust last year. Would love to have room to do potatoes. I keep asking God. Perhaps some day. Would love the book to help me do what I can.
I would love to win this! I love the Heavenly Homemaker blog! Thanks Laura and Crystal!
Thanks for the chance….I need all the help I can get.
Ive started a strawberry plant in a pot. I live in a apartment with little sun on patio. I hope it grows. I am looking for a house and would like to have a garden patch.This would be a great book.
I would love to win this!
I would love to have a garden to grow fruits and vegetables! This would be a great help in starting that.
I would love the canning portion but in Las Vegas, gardening is not cost effective- too much water needed.
I really want to start a garden this summer. I’d love to win!
This year is my second try at a garden, so I would love this book!
Oh, I would just love this;)
I would love this! I’m really trying to learn more about gardening.
I would love this book. I started my first garden last year and I’m hoping to go bigger this year. I would love to can more of my own harvest.
What a great gift to win!
A friend sent this post to me and I can’t wait to read more from you! We garden but I have never canned and would love to try. The book looks like a great resource!
I am brand new to gardening and would love to get some advice! Thanks!
I raise a garden every year. I would love to learn more about preserving my harvest.
I used to help my mom in the garden while I was growing up and we’d can lots of the vegetables. We’ve put in a small garden the last couple of years and I’d really like to start canning some of it this summer so this would definitely come in handy!
We want to start a garden this year! Winning this book would be helpful.
Great giveaway! Thanks!
I would love this book. I have only dabbled in gardening, a few tomato plants each year.
I was just looking for information on this topic today. Perfect timing. Hope I win! Thanks!
I would love to learn how to do that! I canned some jam and applesauce last year, but that’s it. I’d love to learn how to grow my own food and can it as well!
We’re finally going to plant a garden this summer and we’d like to preserve as much as we can. This book sounds like it has lots of great tips.
My husband and I have been married for just over 3.5 years, and we don’t have any children…yet.
) After moving cross-country from California to Ohio in March of 2009 without my husband having a job upon our arrival, we began our journey toward what it looks like to be obedient to the Lord in the area of our finances. I would love to continue this journey with a copy of Laura’s book. What a wonderful way to utilize the resources God’s given us to lead healthy and full (pun intended) lives! 
)
Our family decided last summer that we would start a garden this spring. We have never done this but the kids are anxious to get started. We would love to learn any tips you could give us. Thank you for sharing what you have learned.
I would love to win!
I have been wanting to start a garden and have no clue how. This book would be great to get me started!
I am starting my first garden this year! I would love a copy of this book!
I’ve been wanting/trying to break into gardening for the last couple of years and I really want to make it happen! I am so interested in the savings aspect, the nutrition aspect, and the cultivating (pun intended!
of a new skill and hobby. 
I would love this book! I’m such a canning novice.
how do you preserve potatoes??? we’ve done stew before but just not potatoes! Would love to have the ebook to point out for to preserve vegetables – we do great with fruits (jam, jelly, syrup, lemonade, etc.). Help!
We just started a square foot garden this year and I am so excited to have our own veggies and fruit (strawberries)! It is such a fun process but I have so much to learn.
I would love a copy of your book. I don’t have a very green thumb and could use some help.
Gail
I’ve heard about ‘square foot gardening’ and just borrowed a book from our public library. I’d like to start teaching my children about gardening and the benefits of having home grown produce.
My hubby gardens for us each year and I have really wanted to start canning. This would be a great help!
I would love to win this book, too! We already can and freeze, but I’m always looking for new resources and new ideas. Great article!
I would love a copy of her book! I have been saving jars since last fall from various items so I can start canning this summer
I’m a total newbie at canning though.
Hopefully # 831 is lucky. We garden regularly but don’t can. This looks like a good way to learn how.
Would love to learn how to do this!
I am an avid gardener, but I am always looking to learn more ways to preserve. This book would be so helpful. I love Heavenly Homemakers!!!
Hi! My husband is all into the square foot gardening and wanting me to cook organic; I haven’t done much – I’d love to learn from you. Sounds like an amazing book. Thanks!
I am a beginner gardener. Last year was my 1st year and I loved it. This year I am going to learn how to can and freeze all my hard work! I love knowing where our food comes from.
Sounds like a good book!
To help my veggie adverse boys, we are planting a garden full of vegetables and starting a small strawberry patch. I hope by them seeing how stuff grows and participating in it, that they will take more pleasure in eating it too. My youngest has a severe gag reflex as well as food sensitivities and continues to eat some baby type food at age 7. I hope by learning how to can and preserve sauces made from our fresh veggies and fruits to help him be more successful with eating as well as try new foods. Thanks for the chance to win the free book.
I loved her segment on gardening and would love her book!
I would love a copy of this book. I am learning this year to make the most of our small garden. I’ve been buying jars at garage sales all winter long!
My son has been begging me to plant a garden and I would love to do that with him, but I have been afraid to start and wondered what we’d do with all the *extras*. Canning seems so hard, but you make it sound easy. I think this book may be just what I am looking for.
I’d love this book. I’ve been gardening for a couple of years and I’m really hoping to get into canning this year. I’ve been nervous to start and I think this book would be so helpful!
my MIL got me into preserving, can’t wait to start!
I would love to win this book.
I would love to learn more about preserving our fresh fruits throughout the year.
Sounds like it would be a great book. I am hoping to preserve more of our organic garden this year.
How wonderful I love to garden but am new to preserving!
I could really use some good gardening advice.
I would love to start doing this!
I would love to read your book! I’ve really enjoyed following your blog for many months now. We’ve gotten a Burkey water filter and now we have a grain mill on the ‘wish list.’ I started canning (first time as an adult) last year and got a pressure canner for Christmas…yeah for doing veggies now! We are getting so much better about eating local, organic, real food, not that we were ever terrible, but our baby steps are making things better and better all the time! If only Azure delivered in our area.
Heather
Thanks for the giveaway!
This would be a wonderful book to have! Thank you for offering it!
I’d love to learn more about home canning!
I have a garden every year but I’ve never tried to preserve anything. I am usually just sad once the MN fall moves in and we have to mulch over our garden until next may. This year I would love to try preserving some of our wonderful produce!
We are starting our organic garden, I would love to learn about canning.
Count me in!
I’ve got the garden thing down. Now I just need some advice on canning!
I am always on the lookout for gardening advice! I would love to win!
We tried our hand at gardening for the first time last year and we were pretty successful, but we didn’t know how to preserve, so I would love this ebook for more tips! Also, does anyone else wonder if it’s worth buying local/farmer’s market if it’s not organic? Doesn’t seem like it’s any good then…
I can use help in the area of gardening! This is all new territory for me.
I would love to have a copy! I had an ok garden last year, but hope to have a much better one this year!
We tried gardening last year and failed miserably. We are in a large city with a tiny yard so we are trying to think of how to be creative with our space.
I’d love a copy of the book. We started a garden last year, but it needs a lot of improvement.
This book would be a great resource for me!
We’re just learning how to eat a healthy, plant based diet without any preservatives or processed foods. It’s been a challenge and I still feel like I’m far behind where my family needs to be. My 5 month old is really sensitive to processed food/preservatives so I need help so she can sleep through the night and so my other kids can get off their addictions to it. They love the idea of a garden and I think if I can do it, they will learn to love the good food because we worked for it. My attempts at plant growing have not been very successful and I’m in desperate need of help!
Wow! would love to know how to garden and can!
I need help with my preserving. I would love the book to see if I could get food preserved that my family would actually eat!
I am plotting out my new garden and would love to have this book as a guide. I have checked out dozens of books on nutrition and gardening from the library but haven’t read anything on preserving what I grow or farmer’s markets. My yard, like the author’s is to small to grow everything and I’d love to see how she gets around it.
Thanks for your post!
my garden always fails. i need help!
I would love this ebook as I am working on my garden plan!
Laura’s efforts and book sound great.
Laura_in_TX
123yes456@gmail.com
I am a huge fan of Laura’s site and would LOVE to win this book! We are gardening for the first time this summer – DH has already started sprouting things in our guest bedroom window.
I will give this book to a friend if I win, because she struggles with her garden every year, and I would love to help her out this way!
My goal is to start a garden this year. We just moved and have a huge yard, so I’ve become inspired. I would love the book.
I can use any help possible to overcome my black thumb!
Enter me, please!
I absolutely love to can, especially tomatoes. there is nothing like the taste of home grown tomatoes in december!
Love gardening. It’s such a good feeling to know you’re providing the best for your family. A neighbor was just asking me questions about gardens the other day; my philosophy-if it’s something you’d like to try to grow-try it. If it comes up, great, if not find something else to try.
I can green beans and tomato sause. I would love to learn how to can and freeze more to save more money!
We are tilling the garden this weekend. Yeah Spring!
This year will be the first year that I will plant a garden; and try to put up all the veggies that I grow. So I could really use this book to teach me how not only how to plant the garden, but what to do with it when it’s ready to harvest!!
Oh I would love a copy and any words of advice – gardening in the clay and the desert. Please enter me.
I am not sure if I am too late, but I would love to win a copy of her e-book. I am doing my first garden on my own this year (I tried last year but was not successful). Thank you for the chance!
I would love to win.
I would love this! I swear every year that I am going to do better at getting my garden going earlier.
I love hearing about other gardener’s efforts! I have had a vegetable garden for the last three years and I love trying new veges. I was so bummed when we had a huge hailstorm last year and wiped it out. I am going to try “8 ball zuchinni” again this year. It’s a round squash, and like all zuchinni, it’s a snap to grow. I haven’t tried canning, but with some encourgement, I think it would be fun to experiment.
My black thumb would appreciate the help!
Me too! I saved my seeds last year and will plant them this weekend. I can’t wait to see how they grow! I just wish I had been better about keeping the little seed packets. Live and learn! And, read and learn!
← Previous Comments
Next Comments →