If you are purchasing a large amount of produce from a farmers market and you want to store and freeze the items for the winter, there are a few things you'll want to prepare for the big day. Canning items to store for the winter and to eat all year long are a great way to eat healthy, and to save money on fresh fruits and vegetables.

If you are doing this with a family member or friend, you'll want to do everything together to save on the mess. There are a lot of different ways you can make loading up on fresh produce and storing it easier.

Box Truck

Rent a box truck so you can pick up bushels of peaches and apples, bags of peppers and squash, and all of the larger fresh fruit and vegetables that you want. You can make one trip to the farmers market and back home with your pumpkins and heavy items, and you don't have to worry about getting any dirt, juice, seeds, or leaves in your car.

Canning and Preserving Equipment

Have all of your canning equipment and items needed for the project set up and ready to go, and do as much outside or in a garage as you can. You are going to have a lot of cores, seeds, debris, and mess while you are preparing the items to be canned and stored, and you don't want this mess inside your home. If you are canning you'll need to have your pots and cans ready, and if you are preserving items you'll want your food dehydration machine ready.

Garage or Basement Shelving

You want to make sure you have a good place to store all of the items that you are canning and preserving for the following year. You can get storage containers for the items, or you can choose to put them on display in a dry space that is temperature controlled. A basement or heated garage will work great.

If you want to store all of the healthy foods that you like to eat throughout the year after they are harvested, and you want to take the time to can and preserve these items in the fall, make sure that you have your operation ready to go. You'll want to get a truck, the necessary equipment to get the items prepped, and then create the space to store the items. For more information, look over at this website and others like it.