This autumn, organize a workshop on making preserves like pickles, salsas, jams, and jellies, and other sauces. You could also help others learn about canning, drying, and freezing, or other preservation techniques. Saving the bounty from your garden is a good way to save money and enjoy your harvest throughout the year. There’s growing interest in food preservation and seed saving so you can ask at local farmers’ markets, community centres, garden network, or talk to your family and friends to find someone with some expertise.

Now is also the time to get out in the garden and save seeds for next year. Find a local expert (hint: local farmers and small-scale seed retailers will be happy to help you out) to teach some of the skills needed to rely on your own seed sources. This is a great way to preserve your favourite tomato varieties for future gardens, future meals, and perhaps even future generations. You can be a seed saviour! Consult online resources at Seeds of Diversity Canada on how to save seeds.  

Tip: You can also get a head-start on Christmas by using your preserves as gifts!

Check out this link for additional detailed instructions on holding a food preservation workshop.

Checklist

• Donation Box: a shoebox or a hat will do.
• Float: Money to make change, in case someone can only afford to donate a portion of their $20 bill.
• Tables and chairs: to set up display information, hold donation boxes, and to sit down at.
• Flyers and Posters: to promote your event, if you want a larger audience.
• Electronic promotional materials: use Facebook, email, listservs, Twitter, and other social media to promote your event.
• Information on Food Bank or Community Garden: to explain why people should donate.
• Venue: Community centres or church basements are good options for workshops and they often have kitchens that you can use.
• Access to a kitchen: that includes a fridge, stove, pots, and water (participants can also bring their own kitchenware). See the link above for a detailed list of required equipment.
• Access to a vehicle: You’ll need at least one vehicle to move food and materials, and to assist the facilitator(s) in reaching your event.
• Task Checklist: to make sure you did everything you needed to do (you might want to print this page).

Timeline:

5 weeks before the event:

• Determine what kind of workshop you want to hold. If you are holding a food preservation workshop, determine which type of food preservation you want to focus on (options include high-acid and low-acid canning, jams and jellies, drying, freezing, and pickling).
• Find a facilitator(s) (this may be yourself, someone you know, a local food educator or chef, or a local farmer or seed retailer).
• Decide on a day and location for your action/event.
• Contact the community centre, church, etc. to secure the date and location and confirm the cost (if any).
• Begin soliciting friends, family, or local businesses for services you may need for your event or action, such as access to a vehicle, free printing of materials, free boxes to move food, etc.
• Write your promotional material/information sheets/ posters and flyers so it will be ready to send out the next week.
• Find out when deadlines for submissions to local newspapers are so you will be sure that your event gets included in time.
• Determine the cost per person for your event (this can be used to cover the cost of the venue, to pay the facilitator(s), and to make a donation to a local food bank). Consider using a sliding scale to keep the event accessible.
• Set-up a registration system so people can sign up ahead of time (space will be a limiting factor for food preservation so find out how big the facility is ahead of time).

4 weeks before the event:

• Finalize your promotional material and get it printed.
• Post invitations to your event on your Facebook and Twitter pages, on listservs, through email, e-vite, on electronic community billboards, and with the local media.
• Keep in contact with your facilitator(s) to make sure that you are ready for your event (you may want to hold a short meeting in person).
• Continue to solicit donations and services from local businesses to help your event.
• If people need to bring their own materials (kitchenware, food to preserve, etc.) to the event, be sure to let them know when they register so they have time to prepare.
• Look for additional resources to help people out afterwards. This could include recipe books or website. Consider putting together a tip sheet and resources list for people to take home with them after the event (should be done in coordination with the facilitator(s)).

3 weeks before the event:

• Make direct contact with local media to let them know about your event (if its open to the public).
• Encourage friends and family members who have already expressed an interest in getting more people on board to participate.
• Post your printed posters and flyers around the neighbourhood to promote your event, coffee shops and churches are great places to post these events.
• Continue to touch base with your facilitator(s) to ensure that everything is running smoothly.

2 weeks before the event:

• Get your participants excited about the event they are participating in. Ask participants if they can help you secure any items or services you may still be missing for your event.
• Call all your facilitator(s( and the venue and check in about your plans for the next week.

Week of the event/action:

• Make sure you have your cash boxes and float money ready.
• Confirm with all attendees their participation in the event and what is expected of them.
• Blog, Tweet, and Post your event.
• Arrive early to set up the room. Post signs to give people directions on how to get to the room. Set-up sign-in sheets and name tags (optional).

Week after the event/action:

• Contact the facilitator(s) and ask for feedback.
• Thank all participants and ask them for their stories (we want to hear about it too).
• Thank all sponsors and ask them what they thought of the action/event.
• Write a small press release summarizing the successes of the event and distribute to the local media, especially those that promoted the event.
• Share your thoughts about the event and moving forward on your blog, facebook, or twitter account.