The only surplus I have experience with is Blueberries. I still have frozen bags in the freezer from last summer, mmm :)

I plan on having surplus this year with the first time planting vegetables (hopefully), and will probably can or freeze a lot of stuff to use throughout the year!

Think about donating to your local Food Pantry. Unless you have a huge amount of surplus, booth/table rental + time at a market is unlikely to be profitable, and you will be setting a good example for your kids.

We have a women's shelter we plant an extra row for.

Dan

I always share garden produce with neighbors. A few tomatoes, a head of lettuce or a bunch of radishes goes a long way toward building friendships. Plus, they often reciprocate with clams they dug, fish they caught or bread they baked. Yep, clams for lettuce! I come out way ahead in the long run.

When I have an especially large surplus it goes to to the food pantry.

Jim

I give away a lot to close family members that can use it, but I still have a lot of extra. I give a little away to friends and neighbors, but found that is hard due to various factors common in contemporary American society, namely 1) people don't cook much for themselves, and rely on convenience items; and 2) many people don't eat a lot of produce and especially unfamiliar items.

I recycle a whole lot of directly by composting or indirectly by feeding it to my pet poultry and waterfowl, and then using their bedding and droppings for composting/fertilizing. Makes great soil, very rich and dark and crumbly.

I have to admit, though, as I see the things going on in the world today, it makes me feel more and more guilty. Food prices are going way up, fuel is up, there is social and political upheaval, natural disasters augmented by man-made problems such as the nuclear disaster in Japan adding to the horrors of the quake and tsunami. It all makes me think I need to work harder giving the extra away to those that really need it.

Margaret...Think Smaller, Not Larger!

Successful gardens = Tending
Tending = Time

Start out small. Learn from your successes and failures. Reduce the chance that your garden will overwhelm. You have a great opportunity to garden forever. Rome's gardens were not built in a day (or one season)

Can and freeze everything you can. If you still have surplus remember the nursing homes. The old people are mostly forgot about and they LOVE fresh produce.

Many churches have food pantries, and as a pastor's wife, I can tell yout there has been an overwhelming demand the last two or three years. They are delighted for any excess I have. If the recipients are unwilling to cook it, I question whether they really need the food.

Look around your neighborhood. Anybody live there from another country? It's my experience that Latinos and Asians are thrilled with fresh food and they know how to cook it too. It's a great way to make wonderful new friends. We just had a family from India move in. I can't wait...

Also, church youth camps can always use fresh vegetables. I am helping to cook at one this year and we have several gardeners who are planting extra for us. We figure it's a way to expose children to fresh produce they might never try.

The only problem with a lot of food donation programs is that they don't want anything perishable. And with produce, they want it "perfect" without any blemishes if they will take perishable items in the first place. Not all of these programs, of course, but many are like that. I can understand why -- many of them run by churches, etc., don't have the commercial storage facilities that health codes would require. Still, seems a shame. There is a place only about a mile from me that is an "outreach center" run by a consortium of local churches and primarily by the local Catholic parish. I would take a lot of stuff there if they would only accept it, but they have a firm rule of only non-perishable items.

I can all I can(sorry).
I then gave to family, friends & church members.
If I still had more(never happen yet, there is
The tree of life synagogue that uses it parking lot to give vegetable to any who need them on Saturdays.
That is what I would do with any that is left over.

"I can all I can(sorry)."

We eat what we can and what we can't we can. LOL

Jim

Most food pantries really can't deal with odd amounts of fresh produce from gardeners, and they've told me that they can't give away produce that doesn't look like it came from a major grocery store, so odd varieties and blemishes are out. (If your food pantry can, by all means donate!)

Ironically, we also have a food program run by the county that tills and plant unused land that people volunteer for their use, then the crops are open for anyone to come and pick things. That does very well. I guess it attracts a more rural crowd that understands the nature of growing things.

What I can't eat or put by, I give to family and friends and neighbors. The rest goes to the office breakroom where it disappears rapidly.

Don't discourage people from donating to the food pantry. If the pantry's worried about storage tell them you'll bring it at pick-up time or just before. The one by me will have a line around the block and what I drop off is probably out the door before I leave the parking lot. The people in line always comment on what I'm bringing in and I doubt they'd say much if I was carrying a box of spaghettios.

I don't give away runty or blemished produce. I use that myself. It's a matter of pride.

Now, I didn't say I never have good stuff for myself. There is plenty of good stuff for me too.

Jim

There are many things to be learned, more than just how to grow plants.
That is why, as another friend said, start small.
As you go along you will learn how to preserve the fruits of your labor by canning, freezin, drying...
I have learned how to make tomato paste, hot pepper sauce, how to freez beans, herbs, keep onions, potatoes and garlics for over 6 months...I have done a lot of reading here on GW.Internet is great.

All of the above is great info.
Some food banks will only take veges from "accredited" gardens/farms! Oh well! I would find out from your local place what they will take.
There is also a forum here about how to process your veges/fruits/etc.
I personally use a "foodsaver" that vacuums your food. Most tomatoes freeze well until time to process! Other things need other processes. HTH NT

I know this is an old post, but my local food bank takes any kind of produce. They aren't that fussy. I've seen people digging thru the pig food box for edible food.

Seyson-how do you make tomato PASTE????? I can only get to a medium thick sauce. Do you have a recipe you can share? Nancy

Nancy, if you freeze your tomatoes first then drain all the excess liquid before you start, it will cut your cooking down time by hours. Much easier to get to paste form that way. This is what my sauce looks like before cooking down.