Cannery

Welcome to the Prince Edward County Cannery

Manager	Lena Rose Huddleston
Location	7916 Abilene Road
	Farmville, VA 23901
	434-223-8664
Hours	Hours vary by season. Please
	call for more information.

 

What is a "Cannery"?

A Cannery is a facility equipped for preparing and heat processing food which is then sealed into jars or cans. People bring in produce from their own gardens and through their own efforts, preserve it for future personal consumption.

The Prince Edward Cannery provides an opportunity for home canners and commercial canners alike with an inexpensive and effective method of preserving large amounts of food. Many prefer canning foods over freezing foods because canned foods store longer and are free from chemicals and additives. Fruits, vegetables, preserves, jams and jellies, as well as meats and fish, may be canned. Come see the Cannery for all the different things we can.

The Prince Edward Cannery is now an FDA registered Food Canning Establishment which allows certified producers to process foods for resale to third party distributers, such as restaurants, grocers, co-ops, and institutions. The cannery is inspected as a commercial kitchen by VDACS (Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services). Simply put; join Virginia's Growing number of speciality food entrepreneurs which Grow, Market and Sell locally and globally.

 

Lena Rose Huddleston, Cannery Manager, stands prepared to demonstrate potato peeling at the Prince Edward County Cannery.

 

 

 

The Prince Edward County Cannery has been in operation for home canning, since 1975 and is located on Abilene Road near Hampden-Sydney College on Route 665. Effective 2010, and with grant funding from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitilization Commission, the Prince Edward Cannery is being upfitted to allow commercial canners access which will in turn promote a stronger Local Food Processing Initiative in the region. The new retorts will arrive and be installed in early October.

Home Canners:	Commercial Canners:
June:	Contact Alecia Daves-Johnson
Tuesdays and Thursdays - 7 a.m.	434.392.8837
July through September:
Monday - Friday - 7 a.m.
No product allowed after 10 a.m.

Residents of Prince Edward County pay a $1.00 charge per day to use the Cannery for personal consumption processing, plus the cost of the cans. Cumberland and Charlotte Counties subsidize the Cannery so their residents may pay the same as Prince Edward County residents. Residents of all other counties that use the cannery pay an additional 30%.  

Commercial producers will use a uniform fee schedule based on volume. Contact Alecia Daves-Johnson for more information.

Below are some images from a recent 4-H trip to the Prince Edward Cannery, where applesauce was the project of the day!