You’ve put in the work, prepared, seeded and weeded your garden all spring and you’re beginning to reap the harvest. So much so, you begin to have far more than you can eat before starting to go bad. There’re a few different avenues that can be taken with this situation. Depending on what the produce is, could determine what process is best. Some fruits and veggies are best canned. Others do well with blanching (quickly cooking in boiling water to preserve color and texture.), shocking or cooling rapidly, vacuum packing and then freezing. Lots of items can be done both ways as well. Canning is by far the method that gives the longest shelf life. In many cases it can be years. It is basically the same concept and process as what happens with the canned goods bought at grocery stores. Just with different materials. It is important to note that when choosing to can fruits and veggies, to do so as close to when you harvest it as possible. As time passes, most produce will begin to lose its nutrients once picked. So it is important to do a little planning with timing and having the correct materials. There are thousands of online tutorials of the canning process. You can do anything from jellies and jams to sauces, ragu’s, pickles, salsa’s, stewed vegetables and so on. The possibilities are pretty much unlimited. Another preservation method that is very useful (and delicious) is dehydrating. I like to do so with mushrooms as well as fruits. Berries are good to puree with a sweetener and thickener and then dehydrated to make a fruit roll up of sorts. Herbs, garlic, onions and most roots/tubulars also lend well to being dried. If I know that I’m going to want to eat something in the near future, then I will go the freezing route. Peas, beans, corn, berries and fruits all do well with freezing. Although just about any produce can be frozen, some just need to be made into a sauce or filling of some sort. Others can be blanched and frozen as is. My favorite thing to freeze is sweet corn. If done properly, you can enjoy that delicious, sweet corn all year. In years past, I have always just shucked the corn, blanched/shocked it and then packed and frozen it whole. As I’m writing this though, I think I will try blanching in the husk as is from the stalk, cool it quickly, dry slightly and then pack and freeze in the husk. It would make for more work on the back side when using it, but I would think the silk and husk would give an added layer of protection against getting frostbit. Thus, giving a longer shelf life. I’m definitely going to try that one and report back on it, if anyone has done so or has any other tips, tricks or recipes for preservation methods, shoot me an email. epichcef424@gmail.com Regardless of your method of choice, make sure you don’t let all of your hard work go to waste. With a little prior planning and preparation, you can be enjoying the fruits (and veggies) of your labor's year around!
God Bless friends. EC
God Bless friends. EC