It's that time of the year when more wonderful things are coming out of your garden, your local farmer's market or CSA than you could ever possibly eat! The summer harvest is coming in with all kinds of peppers, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, corn, beans and fruit and they are in desperate need of saving before they go bad. There are a few options on what someone can do to save the summer bounty for use in the more desolate months - some options are better than others in terms of nutrient value and flavor but all are a good idea. Your four options are: eat now, blanch and freeze, dehydrating or canning - in descending order of nutrient value!
Since I don't have a yard or even many indoor vegetable plants, I spend a couple hours on my Saturday mornings (now that I'm working) at the San Ramon farmer's market. It's about a 40 vendor market with a variety of meats, cheese, pasta, ice creams, food stalls and of course the fruit and vegetable vendors. I'm always looking for whatever vegetables look best that week and what would be good to save for the winter, as well as whatever I need for dinner and lunches that week. So far this year I've been on a bit of a canning spree and haven't saved much for the freezer (last year I did all freezing and only one type of canning - pickled garlic). You may spend a bit more for food in the summer/fall months but stocking up on all this great produce means you eat better and cheaper in winter and early spring.
Now a bit about each different kind of food saving. Blanching and freezing is probably one of the easiest and least time consuming of the methods. Most non-leafy greens can be frozen but the bacterial break down of the food needs to be stopped before freezing so the produce will last longer. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, clean and prep your vegetables, whether it be green beans, corn, eggplant, broccoli, etc, then dunk them into boiling water for the allotted time (there are plenty of websites out there with suggested blanching times). Immediately transfer the veggie to a cold ice bath to stop the cooking process. I then take the veggies out to drain and dry on a towel or colander. Once it is dry there are two ways to freeze - place on a sheet tray and stick in freezer so all pieces will freeze individually and not in one big chunk or immediately place in a ziploc or foodsaver bag (try to get as much air out as possible).
If you have a deep freeze my suggestion is that you get a couple big plastic milk crates or file folder crates. I freeze my food (pasta sauce, veggies, shredded cheeses, soups etc) flat in plastic bags so they can stand up-right in a file folder manner and i can just flip through the "files" and grab what I need (this is a good space saver method for small freezers as well). Be sure to label contents and I label date of expiration instead of the date I froze it; that way I know when to throw it out!
Canning on the other hand takes a little investment and some equipment - although you can find a lot of great used equipment on ebay or at local garage sales. What you need: large 20 qt or more stock pot for boiling cans, a basket (like what Ball sells to lower cans) or a basket stand that sits on the bottom of the pot so the glass doesn't touch the burner, funnel, measuring/stir stick, magnetic lid grabber, jar tongs, jelly/pint/quart canning jars with lids and rings, a great recipe and fresh fresh produce. I won't go into the details of canning here because there are a lot of great websites with lots of detail but know that there are two processes and for beginners it's best to stick with acidic canning and not having to use an expensive pressure canner. If a food is not acidic or being pickled in acid then you must use a pressure canner and I haven't ventured into this realm yet because it kind of intimidates me. ;-) This was a great beginner investment for me and works well! http://www.freshpreservingstore.com/detail/TCL+1440010790
The last method I will discuss is dehydrating. I will tell the truth and say that I haven't yet done any dehydrating, I was waiting for the day when James brings home a deer and try my hand at jerky. My brother-in-law is, however, a dehydrating king and loves it. He's figured out the secret to crispy banana chips and apple chips as well as making great healthy fruit roll-ups for his kids! I'll have to pick his brain sometime on exactly his secrets and share it with everyone else.
I hope this blog gets your wheels turning and my best advice is to start preserving the food you love and the food you miss most in the winter months! Happy preserving!
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