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Summer Harvest
Preserving Homegrown Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs By Suzy Feine
For more than 25 years, Marion and Lloyd Knoblauch, of Listowel, Ontario, Canada, have grown enough produce in their backyard garden to feed themselves, their three children and now their children's families. Throughout the summer, the Knoblauchs freeze more than 550 bags of vegetables including peas, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, snow peas and green peppers. For winter use they store 100 pounds of carrots, 300 pounds of potatoes, beets, pepper squash, kohlrabi and more than 200 Spanish onions.
So far this year, they have frozen their early crops, which include 10 bags of asparagus, 15 bags of spinach and 16 quarts of strawberries. "We are now enjoying two different kinds of radish, green onions, leaf and head lettuce and kohlrabi," says Marion Knoblauch. "Our daughter-in-laws made all their baby food from our garden produce."
As summer's end looms in the distance, you may be having visions of fresh-from-the-garden carrots for your Thanksgiving dinner or homegrown asparagus for the holidays. If your garden is overflowing with the fruits of your labor, preserving it can make that homegrown taste last all year, not to mention the health benefits of eating produce grown without pesticides. For an overabundance of homegrown produce, preservation is the ticket.
In The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest (Storey Books, 2002) by Carol W. Costenbader and revised by Joanne Lamb Hayes, you'll find a variety of preservation techniques and more than 150 recipes for freezing, canning, drying and pickling fruits, vegetables and herbs. Detailed instructions and equipment lists are included for each type of preservation method.
Determining the type of preservation method to use based on the produce you grow can be tricky. "The more acid a fruit or vegetable contains, the easier it is to preserve and the more options you have," says Hayes. "The best way to preserve fresh fruits and vegetables varies with the product and your family's needs. Your family's preferences, your storage facilities, food safety considerations, the equipment on hand and your available time will help you decide which method or methods you want to use."