You asked for it . . . now what?
Remember last winter and those visions a gardener had for a garden better than Monticello’s daydream? “Berries, Asian greens, purple things, tomatoes that last all winter! I can do it!” you yelled to the starry sky, or at least thought it while studying different seed catalogs and taking notes.
Here we are mid-July, so this discussion will be about what if, you know, you sort of accomplished a few of those goals. The refrigerator cannot abide any more yellow beans or dinosaur kale, and the first cucumber crop is as ready as it will ever be. Plus, the onions that survived the winter are calling, and there are blackberries to pick… and potatoes to dig up.
Now what?
What’s next depends on who you are and who you are feeding. Some gardeners market or barter their extra produce. Large families require more produce than I do, so if they have anything left, they preserve it for later. I have a history of overplanting which means more produce than a single family needs, so usually the excess is frozen, canned, pickled or dehydrated… or given away, which is a worthwhile idea because there are local groups that prepare food and give it away to folks who need it. This is a team effort.
But for preserving food at home for later, here are tips.
Before you begin making pickles or canning peaches, flash back to November 1858, to witness John Landis Mason receive his patent for the first resealable glass jar which we now call – guess what – a Mason jar. He also invented the screw top salt shaker, but back to pickles.
First thing is gather your pickling jars and appropriate lids and rings. They have to be clean. Quart jars are a popular choice in jar size, but to use quart jars you’ll need a pot big enough to bathe a bowling ball.
You have to sterilize the jars in the big pot, and then, once the jars have been stuffed and filled with tasty excellent things and the lids are on tight, you give the filled jars a boiling bath in the big pot. Pickles take 10-15 minutes. Pears in quart jars require 25 minutes.
Pickling recipes are easy to find but check them out before you start just so you have everything you need nearby. My attitude is recipes are excellent suggestions, but I follow my instincts so I never know where I’ll end up.
Freezing vegetables and fruit is much easier. My pepper plants were especially productive last year, so I froze pepper pieces in several quart freezer bags. I might steam them for a minute or two first, but I don’t have to. Occasionally I break off a frozen pepper chunk into a bowl and let it thaw in the refrigerator. Easy.
I steam bean pieces for as long as it takes to listen to “Come Together” and then fill up freezer bags. All we are saying is give beans a chance.
Regarding dehydrating, I’m strictly low-tech. For leafy things such as lamb’s quarters, oregano, plantain, mullein, parsley and amaranth, I spread the leaves or pieces onto a table for a day or two. A lightbulb nearby speeds the process but is not required. Crumble leaves as they dry. Another way is to gather stems into a bunch and dangle them from a rafter in a shed, porch or greenhouse.
A third method, my favorite, is to place trays or plates with the product on the dashboard of a vehicle parked in the sun. It’s the express lane for drying. My old truck is a veteran of the dehydrating process. Pepper pieces and tomato slices require attention occasionally, but otherwise it’s as easy as it gets. It’s not a pretty truck, but it smells delightful.