How to Preserve Your Fresh Garden Produce

Now what?  You’ve started to get fresh produce rolling in from the garden.  Or you found some deals at the local Farmers Market, but what to do with it all?  You need to learn how to preserve your fresh garden produce.  There are a few basic options:

• Eat it Up!  Lots of your fresh produce can be eaten straight from the garden or market.  My kids don’t even make it into the house from the bus during tomato season before they stop to snack in the garden.
• Cook it Up!  There are tons of recipe books out there that use fresh produce.  Some even categorize their recipes by the season.  I’ve found googling the main ingredients I have coming in can usually find some good recipe ideas.
• Put it Up!  Preserving has become somewhat of a lost art in these days of easy access to refrigerators and freezers.  In this post we’re going to cover some of my favorite ways to preserve your garden bounty for later.

How to Preserve Your Fresh Garden Produce

1. Freezing  This is probably the fastest and easiest method of preserving certain kinds of fresh produce, if you have the freezer space.  I put up a lot of my tomatoes this way.  I’d rather just wash, dice and freeze than go through the whole canning process for the 70-80 quarts of diced tomatoes we go through each year.  Some people prefer to peel or “blanch” (dunk in boiling water for 30 seconds) their veggies before freezing to improve their texture, but I usually can’t be bothered.  I put up a lot of peas, beans, peppers and tomatoes this way every year.  I have to stop myself some years from filling all the freezer space we have.
2. Quick Pickling  I really enjoy quick pickles, and they are great for putting on salads and other dishes.  You do not need to limit yourself to cucumbers for this process.  Basically, you fill a clean jar with whatever you want to pickle, add any onions/garlic/herbs, and pour over vinegar mixed with salt water.  My husband loves radishes done this way on his salad.  I’ve also done zucchini and cucumbers.  I’ve even considered increasing my carrot and pepper plantings to try those as well.  The quick pickles can stay in the refrigerator for a month or so, but they don’t usually last that long around here.  I’ve also used this method to continuously add small batches as I harvest.
3. Fermenting  This is your classic sauerkraut, kimchi, or feremented pickles.  The idea is to mix the vegetable with salt and cover with water (or it’s own juices) and let the “good” bacteria ferment in the air-free environment.  There are lots of good resources on the web with different recipes.  It usually takes 2-3 weeks for the fermentation process to get to the point where it is tangy enough to taste good.  The nice thing about fermenting your own vegetables is you can choose your own levels of saltiness and tangyness.
4. Canning  This is a classic method of preserving food for long term storage.  When done correctly, the jars can be stored at room temperature for over a year.  The basic process is to put the food into sterilized jars.  Add canning lids and rings and then process either in boiling water (water bath canning), or in pressurized steam (pressure canning).  You need to process for a specific number of minutes, depending on what you are canning.  For water-bath canning, you need to choose recipes with a relatively high acidity (or pH).  This makes sure any “bad” bacteria (like botulism spores) can’t grow in the jars once they are sealed.  For pressure canning, you have a little more choice in recipes.  You process the food at high enough temperatures to kill any bacteria.  In either case, you should rely on proven recipes from reputable sources and not just “wing” it.  I don’t do to much of this yet, but I aspire to one day can my own tomato sauce recipe.
5. Dehydrating or Freeze Drying  This last method has been around for thousands of years.  You basically want to dry the moisture out of the food to prevent it from spoiling.  There are lots of different ways to do it, from sun-drying, to oven-drying, to buying a dehydrator or freeze-dryer.  It can be a great way to store food at room temperature for long periods of time.  However, it can take some time and energy during the drying process.  You need to slice the food in uniform thin strips and sometimes dip in lemon juice or syrup to keep it from changing color or texture when dried.  It can also take quite a bit of electricity to run a dehydrator or freeze dryer.  I’ve dehydrated some tomatoes and fruits, but it’s not a big portion of my preservation activities at this point.

All of these preservation methods can help you keep your fresh produce from spoiling.  This is key when there’s too much to eat or cook right away.  Once you’ve learned how to preserve your fresh garden produce, you can enjoy it year round.  Or, you could just get some chickens or pigs to eat up the extra and grow some eggs or meat for you.

Want to get started growing your first garden? Check out our post – “5 Easy Steps to Your First Garden.“

Want some ideas for getting your kids to eat their fresh (or preserved) veggies?  Check out our post “Seven Smart Swaps for Kid-Friendly Healthy Eating!”