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Preserving your home garden & farmers markets finds

With fall just around the corner, our home gardens are plentiful and farmers markets are loaded with produce.  Sherri French, lifestyle & parenting expert, is here today with smart and creative ways to lengthen the life of your produce, so you can enjoy them through the winter months, even if you aren’t an expert.

Freezing

  • A
    quick and easy way to make some produce last longer
  • Freeze
    in amounts that are easy to thaw and consume
  • Always
    label the date that the produce was packaged so you can use the FIFO (first in
    first out) method
  • Freeze
    as soon as your fruits or veggies are ripe
  • Raspberries,
    blueberries, peas, beans, rhubarb are great to freeze
  • Use
    a cookie sheet and parchment paper to individually freeze fruit and then
    transfer to a freezer bag

Blanching

  • Some
    produce may need to be blanched prior to freezing
  • To
    blanch boil a pot of water and salt
  • Drop
    the produce in and boil for half the amount of time that you would normally
    boil to eat
  • Immediately
    transfer to a bowl of ice water
  • Remove,
    pat dry in paper towels and then transfer to freezer bags
  • Apples
    and beans are perfect for blanching

Drying (Dehydration)

  • Drying
    produce takes up less storage space and is easy to do
  • Tomatoes,
    peppers and apples are a perfect option to dry
  • Set
    your oven to 225 F for apples and 200F for tomatoes
  • For
    apples, mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top and bake for approximately 1
    hour
  • For
    tomatoes, cut baby tomatoes in half, toss with dried oregano, thyme, salt and
    pepper  Turn the tomatoes face up and
    bake for approximately 3 hours
  • Apples
    edges will curl up and tomatoes will feel rubbery

Canning – The Easy Way

  • Canning
    is tedious and takes a long time
  • Take
    your baby cucumbers and make pickles by using a refrigerator option
  • Use
    mason jars to combine sliced cucumbers, garlic, pickling spice, dill, salt and
    cider vinegar
  • Set
    them on your counter out of the sun for two days to four dates (check the
    taste)
  • Once
    ready, put them into your fridge where they can last up to 6 months in your
    fridge

To find all of these ‘how to’s’ and recipes, visit Sherri’s Instagram: @momhint.