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.