Step 21 - Preserving late summer vegetables
There comes a time in August and September where it may be all you can do to freeze vegetables before they spoil. One trick, for example, is to freeze tomatoes whole until you can get to canning tomato sauce.
Another trick is to take some vacation one day per week - if you work outside the home - or otherwise planning to spend a good part of one day each week preserving food for the winter. The main advantage of this, other than preserving the tastes and memories of summer, and keeping your food local, is that you do "cook ahead", in a sense, canning or freezing foods in a way that will simplify your life in winter - pesto, tomato sauce, and in some cases whole dinners.
One disadvantage of spending time in the kitchen in August and September is that it gets really hot in there... I have heard of folks canning using an outdoor setup, and also people using a solar food dehydrator. I'm afraid this is a topic where I am getting ahead of myself, because I really haven't tried it. I still find it daunting, trying to get dinner on the table and actually trying to fit in food preservation simultaneously. However, I can see that it would get easier with practice - for example, I could can a small batch aa I am sauteing vegetables for dinner - it's just that canning is so new it requires my full attention at thie time. Meanwhile, the strawberry-rhubarb jam I did make sits in the refrigerator where it withstands daily assaults from the kids.
Myrto Ashe
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We've been spending about two nights per week preserving after the kids go to bed. So this week we turned 10 lbs of cukes into bread-and-butter pickles, and canned apricots & peaches the second night. Oh, and threw a bunch of stuff on the dehydrator too.
Preserving is really addictive!
Yes it is addictive - it brings up the "ant" within. I also find it easier to do after bedtime. I just get frustrated at how long it takes stuff to "gell". It just takes longer at high elevation.
Another thing that has been extra fun is canning food I have essentially "foraged". The first was Oregon Grape I found growing outside my front door. Today I canned "Spicy Crabapple Jelly" from the crabapples that hang over the fence from my neighbor's yard. I had just noticed that the squirrels were going to town with them and I thought it might be time to harvest some for myself. I do wonder what happens to the nutritional value of fruit when it is canned. Some of it (strawberries, cherries, rhubarb) we froze for smoothies and pie - but of course freezing is one of those energy-dependent solutions to the local food issue...