Preserve For Winter

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How to take action

• Consider what you use. If you're a pickle fan, make pickles from local vegetables your first project. If dried fruit is your favourite, plan to dry the season's best local treats. Arrange to buy your favourites in bulk at the peak of the season – or visit a U-pick operation to harvest it yourself.
• Choose the method that suits you best and yields foods you're interested in: drying, freezing, or canning. Each method yields different sorts of products, takes different amounts of time and equipment. Eventually, you may do some of each to save different types of foods.

  Drying

  • Drying is one of the oldest means of food preservation and results in food that can be kept at room temperature. It not only preserves foods by extracting the water, it also reduces their weight and size, which can help with storage. Dried fruit can be eaten as is, or used in many recipes. Dried vegetables are usually reconstituted with water before use and are great for soups, etc.
  • Some foods, such as peas and beans, can be dried right on the plant where you grew them. Some foods, such as herbs, can be hung to dry in a warm spot with good ventilation. Others can be dried on a rack in the sun. If your weather is unpredictable, you may want to dry in your oven or invest in a food dehydrator to speed up the process. Learning how to dry foods is a good first step to home preservation.

  Freezing

  • The only thing that limits your ability to save food in the freezer is the size of your freezer – just make sure it's Energy Star-approved. This is an easy way to keep local food for the winter. (Note which foods do not freeze well.) You can freeze in freezer-weight bags, or in hard containers.
  • Wash fruits and veggies thoroughly. Remove stems, cores, and leaves. Consider how you will use them eventually – you may wish to chop large fruits in slices or diced so they will be ready for pies, baked goods, or other recipes; you may wish to have apples peeled. Alternatively, you can also freeze prepared foods such as apple sauce, tomato pasta sauce, or a fruit crumble.
  • Some freezing methods call for the use of ascorbic acid on fruit. This helps prevent fruit from discolouring, but is unnecessary for preservation, and is optional.
  • Small fruits such as berries can be frozen in a single layer on a cookie sheet – transfer to a plastic bag as soon as they are firmly frozen. This makes it easy to scoop out a desired amount and use later (they do not clump).
  • For easy use later, cut vegetables to the size you'll like them for eating later. Note that the texture of some vegetables, such as green beans, is improved if they are blanched (and cooled) prior to freezing.

  Canning

  • Canning takes more work than freezing or drying, but it yields a stable product that can be stored at room temperature, - and given away as impressive gifts. Canning is the process of packing prepared vegetables, fruits, or meats into specially made tempered glass jars, then processing with high heat to ensure food safety and an airtight seal. It requires some inexpensive basic equipment and a commitment to learning and following proper methods.
  • It's important to know the difference between high acid and low acid canning methods. High acid foods such as chutneys, pickles, and jams can be processed in boiling water. Low acid foods, such as unpickled vegetables and meats, must be processed in a pressure canner (which produces a higher heat) in order to ensure any risk of botulism is eliminated.
  • There are thousands of recipes for canned foods – a quick search of the internet will provide many mouth-watering options. To ensure food safety, it's recommended that you use up-to-date recipes and measure ingredients carefully.

Why it makes a difference

• Eating locally and eating whole food are two ways to reduce your carbon footprint and increase your family's awareness of your regional environment. Buying fresh local food in-season ensures you are receiving the best nutrient content as well. Preserving for the winter stimulates your local economy, improves your own food security, and can be fun too.

For more information

• The University of Georgia offers a free, self-paced course in Preserving Food at Home. It is available once you establish a log-in account.