Preserving your garden bounty: Tips and Tricks

[lthenderson]

I made a large batch of applesauce and canned it for the kids to eat this winter. I still have a bag of pears to can sometime this week as well. We picked the rest of our squash and tomatoes while taking the deer fence down so we can till the garden easier in a few weeks. We only planted two hills of squash but they were so prolific that we stopped at a grocery store on the way home to see if they were interested in some. They bought two shopping carts full so now we have money to pay for a night out courtesy of the prolific squash. I still have plenty left to store for a few months as we consume them.

[bluebelle]

If I missed the answer in this link, I'm sorry.....Next year, when the new place is finished, I'll have a large, proper, root/cold cellar.

What is the best way to store squash in a root cellar?   And how to store root veg like beets and parsnips?   I'm thinking I'll only store the veg that get stupid expensive over the winter.

[bluebelle]

I've seen a few of you mention pressure canners - the process sounds much quicker/easier than water baths.    Are pressure canners worth the money?    Because they're not cheap. 

I'm new to canning, my mother always canned things in my youth, but with her tiny kitchen, she always wanted to work alone.....and while it didn't kill us, if my vague memories serve, she wasn't following current safety standards with a water bath for less acidic canning.

And I'm sure that some of it is because it's all new to me, but it does seem like a lot of hours to get 6 quarts of pickled beets.....don't get me wrong, they were delish, and I got to use some of my Mother's old crown mason jars.....but wow, long afternoon.

[RetiredAt63]

I'm loving my dehydrator, much less work than canning.  I made 2 batches of relish (boiling water bath canning) and have about 10 kg of dried tomatoes.  How much canning would 10 kg of tomatoes require?  Too much.  ;-)  Plus I also dried a lot of my cherry tomatoes, such a yummy snack.

I've also frozen about 25 ripe sweet peppers.  Ripe ones are super expensive in winter, so I've bought a bunch when they were on special this summer, plus frozen most of the ones from the garden.  If I hadn't been able to fit a small upright freezer in the new apartment I would have dried the peppers too.  Even so, to save space, I microwave the sliced peppers until they are limp and pack together closely.  One pepper per small freezer bag, so I can just grab a bag and know I have one pepper.  They will be used in cooked dishes so I don't need them raw, and the partial cooking means shorter cooking times during meal prep.

Now that this year's apple harvest is in the stores I want to dry apple slices.  I've seen blogs where instead of dipping the apple slices in lemon juice or citric acid solution to prevent browning, they shake the apples in a bag with cinnamon.   That sounds super good, has anyone tried apples dried like that?

[Fishindude]

I've heard the Amish pick firm green tomatoes, wrap them in newspaper and store them in a cool dry place. They can then pull out a tomato, remove the newspaper, leave it on a sill to ripen in the sun and have ripe tomatoes well into winter. I have not tried this myself to see if it works though. I really don't have a cool dry place to store them.

I've hear this as well.
Tried it last year and they all rotted.  Obviously did something wrong.

[lthenderson]

What is the best way to store squash in a root cellar? 

I store our squash in our basement storage room where it is cool and dry during the winter. Usually it will last 3 or 4 months that way. I have pressure canned it too but some say you are not supposed to do it due to lack of acidity. I've never had any problems pressure canning it but I usually bake it and hot pack it before canning.

[lthenderson]

I've seen a few of you mention pressure canners - the process sounds much quicker/easier than water baths.    Are pressure canners worth the money?    Because they're not cheap. 

I pressure can anything I can for several reasons. The biggest reason being speed. The second biggest reason is that it heats up the indoors less since it is on the stove less time. Pressure canning also lets you safely preserve non-acidic foods like squash which I mentioned above, broths, non-pickled vegetables, beans, etc. I also use it to cook foods that require long cook times as part of the preservation process. Beans is a classic example. I can dried beans and the act of pressure canning cooks the beans so that when you open them up later they are literally heat and serve.  About the only time I water bath anything is if I need a more gentle method like preserving fruit where pressure canning will turn things mushy quickly.

My mom died two years ago and I inherited her pressure canner so now I have two of them which process 18 quarts at a time. It made very quick work of this year's garden.

[Roadrunner53]

About a month ago we picked all the green tomatoes and I put them in one big box. They are all now ripe and red. They are not juicy like the summer ones but still nice and fresh. However, now I am getting nervous that I have too many and they will rot. I can refrigerate some for salads but does anyone have ideas on the rest? I was thinking of roasting them in a casserole dish with olive oil and garlic. But, I need to get the skins off. What would you do?

[Frugal Lizard]

@Roadrunner53 - I would just clean them, core them and freeze them.  The skins pop off under cold water and into the pot they can go - one at a time as needed. 

[Moonwaves]

About a month ago we picked all the green tomatoes and I put them in one big box. They are all now ripe and red. They are not juicy like the summer ones but still nice and fresh. However, now I am getting nervous that I have too many and they will rot. I can refrigerate some for salads but does anyone have ideas on the rest? I was thinking of roasting them in a casserole dish with olive oil and garlic. But, I need to get the skins off. What would you do?

Why do you want to remove the skins? Blanching works well - have a pot/bowl of boiling water and a pot/bowl of ice-water - put the tomatoes into the hot water for a minute or so (you should see the skin start to split), move them into the cold water and slip the skin off with your fingers.

I would just roast them as they are witih olive oil and garlic (possibly a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and/or some basil, too) and then freeze them in whatever portion sizes you will use. If you really want to take the skins off make sure you only slice them in half and then you should have big enough pieces to just be able to slip the skins off the roasted tomatoes with your fingers (after they have cooled a bit - don't burn your fingers!). Or just put them through a mouli or blender.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Any input on how to use a TON of jalapenos? We bought two packs of seeds that were mislabeled (parsley that was supposed to be cilantro & jalapenos that were supposed to be green peppers). Our growing season will continue a bit further. I've made so much pico de gallo, but am running out of tomatoes. I've also made a feta/jalapeno dip that was amazing, but would love ideas.

[Raenia]

Any input on how to use a TON of jalapenos? We bought two packs of seeds that were mislabeled (parsley that was supposed to be cilantro & jalapenos that were supposed to be green peppers). Our growing season will continue a bit further. I've made so much pico de gallo, but am running out of tomatoes. I've also made a feta/jalapeno dip that was amazing, but would love ideas.

Freeze them, for use all year in chili and other recipes.  I have a container full of frozen thai green chilis, and I've been pulling them out one or two at a time for nearly three years.

[lthenderson]

Any input on how to use a TON of jalapenos? We bought two packs of seeds that were mislabeled (parsley that was supposed to be cilantro & jalapenos that were supposed to be green peppers). Our growing season will continue a bit further. I've made so much pico de gallo, but am running out of tomatoes. I've also made a feta/jalapeno dip that was amazing, but would love ideas.

Freeze them, for use all year in chili and other recipes.  I have a container full of frozen thai green chilis, and I've been pulling them out one or two at a time for nearly three years.

+1 Peppers freeze really well and you can just use them as needed all year round.

[lthenderson]

Now that this year's apple harvest is in the stores I want to dry apple slices.  I've seen blogs where instead of dipping the apple slices in lemon juice or citric acid solution to prevent browning, they shake the apples in a bag with cinnamon.   That sounds super good, has anyone tried apples dried like that?

Haven't dried apples that way but I've frozen apples that way with some cinnamon, butter and flour for apple pie filling. Essentially then you just make a crust, dump a thawed bag into it and bake.

[lthenderson]

does anyone have ideas on the rest?

We eat a lot of tomato and cheese tarts.

[Roadrunner53]

Any input on how to use a TON of jalapenos? We bought two packs of seeds that were mislabeled (parsley that was supposed to be cilantro & jalapenos that were supposed to be green peppers). Our growing season will continue a bit further. I've made so much pico de gallo, but am running out of tomatoes. I've also made a feta/jalapeno dip that was amazing, but would love ideas.

Jalapeno jelly?

How about chopping up regular red peppers and green peppers, mushrooms and the some jalapeno's, cook them up in olive oil and freeze. You could add the combo to meatloaf, spaghetti sauce, hamburger topping, add some to plain rice to kick it up.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Thanks for the jalapeno ideas!

@Roadrunner53 - we love this paella recipe, and it works best with garden tomatoes. https://wednesdaychef.typepad.com/the_wednesday_chef/2007/09/mark-bittmans-t.html

[Roadrunner53]

Thanks for the jalapeno ideas!

@Roadrunner53 - we love this paella recipe, and it works best with garden tomatoes. https://wednesdaychef.typepad.com/the_wednesday_chef/2007/09/mark-bittmans-t.html

OMG, that looks so awesome! I am going to make this tonight, we are having pork chops and this would be so nice! However, I am going to take a little shortcut and use a package of Vigo saffron yellow rice and will add garlic and onion to it. Thank you and I do like Mark Bittman's recipes. He has a fantastic oatmeal recipe that you top with soy sauce and scallions, savory oatmeal: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/01/mark-bittmans-savory-oatmeal-with-scallions-and-soy-sauce-recipe.html#:~:text=%20Ingredients%20%201%201%20cup%20rolled%20oats,A%20couple%20shakes%20of%20sea%20salt%20More%20

[bluebelle]

next year, when I have more time, space and a root cellar, my intention is to can hot peppers, and make home made hot sauces for DH.   He loves loves loves stupid hot, where I can't take any heat in my food......

I'll take any and all recipes for home made hot sauce/chutney.....although You-tube University has been very very good to me.

[Moonwaves]

Any input on how to use a TON of jalapenos? We bought two packs of seeds that were mislabeled (parsley that was supposed to be cilantro & jalapenos that were supposed to be green peppers). Our growing season will continue a bit further. I've made so much pico de gallo, but am running out of tomatoes. I've also made a feta/jalapeno dip that was amazing, but would love ideas.

Cowboy candy from Epic Homesteading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3AxcPtjeKE

[Frugal Lizard]

I grew two chocolate bonnet peppers plants.  Yesterday, gloves on, I chopped up two ripe ones and four green ones and froze them in olive oil.  I have been sneezing and eyes watering since then.  They have a lovely kind of heat - but gack! do they.  I used 1/3 of one, no seeds in six pounds of tomatillos and that salsa verde is hot!

I have dehydrated a couple of liters of black beans.  More to pick off the plants.  Many many more to shell.