Despite the less than ideal temperatures, the garden continues to produce and produce enough for us to eat fresh and put up for winter eating. We’re not doing huge food preservation sessions of any one item right now, but we are doing lots of small batches. Those small batches of multiple things add up fast to long days and quickly filling pantry shelves.
Doing just 3 or 4 pints of green beans at time doesn’t seem like much, except that now we’ve got 18 pints on the shelves for winter eating and have eaten lots of other green beans fresh with dinner. Aside from some purchased fruit by the case, our canning this year has been done mostly in these small batches but I can’t really complain as our shelves are getting full and I feel like we’re in good shape for winter. Now if those tomatoes would just ripen for our salsa needs.
Food preservation takes many forms beyond just canning, of course, and we’re taking advantage of many methods. Zucchini has been grated and frozen in portions for winter bread making. Fruits, herbs, and greens are also being dried and stored in gallon glass jars for winter snacking, cooking, and soup making. Again, everything seems to be happening in small batches but we have plenty of frozen snow peas to make all those winter stir-frys that will warm the body and soul.
It’s busy in our kitchen right now, but I can’t complain. It won’t be long until we’re just resting through the winter enjoying the fruits of our summer labor. How is your pantry shaping up for the seasons ahead?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
what is your best salsa recipe please let me know I dont like mine too hot or spicey
I’d like to hear about those “dried greens”. I’ve never heard of drying greens; what kinds of greens; and what do you do with dried greens?
I dried chard. I’m ground the dried greens so that I have a greens powder basically. I add a scoop of the powder to broths for soup and a little bit to smoothies too.