Comments on: Handling an Overwhelming Harvest without Waste

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:52:20 +0000

Drying food is easy, fast and cheap. You can make normally expensive sun dried tomatoes this way: Get a piece of new screen from the hardware store WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY THE SIZE OF THE DASHBOARD OF YOUR CAR. Stretch this over a frame of four scraps of lumber, making this screen just slightly smaller than your car dashboard. Spread a layer of microwave safe paper towels, a piece of clean dry old sheet, or cheesecloth over the screen, cover with a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes or other veggies or fruit you wish to dry, POSTION THE CAR SO WINDSHIELD IS FACING SOUTH on a sunny day, place the screen full of produce slices on dashboard, roll up windows, AND LET THE SUN GENERATED HEAT DRY YOUR PRODUCE FAST AND FOR FREE. You don’t need to pay to heat up your oven in the summer to dehydrate food, use this car trick for no cost. You don’t need a lot of fancy tools to garden and preserve your garden surplus, and most tools can be picked up at yard sales for pennies on the dollar. People will give you canning jars and jelly jars if you ask around. Just returned from Germany where we picked free elderberries which grew wild outside the village, and made elderberry soup and four batches of elderberry jelly.

By: Marguerite

Marguerite — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:03:28 +0000

You don’t even need a food dehydrator to dry out your harvest. Sometimes the heat from the dehydrator can be harmful if all you want it DRY, not COOKED. Get a box fan, a couple of bungie cords, and a stack of paper-only furnace filters. Slice your produce, lay it across the ribs of a filter in a single layer, and stack another on top. I find that three rows (four filters) is best. Bungie the stack to the tan and let it run for 24 hours. It works especially well on herbs.

By: Lise

Lise — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:12:19 +0000

Some good ideas here and in the comments… sadly, my garden has done so poorly this year that I have very little to preserve.

Last year, however, we had a glut of jalapeno peppers, which we pickled and gave away as holiday gifts. I actually have a blog article about it:
http://frugalfruitlands.net/2008/11/24/diy-holiday-gift-pinkled-pink-with-jalapenos/

By: Rosa

Rosa — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:43:30 +0000

I do a little canning (tomatos, applesauce, pickled things, vegetable soup mix) and as much drying as I can get done (mostly apple slices – we just eat those). We freeze some stuff – corn mostly, but also tomatillo salsa, pesto, and some other processed stuff.

But the thing that has made August & September bearable the last few years is freezing stuff to process more later, when it’s not so hot. So I have frozen pitted plums that will be jelly sometime in October, frozen raspberries & blueberries that will go into smoothies, jelly, or fruit leather…it’s great to be simmering jelly or running the dehydrator later in the season when it’s cold but we don’t have the furnace on yet.

By: jreed

jreed — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:23:34 +0000

2 slices bread; a teeny dab of mayo; big thick slices of ripe tomato; salt and pepper…best summer sandwich for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Lightly steamed just picked green beans; a pat of butter; salt and pepper; toss and enjoy the best summer supper.

By: Lexi

Lexi — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:53:45 +0000

Trent – Could you post a picture how-to on canning?

By: Sarah T

Sarah T — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:41:08 +0000

You can actually dry some things (including tomatoes!) in your oven. This is most useful for those of us who live in humid areas, where actual sun-drying doesn’t work so well. Google will give you lots of instructions if you type in “oven-dried tomatoes.”

The National Center for Home Food Preservation has specific instructions on how to dry, can, and freeze all kinds of things, and I’ve found them pretty useful and reliable.

If you regularly grow a lot of food, a chest freezer can be a good investment: we got a super-energy-efficient model for under $200. It costs us $20/year to run and means we pretty much always have homemade “convenience food” available!

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:25:38 +0000

We generally freeze extra veggies from the garden, but this year we also started canning. I was a little intimidated by it at first, but found it was surprisingly easy. We bought a water bath canner at Westlake for $20 and a few jars. Then we bought a Ball canning book with a couple hundred recipes in it. So far we’ve canned salsa, bruschetta, jalapeno jelly and pickled hot peppers. If you buy the right jars you can use them for canning and freezing so they are dual purpose and should last for many years. I think it’s a worthy investment and am really looking forward to eating all this stuff during the cold winter months!

By: Trudy

Trudy — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:19:15 +0000

I want to second the suggestion of the canning book by Ball – it’s called the Blue Book. The Blue Book offers wonderful advice for canning, has easily understood directions for beginners, and very tasty recipes. I also have an old-time recipe for Spaghetti Sauce that uses the boiling water method. And we have never had a problem with the sauce spoiling!

I just canned my first batch of salsa yesterday using bought tomatoes as I lost all of my tomato plants this year to blight. I enjoy canning, boiling and pressure, and freeze some veggies too.

I will wait until the snow flies the first time before I will open anything canned for that year – the anticipation makes it all taste even better!

By: Amber

Amber — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:12:55 +0000

You should definitely blanch the veggies to make them last longer in the freezer.
http://www.wikihow.com/Blanch-Vegetables

There are only a few items, such as peppers, that shouldn’t get blanched.

By: littlepitcher

littlepitcher — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:31:48 +0000

If you plan to can, check the webpage for the University of Georgia home ec department or other college web pages for full canning instructions. Water-bath canning is limited to low-pH items–most but not all fruits, some tomatoes, and pickles. and relishes. That still gives you a bunch of wiggle room, but if you intend to can veggies, get a pressure canner. They are not cheap, but they are a lifetime investment. The All American is gasket-less and will set you back a cool $300, but you payback period should be two years after a full season’s run of green beans and meat-based pasta sauces or soups.

By: Michele

Michele — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:52:23 +0000

I don’t know much about canning, but I do know that tomato sauce is wonderful frozen.

By: Andi

Andi — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:37:20 +0000

I’d like to second comment #12. Canning tomatoes IS relatively easy but she’s right you need to add some lemon juice. If you google how to can tomatoes, you can get to the USDA website to get tested recipes for canning – will give you all the right ingredients and processing times to make sure you’re safe. For the record, I have a “safe” recipe for spaghetti sauce that can be done in the water bath canner but it has to be meatless.

Trent gives a pretty general idea of how to can but if you’re interested in starting, you want to look for more precise directions. :) The USDA site is good or the canning book put out by Ball.

By: katie

katie — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:51:34 +0000

Dear Michelle -
If you could figure out a way to sell the botulism to the companies making botox you might be able to turn a profit ;)

*absolutely not recommended and intended for humorous purposes only*

By: Rae

Rae — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:07:17 +0000

If you dehydrate, after drying, remember to:

- Allow it to cool off before placing it in a storage container. Warm foods can still give off some moisture while cooling

- Place the dried food in airtight storage containers that have tightly sealing lids.

-Place the storage containers in a cool and dry place.

http://www.food-dehydrator.com/food-dehydrator/resource-center/storing-jerky-dried-fruit-or-dried-vegetables.aspx

By: McKella

McKella — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:02:56 +0000

If you know someone who doesn’t have room for a garden and loves fresh produce, you can dump all your garden surplus on them. I grew up with a garden but now live in a dark apartment, and love it when people ask me to take stuff off their hands.

By: Joan

Joan — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:05:16 +0000

Here in Pennsylvania, there is a program that allows you to donate fresh produce to organizations like senior citizens’ centers for their use in cooking healthy lunches. Certainly there are requirements that have to be met, and it would vary state to state, but to add to Trent’s suggestion that you “give it away,” I’d recommend you try senior centers, small private schools, etc. I’ve found them to be very receptive to even small donations.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:32:01 +0000

My husband and I have a huge garden. Way too big for the two of us but we just love being outside in the garden. Right now we’re spending next to nothing on food as we eat from the garden and only buy a few things to supplement our veggies.

We also have a produce table at our church and fellow members buy our produce. All the money goes to a local charity which helps feed those in need. This morning we brought in $66. It’s a win win for everyone. Our church has a large number of older members who love having access to fresh produce and don’t mind donating to a good cause. We could give the produce directly to a food bank but in our medium sized Iowa town they don’t have refrigeration to keep it fresh so money is much more appreciated.

We’ve had a lot of rain and our tomatoes are tasty but ugly so I made up fresh salsa for this morning. We had samples and it was gone quickly. In the past couple of years we’ve been able to give about $500 to charity with our excess produce and we eat like kings in the summer with all our fresh produce.

Labor Day we’re having a pick your own toppings pizza party. Our guests will be able to go into the garden and pick veggies to top their own pizza. We’re anticipating a good time for everyone.

Everyone should have a garden even if it’s tiny. No other hobby gives you exercise, good nutrition and fun. And if you don’t get caught up with all kinds of gimicks it is a frugal hobby too.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:46:23 +0000

Um… you can only can tomatoes in a water bath if they have lemon juice added. Otherwise they don’t have enough acid and you run the risk of botulism. So, salsas can be canned in a water bath (most salsas contain lemon juice as an ingredient), so can stewed tomatoes as long as you add lemon juice. Pasta sauce CAN NOT be canned safely in a water bath. Especcially since most pasta sauces add some sort of sweetener to neutralize the acidity of the tomatoes. The only safe way to can pasta sauce is in a pressure canner. Freezing pasta sauce is a much safer option, and it will keep for at least a year, that I know by experience! So in other words…

Do Not can pasta sauce in a water bath! Botulism can grow and botulism will make you very, very sick!

By: tentaculistic

tentaculistic — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:46:12 +0000

Sigh… my garden grew a lot of lettuce, tons of squash/melon vines that haven’t bloomed, and a lot of weeds. I think it’s because it’s so far away from where I live, I didn’t take good enough care of it. Wish I had a ton of produce now!