8 Tips for Preserving Your Harvest

At the height of summer, and sometimes into early fall, things can get quite overwhelming for the kitchen gardener. Tomatoes line your windowsills, cucumbers are tumbling from baskets onto your countertops and your neighbors have had all the surplus zucchinis they can manage.

If you have eaten all the cucumber and tomato salads you can manage, it’s time to think about preserving your harvests and stockpile for the winter months to come.

There are several, simple ways to preserve food from canning and pickling to drying and fermenting. You don’t need a lot of know-how or even too many materials to get started. Check out these really helpful OGP articles to get you on the right road.

1. Fermenting

Perhaps the best thing about getting started fermenting is that, unlike brewing beer and other DIY science projects, it is inexpensive. All that’s required is some glass containers — old liquor or wine bottles, large wide-mount jars or something similar— and fairly run-of-the-mill kitchen equipment: wooden spoon, colander, cheesecloth (or porous material), rubber bands, and the edible ingredients. Check out these 5 Fun Ways to Get Started Fermenting.

2. Root Storage

As things seem to be humming along, after summertime rolls through with its warm gusts, green gussy, and sunny sashay, and we’ve come to take it for granted, the leaves start dropping. Autumn is upon us, and within mere weeks, it’ll be full-on sweater weather, tempting us all to get out the coats, gather around the radiator, and pass around stories about the good old days when our gardens were vibrant and full of food. As we seek to buy locally, reduce our food miles, and eat real food, we should revisit the days of the past when people shrewdly stocked up for the winter, making the most of their harvest. Primarily focusing on root vegetables. Have a peek at these Secrets to Buying Root Vegetables in the Fall for Cheap and Storing Them for the Winter.

3. Canning

As we grow our food and move towards local produce year-round, we are inevitably going to have to try to preserve it. There are many methods for doing this. Canning is one of the most popular ways of preserving fresh food while making it shelf-stable for months and years to come. However, there is a lot that makes canning an intimidating endeavor. With a few tips about how to can and truths around the canning process, hopefully, it can be more approachable for those interested in giving it a go. Read on to learn more about Food Canning for the Beginner: Tips and Truths to Know.

4. Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut can be enjoyed as a side dish, or it can play a more starring role, like in this vegan version of a classic Reuben sandwich by Mayim Bialik. Add homemade sauerkraut to your vegan hotdogs or toss it into a fresh summer salad. What’s more, it’s pretty easy to make with minimal ingredients- cabbage, salt, and a jar! That said, for those of you who are an old hand at the art of fermenting and sauerkraut creating, it might be time to get adventurous. Don’t worry, it is still great if you are new to this venture, too. Check out Beyond Cabbage: How to Spice Up Your Sauerkraut.

5. Dehydrating

Many people are now trying to include more raw food in their diets for various reasons. Dehydrators are very useful for this, not just for dehydrated fruits but for many options, such as pizza crusts and crackers. The key to using the dehydrator for raw food recipes is to slow things down a bit to stay beneath the 118-degree temperature mark so that none of the natural enzymes found in raw foods are damaged or lost. Take a look at this article all about Looking Beyond Dried Fruits: Your Dehydrator Can Make So Much More!

6. Pickling

Pickling is a great practice to have under your belt when you have an overwhelming bounty from your garden or if you have overbought at the farmer’s market. There are the classic pickles that we all know and love, from pickled beet, onions, and gherkins to cabbage, beans, and peppers. These are true classics and should not be messed with. That said, other things taste amazing when pickled. Check out these 5 Surprising Things You Can Pickle that are a little out of the ordinary.

7. Drying

There are a few different ways to dry fresh herbs that help to lock away not only the desired flavors and aromas but also important medicinal properties, too. Herbs can be harvested and dried to store for use as teas or for culinary purposes.  Dried herbs become much more concentrated in flavor than their fresh counterpart, so be mindful when using the dried variation.  You will need a lot less dried herb than you would fresh for the same intensity of flavor. Learn here How to Dry Herbs for Autumn and Winter Use.

8. Preserving Tomatoes

Those lucky enough to have tomatoes growing in their gardens are all too familiar with the overabundance of fruits that even one or two plants can provide. You dare not eat even one meal that doesn’t include tomatoes, and you can feel pretty overwhelmed by the mountains of tomatoes building on your kitchen windowsills. Here are a few different ways that you can enjoy the fruits of your tomato growing labor (or bulk buying at the farmer’s markets) all year round with these 4 Ways to Preserve Tomatoes Without Canning.

Related Content:

• 5 Surprising Things You Can Pickle
• 7 Methods for Preserving Peppers
• 4 Ways to Preserve Tomatoes Without Canning
• How to Preserve Basil for Winter Use
• 5 Best Flowers To Grow for Preserving or Drying

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