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Summer is a time full of a wonderful variety of smells and tastes. Visit a farmers market and just try and contain yourself. When you do come home with a flat of peaches, blueberries and a basket full of green beans, you will need to do something with your bounty. Or perhaps you've a garden full of vegetables. This year I realized I planted my entire broccoli crop on the same day and they are all maturing at the same time. Now, what am I going to do with 8 crowns of broccoli? Whether you are preserving your own harvest or that of a local farmer, here are some tips to bring a little taste of summer to the dark days of winter in the Puget Sound.
Harvesting
To avoid having 8 crowns of broccoli, plant your crops in succession. Plant
peas, bush beans, lettuces, beets and chard every week or two. If you start
seed regularly so that you will have transplants ready and waiting when you
harvest, you'll be able to keep those crops coming along.
Harvesting in a timely manner, not only provides the best quality, but also increases the over all yield from many crops. Summer squash, peas and beans will produce longer if they are picked every day or two. Another tip is to not harvest the entire plant. Many lettuces, as well as chard, kale, collards can be picked by removing leaves from the outside of the heads and will go on producing. Broccoli will send out small side shoots after the main crown is cut. Little bits of broccoli, already for salad, bloom forth regularly.
Preservation
Vegetables: Unblanched vegetables quickly become tough and suffer huge
nutrient and color loss. Vegetables naturally contain an active enzyme that
causes deterioration of plant cells, even during freezing. Blanching by immersing
in boiling water before freezing retards the enzyme activity.
Freezing does not improve the quality of any vegetable. Freezing actually can
magnify undesirable characteristics. For instance, woodiness in stalks becomes
more noticeable upon thawing. The better the vegetable, the more quality it
will hold when frozen.
Basic blanching and freezing instructions:
Freezing Fruit: Unlike vegetables, it is not necessary to cook fruit before freezing. Fruit such as blue berries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and slices of peach or nectarines are best frozen on a flat sheet and then transferred to an air-tight container.
Freezing Sauces: Pesto and tomato sauces are common and easy things to freeze. Make Pesto according to recipe. Excluding the cheese seems to create a better product. Freeze in ice cube trays. Transfer cubes to freezer bag, date and store for up to one year. Tomato sauce can be prepared, cooled down in an ice bath, then transferred to freezer containers or freezer bags. Best consumed within one year.
Drying: Commercial electric and solar dryers are available and worth the investment if you do a lot of drying. Oven drying is also practical. The time it takes varies greatly. The texture of most vegetables should be leathery and moist, but not damp or crisp. Store in a clean dry jar or plastic bag. Microwave works well for herbs especially. Herbs (Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Savory, Tarragon and others) can be dried quickly and easily in a microwave. The flavor and color are best preserved by this method. Experiment with timing as microwaves vary in their power. Alternately, hanging the herbs upside down in cool dry place will also adequately preserve them.
Canning:
Canning is the simple procedure of applying heat to food in a closed jar in
order to interrupt the natural decaying that would otherwise take place. It
requires "processing" or "heat processing" foods according
to up-to-date, tested home canning guidelines. While home canning is not complicated,
different vegetables and fruits have different requirements. Specifics on home
canning can be found through the USDA's
web site.
You can contact your local WSU Extension Office for the following bulletins on freezing and canning foods:
Hortsense: Managing plant problems with Integrated Pest Management
