Putting Food By
Now that "National Eat Together Week" is long gone (and I must admit it ended a bit abruptly--on the final evening when Kira was gone and I was up all night baking bread I had a Pabst and an old muffin for dinner), it's high time we take Sam's suggestion and start a conversation about putting food up.
Despite today's high of 91 degrees in North Manchester, I have to believe that cooler days are on their way, and we won't be harvesting fresh produce all winter. The gardens on the farm, however, are loving this endless summer. The weeds seem confused and the bugs have given up, so we're left with some beautiful fall crops of lettuce, snow peas, and green beans. The cabbage and purple cauliflower are hanging on, too, much to our delight. I went out to the farm at the end of last week to pick a bunch of produce, and spent the evening freezing beans and cauliflower while Kira was at rehearsal.
We've got corn, zucchini (pre-shredded for breads and soups), purple pesto, tomato sauce, and roasted red peppers in the freezer. I tried drying some tomatoes in the oven at the end of the summer, so those are in their too. (Sam, I'd love to hear more about your food dryer. I made a rough--ok, very rough--solar food dehydrator using these plans, but never actually tried it out.) I had big plans to try my hand at pepperoncini, jam, and salsa, as well, but never got around to it. Next year, I suppose. Until then, Kira and I plan to freeze more of the fall crop, keep potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, parsnips, etc. in a cool, dry place, and keep pulling carrots out of the ground. Maybe we'll get fancy and try braiding some garlic like Barbara Kingsolver, but the old screen in the barn on which they sit at the moment may suffice through the winter.
I'm also going to try to extend lettuce season as long as possible using a cold frame (I just found out that my dad has a long, tunnel-like frame in the barn). We'll see how that goes.
Sam, will you talk more about pickling? I'd love to hear about your experiences. One day I plan to pick up the book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz (I read his other book The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved this summer and really enjoyed it). Speaking of books, I have commandeered a book from my parents' bookshelf called The New Putting Food By by Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan, and Janet Greene and it has been a great resource in learning about food preservation.
Can't wait to hear about the different ways you guys are prolonging the harvest!
Despite today's high of 91 degrees in North Manchester, I have to believe that cooler days are on their way, and we won't be harvesting fresh produce all winter. The gardens on the farm, however, are loving this endless summer. The weeds seem confused and the bugs have given up, so we're left with some beautiful fall crops of lettuce, snow peas, and green beans. The cabbage and purple cauliflower are hanging on, too, much to our delight. I went out to the farm at the end of last week to pick a bunch of produce, and spent the evening freezing beans and cauliflower while Kira was at rehearsal.
We've got corn, zucchini (pre-shredded for breads and soups), purple pesto, tomato sauce, and roasted red peppers in the freezer. I tried drying some tomatoes in the oven at the end of the summer, so those are in their too. (Sam, I'd love to hear more about your food dryer. I made a rough--ok, very rough--solar food dehydrator using these plans, but never actually tried it out.) I had big plans to try my hand at pepperoncini, jam, and salsa, as well, but never got around to it. Next year, I suppose. Until then, Kira and I plan to freeze more of the fall crop, keep potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, parsnips, etc. in a cool, dry place, and keep pulling carrots out of the ground. Maybe we'll get fancy and try braiding some garlic like Barbara Kingsolver, but the old screen in the barn on which they sit at the moment may suffice through the winter.
I'm also going to try to extend lettuce season as long as possible using a cold frame (I just found out that my dad has a long, tunnel-like frame in the barn). We'll see how that goes.
Sam, will you talk more about pickling? I'd love to hear about your experiences. One day I plan to pick up the book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz (I read his other book The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved this summer and really enjoyed it). Speaking of books, I have commandeered a book from my parents' bookshelf called The New Putting Food By by Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan, and Janet Greene and it has been a great resource in learning about food preservation.
Can't wait to hear about the different ways you guys are prolonging the harvest!
posted by A Good Meal | 9:20 AM
1 Comments:
I've been reading 'Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning' by the gardeners and farmers of Terre Vivante. I think it was translated from French, so it can be a bit goofy, but it has a lot of good info.
Sam
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