Eating From the Garden, Now and Later

Over the last month, the garden has been producing lots of greens, onions, chives, radishes and now an overabundance of strawberries. Now the process of preserving some of the garden goodness will begin.

Over the next couple of weeks, the extra berries will be washed and put on cookie sheets in the freezer. As they freeze solid, they will be packaged in freezer bags. By freezing them in single layer, the individually frozen berries will stay that way in the bag. During the winter, the bag can be opened and only the amount of berries needed can be taken out and the rest put back into the freezer.

Many of the berries will be sliced and dried in the food dehydrator. Once dried they will be packaged in bags. Some will be used as is for snacking, others will be mixed with the other dried fruits like apples, pears, raspberries, cherries and peaches for packs of ’emergency fruit’ or ‘adventure fruit’ as my niece likes to call it. There is always a package tucked in every vehicle, backpack, lunchbox and tack box that we use.

Likewise, the dehydrator will be used on the green onions, kale, chives and swiss chard. These dried veggies will be handy when making stews, soups and sauces, once the weather turns the garden to mush with frosts in the late fall.