Preserving the Harvest
When the garden gives you more than you can eat, here's how to keep it for the lean months.
The main methods
- Freezing — easiest for most vegetables and fruit; blanch veg first. Great for beans, corn, berries, peppers.
- Drying / dehydrating — ideal for herbs, chilies, tomatoes and fruit; works beautifully in dry Southwestern air.
- Fermenting — sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles and hot sauce; simple, no special gear.
- Canning — water-bath for high-acid foods (jams, pickles, tomatoes with added acid); a pressure canner is required for low-acid vegetables and is the only safe way for them.
Safety first: follow tested recipes (USDA / National Center for Home Food Preservation). Low-acid vegetables must be pressure-canned, never water-bathed, to avoid botulism risk.
Match it to your crop
Glut of tomatoes? Freeze, dry or can with added acid. Too many chilies? Dry or ferment into hot sauce. Herbs taking over? Dry or freeze in oil. Excess cucumbers or cabbage? Ferment into pickles and kraut.