Planning for Preserving Season

Planning for preserving season is essential. Canning, freezing, and dehydrating foods starts early in the Spring with rhubarb, asparagus and ends in late fall with squashes and pumpkins.   

When first deciding to preserve food whether from your first garden or the local farmer’s market or stand, some thought and planning needs to given to the process.  Before jumping right in here is some “food for thought”.

·        Keep a record of your progress.

·        Decide what foods you want to preserve. 

·        Decide on the methods of preservation. 

·        Preserving takes time when the fruit or vegetables are in season.

·        Preserving requires some initial cost for equipment and yearly costs for supplies that can’t be re-used or wear out.

·        Plan for storage for the canning supplies

·        Recipes and reference material.

Keep a record of your progress

Keep a record of your progress – successes and failures.  It will help you the next preservation season.  It will help too if you start creating your own recipes.  The mode of recording doesn’t matter –digital, paper or journal.  My planning starts out on paper during the heat of creation and eventually end sup in digital format on this blog.

Deciding on what foods you want to preserve.

Fresh is best.  When purchasing, buy the best produce your budget can provide.   "Seconds" can be just as nutricious and the top pick.  "Seconds" are produce that have more blemishes than the top pick.  The nutrition content is the same but the price is usually lower due to having more blemishes.

Start with fewer foods than you think you want to preserve.  By the next year you will have a better idea what your family will eat, what foods you need to preserve more or less of, and what new food you want to add to your preservation list.

Decide on the methods of preservation.

To decide on the methods of preservation, think about storage first.  You are not limited to one method of preservation. The best storage places are cool, dry, away from sunlight, won’t freeze in the winter, and easily accessed.  

Think about freezer capacity, shelf storage, and storage close to the kitchen.  Freezing your harvest when you have limited freezer storage is not practical.  Storage areas that can be utilized to store your bounty include areas in the kitchen, pantries, basements, or attached, unheated garages.  Basements and unheated garages take a little planning in order to be used for preservation storage.  

How damp is the basement?  Damp areas are not a good storage choice.  Dampness erodes the seals faster and then spoilage occurs. Note:  If it smells bad it is bad.  If there is mold on top, there is mold throughout.  Discard both.

When the last resort is an unheated, attached garage for food storage some additional preparations must be made for storage.  The garage gets some residual heat from the house when attached, not so for an unattached garage.  To store jars in this space, wrap each jar in newspaper.  Place the jars in cardboard boxes.  Label the boxes.  Store the boxes off the floor on shelving. 

Preserving takes time when the fruit or vegetables are in season.

Preserving food takes time and effort.  This can become a family effort with even the youngest participating.  Produce needs washed, peeled or trimmed, cut to size, and then processed.  Yes, the kids (big and little) will complain but remember you are teaching them valuable skills.  They also will gain pride in the end product – their next meal.

Deciding what to preserve has a big impact on when you will be doing the majority of your preservation.  Here is a rough beginners list.

Early Spring: peas, rhubarb, asparagus, leaf lettuces, blood oranges

Late Spring/Early Summer: Berries, Chards, end of the leaf lettuces, pineapple

Summer: Herbs, early varieties of tree fruits, green beans, tomatoes, lemons, limes, and most above ground vegetables,

Fall: End of above ground vegetables, root vegetables start, garlic, onions, beets, early spring crops that like cooler weather – peas, chards, leaf lettuces

Late Fall: Root vegetables, pumpkins, squashes, horseradish

Preserving requires some initial cost for equipment and yearly costs for supplies that can’t be re-used or wear out.

Check your reference materials for these lists.  They do a much better job of listing the equipment than I can here.  Purchase the best equipment you can within your budget.  If you can borrow or share equipment, do so.  Purchasing used from garage, estate, or second hand stores is possible.  Be sure in inspect the equipment thoroughly before buying!

You will spend money every year on items you cannot re-use, needs to replace, or use in making the preserved food products.  The easiest way to cut down on a large chunk of money spent is to start buying small quantities of staples every time you buy groceries.   

 Here is a partial list.

·        Lids for jars

·        Canning jars - Jars break, chip or crack, and need replaced.  

·        Freezer bags – quart and gallon

·        Vinegar – no less than 5% acidity, regular and apple cider.  Buy more regular than apple cider.

·        Lemon juice 100% – fresh is not good for preserving as the acidity fluctuates too much, buy the bottled kind.

·        Sugar

·        Canning salt

·        Pectin

·        Fruit Fresh® – work better than lemon juice for fruits.

Plan for storage for the canning supplies

You will need to have storage space for the canning equipment and supplies you will be re-using next year.  This includes large pots, jars, and smaller items such as funnels and rings.  Cardboard boxes or plastic totes work well for this.  Storage is easy, convenient, in one location and readily accessible the next time you need the equipment.

Recipes and reference material.

Make space for your reference material.  You will find many resources for preserving foods.  There are endless books and websites specifically written for the preservation methods you have chosen.  Did I mention I love cookbooks!  My collection overflows.  Here are some of my favorites.

Canning and Preserving for Dummies

               This is a good basic book for starting to food preservation covering canning, freezing, and dehydrating.  It includes equipment lists, recipes, and instructions.  It is full of information I still use.

Putting Up More by Stephen Palmer Dowdney and any of his books

               The Putting Up books are wonderfully delicious!  These books have pizzazz!  They take basic recipes and kick the flavor up yet keep the recipes simple to understand.

Your local agriculture society has many good pamphlets.  I still use the ones from when I was in 4-H.  You can find the local agriculture chapter on the internet listed in your state or county’s website.

Your own logs from years past are indispensible!  The failures are priceless.  The failures allow you to try something different the next time you preserve that food.  When a food preservation method fails, it frees you to try something different.  Next time try a different method of preservation, another recipe, or a little less of this spice, a little more that that herb.  You also can determine what to preserve,  how much is needed, and your family’s preferences from you past logs.

The benefits of preserving your own food are many from the quality of the food to your feelings of accomplishment, creativity, and sense of well being for providing for yourself and your family.  Most of all have fun in the process!  Food preservation is work but it is most certainly is not boring!