Save the Harvest

Why preserve food? 

Sometimes gardens can provide you with much more than you can eat in its season, or you may just want to preserve some of the warm months' bounty for colder times. There are multitudinous ways to store crops: from freezing, to canning, to fermenting, to drying, with different variations for each, that can really keep you eating locally grown goods year-round. Some of these are easier to learn than others, so check out the resources I’ve listed, and use whatever method seems best for you. 

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of my family and me processing food for storage in the late summer and into the fall. We had, at time, manic weekends, when my mom, dad, brother, and I would all be pitching in to the ambitious projects like canning the couple hundred pounds of tomatoes we gleaned from a farmer friend, or blanching and freezing the greens from our yard, which often filled more laundry baskets than we had. I loved the buzz in the air, and although the heat in the kitchen was sometimes overpowering - especially when we made our own tomato chutney, which had to simmer for days  - I felt satisfaction in knowing we were all putting away the food that would help feed us all winter and save us a pretty penny, too. You can feel that same sense of satisfaction by turning in season produce - whether you grow it or buy it from a farmer - into substance for you and your family for the coming year. I’ve collected a few resources here that should provide you with the basics you need to know to safely concoct lasting preserves.

by Francis Magai, urban farmer