August 27, 2017
I don't know about you but I can't remember another last-week-of-August when the plants, grass, flowers, and trees were this lush...by east coast standards, this summer's weather has been AMAZING!!! And I can think of only two downsides.
One, if you grow your own veggies and fruit, even after giving lots away to friends and family, you still probably have more produce on your hands then you can eat
And two, in the dead of winter it'll all be gone
So I'm happy to offer a few solutions to your problems (in reverse order.)
If you love the idea of growing fresh, whole produce year-round at lightning-speed but have no access to temperature controlled growing environments you simply have to check out the Tower Garden®
Tower Garden® is a vertical aeroponic growing system. Juice Plus+® purchased the patent from Epcot Center’s Living the Land Pavilion then improved upon it, creating a food production system designed for literally anybody and any application. Tower Garden® works just as well in the corner of a room as it does in a tiny apartment patio, a rooftop garden, an urban farm, or a huge commercial growing operation.
And because of its vertical design, the system is super energy efficient and has a tiny circular footprint (only about 2 1/2 feet in diameter!) Each tower can grow up to 44 plants without soil but with 90% less space and water in a fraction of the time compared to conventional gardening.
For more information on Tower Garden® (or, better yet, to purchase one!) click here.
And if you’re still wondering what the heck you’re going to do with your overflowing veggies RIGHT NOW, here are several easy ways to save your precious harvests from a wonderful Juice Plus+® blog.
Tip: Regardless of what you’re preserving or how you’re preserving it, always be sure to select fresh, blemish-free produce at its peak. Overripe or diseased produce won’t store well.
Blanching Produce
Before we look at preservation techniques, we need to cover blanching, which is the process of briefly exposing produce to boiling water.
After you harvest, chemical compounds called enzymes immediately start impacting produce nutrients, color and flavor. If left alone, these enzymes ultimately cause food to spoil. But blanching destroys enzymes, thereby deactivating the decomposition process.
Here’s how to blanch:
Drying Herbs and Other Produce
Tip: Drying is the “go-to” preservation method for most herbs.
Though you can dry many fruits and vegetables, herbs are dried most often. Drying preserves food by removing about 80–95% of its moisture. (Unfortunately, moisture isn’t all that’s removed. Produce may lose more flavor and nutrients when dried rather than, say, frozen.)
When harvesting herbs to dry, pick them in the morning to preserve the greatest amount of essential oils (i.e., the stuff that makes herbs amazing). Also be sure to harvest before the plant goes to seed if possible.. Otherwise, the flavor may not be quite as good.
There are a few different ways to dry your harvests. For each method, you’ll know produce is finished drying when the following is true:
Drying on a Tray
If you have lots of produce to dry, trays offer the benefit of a large surface area. The best trays to use are those with non-galvanized screening, as this allows air to circulate from all sides. You can either place the trays in the sun outside (and cover with cheesecloth to keep bugs off) or in a dry place indoors (e.g., an attic or garage)—inside is preferable, as sunlight can destroy produce nutrients during the drying process.
Hang Drying
As long as you have the space, hang drying is probably the simplest preservation method for herbs and leafy vegetables. Just gather the produce in small bunches and suspend them from a coat rack, attic rafters or any other reasonably dry place. You can also dry these bunches outside if the conditions are agreeable. (Hot, dry days are ideal.) But, again, sunlight may destroy some of the nutrients.
Drying in a Oven This is one of the fastest drying methods, and as such, it retains much of a food’s nutrients and color. It’s also the best way to dry denser foods like tomatoes. To oven dry your harvests, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spread the produce evenly on a single layer, and set your oven to its lowest setting (ideally 170˚F or less). After about an hour, turn each piece over. Repeat this process as necessary until dry.
Tip: In a hurry? Check out this tutorial for microwave-drying herbs. And you can always use a dehydrator to dry your produce… just follow the instructions included with the unit.
Once your produce is dry, put it in a sterilized airtight container, and store it in a dark place or even a freezer. By the way—a helpful little tip—if you’re substituting your dried herbs for fresh, you should use 1/3 as much as the recipe calls for, as dried herbs are more potent than their fresh counterparts.
Freezing Herbs, Vegetables and Fruits
Tip: Freezing is arguably the best way to preserve produce nutrients, flavor and color.
Most herbs, vegetables and fruits can be frozen. But since freezing alters produce texture, you might want to use a different method for foods you would typically eat raw, such as lettuce, tomatoes or cucumbers.
That said, freezing is my favorite preservation method—it’s really easy. After blanching and allowing the produce to dry (this helps prevent ice buildup), just put it in a freezer bag, squeeze the air out to prevent freezer burn, and stick it in your freezer.
See? Easy!
“Herb Cube” Method Here’s another fun way (pictured above) to freeze herbs:
Then, next time a soup or sauce recipe calls for herbs, just drop a cube in.
Canning Fruits and Vegetables
Tip: Though it requires more work, canning is perfect for saving sauces, salsas, pickled produce and more.
I won’t lie to you. Canning is a labor-intensive preservation method. It’s for this reason I’ve only done it a couple times myself. But as I mentioned before—vine-ripened tomato sauce would be an incredible treat in the middle of January, right?
There are two ways to can food: by water bath and by pressure canner. You should use the water bath method for acidic foods, such as pickles and tomatoes, and the pressure canner method for low acid foods, like green beans. (Low acid foods are more susceptible to bacteria—that’s why you need the pressure canner.)
Note: The following info on canning was originally published in another Juice Plus+® blog.
Water Bath Method
Water bath canning is the best method for beginners. It doesn’t require any special equipment (although you can use it if you want) and is super simple. First, you will need:
It is important to sterilize your jars, lids and rings before canning and to keep them hot before you start to fill them with your produce. Once they’re clean and ready, you can begin canning.
Pressure Canner Method Canning with a pressure canner is a little more advanced than a water bath, and it, of course, requires a pressure canner. You will also need:
The pressure canning process is very similar to that of the water bath method. Again, it is important to start with clean and warm jars, lids and rings.
