By Hannah McDaniel, Senior Nutrition Student at Viterbo University, La Crosse, Wis.
If you have a green thumb, there’s nothing quite as exciting as a bountiful harvest. After watching a garden grow all summer, the fall harvest is truly rewarding. But winter is fast approaching, which means a sad end to backyard gardening. But fret not! The freezing temperatures don’t have to put an end to your favorite home-grown flavors! Enjoy garden favorites all year long by freezing or canning your produce, and even start your own indoor herb garden!
Healthy Harvest!
Why Choose to Freeze or Can Your Produce
It’s Sustainable!
By growing your own produce, you can make an environmental impact: Less reliance on fossil fuels to transport fruits and veggies to your local grocery store; Less exposure to pesticides that may be used on most fruits and vegetables in the grocery store.
Endless Health Benefits!
When you grow your own crops, chances are you harvest them at the peak of ripeness, meaning they have the most nutrients. Much of the produce at the grocery store is harvested before it is ripe, and well before all of those good nutrients get a chance to develop. Contrary to what many people believe, freezing or canning your produce will not alter the nutrients of the food in any way!
Save Money!
Fresh produce can be expensive at the grocery store. By preserving your own for the winter, you will cut down the cost of your grocery store bill!
How to Freeze Your Produce
Before freezing vegetables, you should blanch them. This means placing the vegetables into boiling water for about 2 minutes. This stops enzyme actions that cause loss of flavor, color and texture in your vegetables. Blanching also cleanses the surface of dirt and organisms, brightens the color and helps slow loss of nutrients. After boiling, dunk the vegetables into ice water to stop the cooking process. Fruits do not need to be blanched.
Lay blanched vegetables or fresh fruits single layer on a baking sheet and place in the freezer. This step prevents your produce from freezing together into one big clump!
Once frozen, you can put your produce in a freezer bag for easy storage in your freezer to enjoy year round
Freeze produce such as this squash! Do the hard work now by peeling, chopping and baking squash. Freeze it for easy use later on!
Fresh Herbs Year Round!
You can also have fresh herbs year round by creating an indoor herb garden! Either pot the herbs that you have growing outside, or obtain seeds to germinate and start fresh.
Re-Potting Outdoor Plants
If you choose to dig up herb plants that you have growing outside, make sure to plant them into potting soil for extra drainage and soil nutrition. Choose a place for your pot that is sunny and warm, if your windows let in cold air, make sure to keep them far enough away from the window so the plants don’t get cold!
Plant Seeds and Start Fresh!
You can obtain seeds by either buying them, or taking them from plants you already have outside. By the end of the season, many herbs will have gone to seed that you can collect and plant inside.
Choose Herbs that Will Thrive inside!
Hearty herbs like rosemary, mint, cilantro and oregano are great for indoor planting! It is possible to have success with frail plants like basil, but they may require a little more attention.
Provide Enough Light
Your new herb plants will need about seven hours of light. If you don’t have a good window that can provide that, a lamp with a fluorescent bulb will help.
A tutorial on how to make your own indoor herb garden!
Hannah McDaniel. Senior Dietetic student at Viterbo University. Student intern at the FSPA Garden.