Dehydrating weeds and herbs all spring and summer time lengthy is an annual job a lot appreciated when the recent provide of them is gone. Gallons of sealed glass jars are stashed away with stinging nettle, dandelion greens, tulsi, oregano, thyme, rose petals, bee balm, yarrow, elderberry flowers, and peppermint.
When an ample stand of mushrooms is discovered, strive dehydrating the surplus. When harvesting wild meals, at all times make sure that correct identification is confirmed by an knowledgeable supply and at all times label the contents of these jars with title and date.
Some mushrooms will dehydrate effectively if merely left in a paper bag within the fridge. As soon as the water is eliminated, the dehydrated materials could also be saved in a sealed jar for a yr or extra, a most effective technique of storage.
Suggestions for Harvesting: Dehydrating & Utilizing Crops
Within the fall, after the plant power has migrated to the roots for the winter, Joan and I put up root crops for the next yr. We chop and dehydrate roots of dandelion, burdock, marshmallow, elecampane, astragals, ashwaganda, and yarrow. Or we make tinctures utilizing natural vodka.
Tinctures, tonics, elixirs, syrups, and shrubs are all storage instruments which can be enjoyable to make, style nice, and can always remind us of the hotter days of summer time in the course of the chilly months across the nook. It’s robust to beat the flavour of selfmade hearth cider. That elderberry syrup will assist stop any chilly or flu from getting into a family.
Preservation: Canning and Jarring
Canning tomatoes needs to be a nationwide pastime—maybe it as soon as was! Is there something higher than selfmade tomato sauce within the lifeless of winter?
Berries are frozen on cookie sheets, then transferred to glass jars and put into the freezer. Blueberries, raspberries, peaches, and black currantsare customary breakfast fare all year long. Consuming high-quality berries—grown with out using pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or another chemical components—all yr lengthy brings a satisfaction that’s tough to clarify.
We dehydrate pears and apples as a result of they’ve a decrease water content material. Jams and jellies require so many sugar that we have a tendency to not go that route, however they positive do style good.
Storing Crops: Garlic, Potatoes, and Carrots
After the garlic is harvested, we treatment it within the well-ventilated backyard shed till September, after which clear and trim the bulbs, setting the biggest apart for planting in October. The remaining are put into canvas baggage to be saved within the coldest closet in the home.
Potatoes might keep within the floor till the time is obtainable to dig them up and retailer them. The longer they’re left within the floor, nonetheless, the higher the specter of insect or vole strain, so get to this chore when attainable.
Potatoes prefer it chilly. A chilly storage space is an effective factor to have, simply above freezing. In contrast to a freezer, root cellars provide glorious storage at no extra price than the preliminary building supplies and time.
After which there are carrots simply left within the floor, mulched for the winter for us to steal when the bottom permits, or savored within the spring after the bottom thaws.
Preserving What the Backyard Supplies
Regardless of the backyard gives, make sure you protect the surplus. An excessive amount of work has already been expended to let these alternatives go by. Strive a couple of storage technique on the similar time, to see which works higher for a selected crop kind. The rewards of consuming clear meals with little extra effort than opening the freezer or opening a jar are effectively well worth the whereas.
Beneficial Reads
Suggestions & Methods for Harvesting and Drying Herbs
Harvesting and Storing Cucumbers: Capturing the Crunch