Storing your garden harvest

[HDRider]

I will put down what I know and tell me if you do it another way, or maybe a veggie I forgot.

Corn - Frozen, on cob or off
Green Beans - Frozen, or canned, sometimes canned with potatoes
Okra - Frozen, cut or whole (small), pickled
Cucumbers - Pickled
Squash - Yellow or Zucchini - Sliced Frozen
Butter Beans - Shelled & Frozen
Various Beans - Dried, dry canned (anyone got a good way to dry them?)
Baby Potatoes - Canned
Grown Potatoes - Dry dark storage, avoid freezing, don't stack more than one deep - I struggle here, they don't last
Tomatoes - Peeled frozen whole, juiced canned, whole peeled frozen, dehydrated
Peppers - Cut and freeze
Greens - Chopped and frozen


What did I miss?

 

[HDRider]

Does anyone grow tomatillo? How do you keep them?

 

[TexasBred]

We do everything pretty much like you except for peas. All peas are shelled her at the house and simply poured into pillow cases (Cotton) and placed in the freezer. Do not wash!!!!! When you get ready for peas simply get what you want out. They won't freezer burn, they won't be stuck together because they've never been wet and they'll taste like they were just picked. Never tried this on shelled beans of any kind so don't know if it works but works on all kinds of peas.

 

[fenceman]

I will put down what I know and tell me if you do it another way, or maybe a veggie I forgot.

Corn - Frozen, on cob or off
Green Beans - Frozen, or canned, sometimes canned with potatoes
Okra - Frozen, cut or whole (small), pickled
Cucumbers - Pickled
Squash - Yellow or Zucchini - Sliced Frozen
Butter Beans - Shelled & Frozen
Various Beans - Dried, dry canned (anyone got a good way to dry them?)
Baby Potatoes - Canned
Grown Potatoes - Dry dark storage, avoid freezing, don't stack more than one deep - I struggle here, they don't last
Tomatoes - Peeled frozen whole, juiced canned, whole peeled frozen, dehydrated
Peppers - Cut and freeze
Greens - Chopped and frozen


What did I miss?

onions.. Dried in sun on sheet of expanded metal. About 2 weeks. Stored in pantyhose with a knot tied between each onion. Hung in pantry.

We do everything pretty much like you except for peas. All peas are shelled her at the house and simply poured into pillow cases (Cotton) and placed in the freezer. Do not wash!!!!! When you get ready for peas simply get what you want out. They won't freezer burn, they won't be stuck together because they've never been wet and they'll taste like they were just picked. Never tried this on shelled beans of any kind so don't know if it works but works on all kinds of peas.

Blackeyed peas?

 

[Jogeephus]

About same

 

[MudHog]

One thing I've learned from my grandparents is fully cook the vegetables early to save time later when cooking a big meal. We have always cooked all vegetables to be frozen fully. Then when we need them, we just have to reheat on the stove and serve. That said, about the only thing we store is Corn, Okra, Beans (Green and Lima), and Peas (Purple Hull).

 

[Craig Miller]

We can tomatoes, butterbeans corn and potatoes. We dont usually freeze anything. Then as mudhog said its ready to eat when time matters and you dont have to worry about losing power and losing to food. We also dont have a good place to store things like potatoes or onions so they wont spoil. I forgot we do freeze onions.

 

[cowgirl8]

I can all my potatoes. I harvest, wash as i do because the dirt comes off easier. I cut into quarters if large, leave whole if smaller than a inch across. I soak and rinse. I fill quart jars, add a bayleaf and a piece of onion, fill with water with chicken bouillon, seal and process.. Not only do you not lose a single potato to rot, but they are ready for anything. Very quick side dish, soup. You can even cut them into french fry shapes and if you care careful, you can fry or bake them into fries.
My potatoes are almost ready to dig up...
I also cut and freeze my onion. We eat very few raw, so i cut and bag for the freezer. They dont stick to each other, so grabbing what you need out of the bag is easy. Ready for what you're cooking and i even use them for fajitas, they still work great and cook faster..

 

[TexasBred]

We do everything pretty much like you except for peas. All peas are shelled her at the house and simply poured into pillow cases (Cotton) and placed in the freezer. Do not wash!!!!! When you get ready for peas simply get what you want out. They won't freezer burn, they won't be stuck together because they've never been wet and they'll taste like they were just picked. Never tried this on shelled beans of any kind so don't know if it works but works on all kinds of peas.

Blackeyed peas?[/quote]

Absolutely....et some last week from the pillow case. Been in the freezer since 2014 garden.

 

[Wewild]

Does anyone grow tomatillo? How do you keep them?

Yep. I grow them. I keep them as a sauce. I love tomatillo sauce. It don't seem to last long enough or I don't grow them well enough.

 

[regolith]

What about pumpkins? I'd love to keep mine through winter but they always succumb to rot. This year's lot only lasted maybe 2 - 3 months and I didn't do anything different to the years they keep five months or so. I just put them in a shed to keep them dry, as cool a place as I can find.

 

[rnh2]

Anybody use a dehydrator? Thinking about trying one esp for fruit

 

[HDRider]

Anybody use a dehydrator? Thinking about trying one esp for fruit

I like drying hot peppers and making powder. I don't get much out of it beyond that and jerky. Love my jerky.

 

[HDRider]

Does anyone grow tomatillo? How do you keep them?

Yep. I grow them. I keep them as a sauce. I love tomatillo sauce. It don't seem to last long enough or I don't grow them well enough.

I love it too. Do you start with seeds or a plant? I can't find the plants around here.

 

[Wewild]

I love it too. Do you start with seeds or a plant? I can't find the plants around here.

I start from seeds just like tomatoes. This year I planted cisneros. Good size green variety.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Does anyone grow tomatillo? How do you keep them?

Yep. I grow them. I keep them as a sauce. I love tomatillo sauce. It don't seem to last long enough or I don't grow them well enough.

I make a salsa out of them.

Fortunately, the last couple of years, I have been able to purchase plants. I don't need many, 2 or 3 plants is enough for me.

 

[Wewild]

Carrots ready for the freezer

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Those carrots look great!

 

[rnh2]

HD, how do you do your jerky?