Preserving Food
By Karina | November 12, 2008
I’m reaching the end of my CSA season, and I am ashamed to admit that I am a tiny bit relieved. It is hard work, y’all, eating all of those vegetables every week! And I know that I let a lot of food go to waste this year that I really shouldn’t have. (Parsnips, I hardly knew you.) Last night I tried to stop that trend by making a giant pot of crazy soup (very loosely based on this recipe) that used up a head of garlic, four onions, a bunch of kale, a bunch of mustard greens, two bunches of salad turnip greens, and two heads of escarole. And then I had to scramble to find enough containers to store 17 cups of crazy lentil soup.
Something that I DID do, this year, that was entirely new to me, was to make jam. I went out and bought a hot water bath canner, trusted our friend over at PaperDollyGirl (who makes the most WONDERFUL apple butter!), held my breath, and dove in. I ended up making 3 batches of jam - a plum-apricot, a plum, and a peach. It really wasn’t that hard once I got started, and now I just can’t wait to get a pressure canner and try my hand at preserving other food. For example - this crazy lentil soup I just made? I would LOVE to put up a few pint jars of it. Just a perfect size to open for one or two people, and it would be so pretty on my shelves. I know, it’s easy to freeze things, but canned foods don’t fill your freezer (obviously) and you don’t have to worry about what happens if you lose power suddenly.
(Side bar: when I was buying my canning jars from my locally owned hardware store, the owner said to me that this year he’d sold more canning equipment than any other year that he could remember, and that the same went for seeds in the spring. In these economic times, is this the age of the new victory garden to help make ends meet?)
So when Jenn sent me this article in the NY Times, I knew she had found something really wonderful. The article discusses people who use their basements and attics (and under their beds and in coat closets) as root cellars to store hardy winter vegetables for longer periods of time into the winter. I actually do have a storage space in the basement of my apartment building, and I have friends with basements that I bet I could use — after all, I did sign up for the winter share at my CSA, which guarantees a very heavy three additional shipments full of winter squash, potatoes, and onions (not to mention delicious leafy greens)…
Do you put up any food for the winter? How do you feel about the new victory garden?
[[Image of canning poster from the American Legion, sort-of-via-this post.]]
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Topics: Food |
[…] And I know that I let a lot of food go to waste this year that I really shouldn’t have. (Parsnips, I hardly knew you.) Last night I tried to stop that trend by making a giant pot of crazy soup (very loosely based on this recipe) that … Original post […]
we had so much food from our CSA and our own garden this year - it was incredible! we had to buy a chest freezer … and when that was almost full, i realized i better learn some new skills! so, we bought a water bath canner … so far we only have pasta sauce and spicey green tomatoes - but it is a start! we also have several winter squash type things hanging out in the garage … i just hope we don’t forget that they are in there!
karina - perhaps you’ll let us jersey girls use your new pressure canner for a fee (or some more food)? ;)
I would love to have a pressure canning party! that would be so great.
We’re in the same position - we’ve got a three week breather between the end of our summer CSA, and the start of our 3 month winter CSA, so we’re scrambling to use all of the stuff in the fridge before we get a bushel of veg next week -eek! Also, there’s the heritage turkey coming from our meat CSA that somehow must fit into an already packed freezer!
I also returned to my roots this year and tried canning for the first time on my own…I was always my mom’s canning assistant growing up as we had a root cellar stocked floor-to-ceiling, so I was very familiar with the process. This year, I just did stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce, as I didn’t need to purchase any special equiptment for those, beyond Ball jars and lids. And I have to say, I really enjoyed doing it - it was very meditative, and next year, I definitely want to tackle pickles, stocks and soup - like you, my freezer space is limited, and living in a city, root cellaring isn’t an option. I do keep a cooler filled with squash and apples on our balcony after the last farmer’s market, and that tides me over with local apples through December.
My husband came home with 50# of free tomatoes 3 days before we went on a trip. So yeah, I canned this summer. It is easy work; just takes time and a deep stockpot and jars/rings/lids (this is for acid foods only).
My husband also pickles okra every year for Christmas gifts. It’s the new fruitcake!
oh my gosh, that pickled okra sounds incredible. I have some table radishes that I want to pickle, but I haven’t figured it out just yet.
maybe Karina doesn’t remember when i used the pressure cooker: NO ONE allowed in the kitchen, and i practically held my breathe the whole time, guess i had a LOT of fear doing the canning, but at the end, as her grandfather always said it was better than eating snowballs!
I sort of remember this, but I also remember my grandmother not being worried at all? So I have to influences to work from here!
Thanks for the nice words about my apple butter! One thing to keep in mind, the national guidelines are pretty specific about soup canning. Apparently one must be cautious because using thickeners would (I imagine) cause your seal and jar to become unstable over time. So things that soak up water must be fully re hydrated, and the liquid-solid ratio must be balanced. My MIL makes and cans fabulous veggie soup - if you ever want specifics, let me know and I will ask her.
If I were running a CSA - I would have a pressure canner and waterbath canner that members could rent out for one week at a time. Less of a fee if they were willing to do the work of dropping the equipment off at the next person’s house.
MSL had someone on yesterday who was a botanist from the NY Botanical garden and she was sharing great ideas for preserving fresh herbs. Check the MS website for the link - it sounded great.
wow, thanks for the additional resources!
my soup is NOT a well balanced soup - I’ll have to bookmark that page to make sure in the future my canned soups are a-ok.
I’ve currently got about 10# of chopped tomatoes frozen in our downstairs freezer, along with 9 free range organ chickens from the meat farmer our CSA works with. Oh! and about 90oz of potato, leek and onion soup in the upstairs freezer.
I’d say we’re lucky with the freezer space, but now we’re just about out, and need to start eating down the prepped foods.
Don’t feel bad. I was relieved too. :)
:) and now I’m torn, because I would like to send this post to my CSA but don’t want the farmer to get the wrong idea! I LOVE his share. but a family size share for one person is a lot of work.
Maybe your fabulous farmer might consider offering a certain number of half-shares?
I get this weird mixed sadness and relief at the end of our CSA. I will miss the veggies so much, but it will free up my schedule.
[…] 21, 2009 at 5:00 pm (Uncategorized) I was listening to a radio program on preserving food and the guest mention that for some people putting up food was an economic and political act of […]
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