Keeping the Harvest Now that you have grown your Vegetables and Herbs you will want to store them for future use. We strongly recommend “The Busy person's Guide to Preserving Foods” by Janet Bachand Chadwick. We have copies available in the garden Center and it is available from Amazon.com . General Information For Freezing Vegetables Blanching - is a critical step in preparing vegetables for freezing and must be done carefully. (This is a must for all vegetables to be stored frozen for more than 4 weeks, except those used exclusively for their flavor such as green onions, hot peppers and herbs.) Blanching cleanses the surface of dirt and organisms, brightens the color, helps retain vitamins and reduces the action of enzymes which otherwise would destroy the fresh flavor after about 4 weeks. Immediately before blanching, wash drain, sort and trim the vegetables. Use one gallon water per pound of vegetables. Put vegetables into blancher (wire basket, course mesh bag, or perforated metal container) and lower it into vigorously boiling water. Begin counting the time as soon as vegetable is placed in the boiling water. Keep the heat on high and stir water. Follow the blanching time as given above. Cooling - As soon as blanching is complete, the vegetables should be cooled quickly to stop the cooking process. Immerse the vegetables in ice water. Let the vegetable remain in the icy water no longer than the blanching time, stirring several times. To aid cooling, pour hot vegetables into a cool colander - leaving hot basket to blanch more vegetables. Drain well and spread vegetables thinly on a cloth and pat dry. Package, label and place in freezer. Continue until all vegetables are frozen. The same blanching water may be reused for the same product, but keep the water at a new level. Freeze quickly - place sealed packages in freezer in single layers, leaving 1 inch space between packages. When completely frozen, packages may be compactly stacked General Information For Drying Herbs All herbs can be dried using a food dehydrator, conventional oven or sun-dying. Refer to the Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food for drying times for each different herb. Some, thick, leafy herbs such as parsley & basil can be frozen. Chives, Cilantro are best frozen rather than dried. You can freeze herbs whole, in a paste or in ice cubes.
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