#Gardens can be unpredictable. Some seasons, you’ll only get a taste of your favorite foodstuffs because of low yields, poor weather conditions or the local critters; others, you’ll be awash in so many #fruits and #vegetables you won’t know what to do with them all. This is a good problem to have! Don’t let your hard work go to waste — you can preserve the bounty for future feasts by canning, freezing or dehydrating, says Gingham Gardens, or stage a sidewalk-sale farmer’s market to sell surplus vegetables. Or you can give away those delicious foodstuffs to family, friends or a #food pantry. Who doesn’t appreciate a fresh tomato? #SummerGarden
Tag: recipes
Try Canning to Preserve Summer’s Bounty
Experiencing a glut of #summer #produce and unable to consume it all at your backyard #cookouts? Try your hand at #canning to (quite literally) preserve access to summer’s bounty for weeks and months. Start with the freshest fruits and vegetables and follow a recipe that meets USDA safety guidelines for preserving foods. You’ll need a selection of basic canning equipment including jars and a large pot or pressure canning device, as well as some quality time in the #kitchen. The payoff? You get better-than-bought flavor from your #summer #garden throughout the years. “The truth is, anyone who can boil a pot of water can make a pickle or a jar of jam.” Food Network says.
Bring Summer’s Bounty to the Table
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amounts of delicious fruits and vegetables a successful #garden can produce or the variety and bounty of the local farmers market. Many #summer #vegetables can go directly on the grill, says Delish, including zucchini, eggplant, green beans, onions and corn. Many popular crops don’t even require heat to create a fresh and healthy meal: Tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, for example, can be dressed lightly to create a simple salad. Or just rinse that tomato, slice it, and eat it with a little salt and pepper. Store-bought just doesn’t taste the same! #SummerGarden
Begin Your Holiday Baking Now
#Holiday stress will really start to #snowball after Thanksgiving. Why not get some of your baking out of the way now? There are plenty of #recipes you can make ahead of time and pull out of the freezer to enjoy at a later date, Parade says. Homemade cookies and confections such as peppermint bark, peanut brittle, sugar cookies, gingerbread, fudge and (everyone’s favorite) peanut butter blossoms can be baked weeks in advance. Freeze them and thaw them out a few hours before giving them as a gift in a festive tin or plating them for the holiday feast. You’ll have more time to relax and enjoy the celebration! #HolidayTips
Enjoying the Bounty of a Summer Garden
For many people, there’s nothing like growing your own food. It’s healthy, cost-effective, #sustainable and above all, delicious! And if you followed some of The Organizing Blog’s previous #gardening tips, you’re probably drowning in fresh summer produce right now.
What to do with all of those garden-fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, squashes, melons, peaches and other delicacies is the question. If you’re anything like us, you planted with abandon eight to 10 weeks ago, and now must do whatever you can to make the most of that fresh produce.
One way is to share some of that bounty with friends, family and neighbors who don’t have the same amount or variety of produce. Whether they have the space or the ambition to grow their own fresh food or not, nobody is going to turn their nose up at a ripe heirloom tomato.
Another way to take advantage of summer’s bounty is to try a new recipe (or several). Base your meal plan on whatever produce you have in abundance, and you may wind up discovering a dish that you can revisit again even in the off-season.
Speaking of the off-season, there are plenty of ways to keep and store some of that produce for cloudier and colder days. Too many tomatoes? Make and freeze some marinara for a lasagna. Got lots of corn? Cut it off the cob and freeze the kernels in bagged portions for anytime use.
Many summer fruits and vegetables can be processed, portioned and frozen quickly for later use including peaches, plums, watermelon and peppers. Got bumper crop of basil? Make pesto ice cubes and pull one out any time you need to flavor a pasta or meat dish.
Freezing summer produce can make it last up to six months, but if you really want to put things up like the pioneers, try your hand at home canning. It’s simpler than it sounds, and you can make tons of sauces, pickles and jams that you can tap into for months — or give as gifts.
Even if you didn’t grow your own fruits and vegetables this year, don’t let summer’s bounty go to waste. Visit a local farmers market to get some of the freshest, healthiest foods you’ll taste all year. (And get enough to share!)