Our ancestors grew and stored their own food. Only recently have the American people gotten away from keeping a garden and growing and preserving their own food.
Preserving your own food is both healthy and economical. It can also be lifesaving.
There are so many ways to preserve your harvest, this article will touch on preserving produce. I encourage you to get together with your church friends and community to make a joint, cooperative effort to grow and store food. If you plan your garden and succession plant, you can have an abundance of food as well as time your food storage efforts. This article is an overview of various, time proven produce storing methods.
1. Canning: I am not sure why canning is called canning as this method uses glass jars, but I am sure there is a history lesson behind the term. One quart glass jars are the common means for canning as we know it. Our family is still reaping the benefits of our harvest from ten years ago.
What a thrill it is to open a jar of pickles from way back when. It gives a feeling of value and worth. Memories flood of young children or grandparents participating in the canning party. Ball Jar has a great “how to” canning book that we have used often. https://www.ballmasonjars.com/products/essentials-accessories/accessories/ball%C2%AE-blue-book%C2%AE-guide-to-preserving%2C-37th-edition/SAP_1440021411.html
2.
Freezing: Your freezer will preserve food for a very long time. The trick is to properly package your produce for the longest shelf life while avoiding freezer burning. A vacuum sealer will do that work for you, removing air and providing food safe, heavy-duty bags. We have three dedicated stand-up freezers.
3. Drying: Some of you have memories of grandma hanging peppers, garlic, and beans near the kitchen. There are many methods of drying produce from hanging to electric dehydrators. Vacuum sealing here too can take your dried harvest and preserve it for many a year. We enjoy our dried Sungold tomatoes, vacuum sealed in quart jars all winter, if they are not all consumed
early.
4. Root Cellaring: is a tried and proven way to store winter squash, onion, garlic,
beets, carrots, potatoes and more. You will need a cool basement or custom, underground root cellar to get the most
out of this storage method. Root cellars are more for fresh eating all winter long.
5.
Tincturing: I have really come to enjoy tincturing, otherwise known as extracting. Tincturing extracts the active ingredient of the herb with a menstruum like alcohol or glycerin. It is used for folk remedies like echinacea, valerian, rosemary, mullein, elderberry, goldenseal, dandelion and more. Many of these herbs can be grown in the garden or foraged nearby. My favorite is cayenne. We grow our own organic cayenne pepper and make it into a tincture. Dr. Christopher has spoken at great length
on the benefits of cayenne and our family has experienced those benefits firsthand. From bleed stop, warming hands and feet, to migraine buster and immune booster we cannot say enough about cayenne. We use it in tincture form, and it could not be easier to make. Simply wash and slice fresh cayenne pepper, filling a quart mason jar to top, and filling with 100% alcohol. Store in a cool dark place, turning every week and your tincture should be ready in eight weeks. I have forgotten mine for many months. The extra time has enhanced the flavor (not recommending going beyond the suggested eight weeks
though). I am presently experimenting with Carolina reaper, habanero, and ghost pepper tinctures, I will let you know how that goes.
I encourage you to grow and preserve your own food and folk medicine. You never know when you may need them.
