Laura Lawrence- Northern Michigan Homesteader
Blanching & Freezing Vegetables
Preserving Your Harvest
No matter if you have a small garden or a larger garden it’s always great to learn preservation techniques. If you decide to purchase from a farm stand, or local grower, even the grocery store you can take those veggies and fruits and preserve them for a later time.
I’m proud of you and what you have accomplished! Whatever your success is, or no matter what or how much you ended up with – YOU DID IT!! Yes YOU, you took this on, something that seemed so hard and you did it. Way to go!!
With each year you will bring new ideas, crops and ways to preserve into your life and opening up that jar of home canned goodness will bring smiles to your face during those cold winter months.
There are many ways to preserve foods, I’m going to cover the basics, include some recipes and get you started! I can’t wait to see how much you put up and more than that the desire to fill your pantry each year with your hard work.
grow/cultivate/harvest/preserve
Bonus Tip: Save your stalks and freeze into their own container and use these pieces for soups and puree during the winter for homemade deliciousness!
Blanching & Freezing
Freezing is a great way to have a quicker option for preserving your harvest. Also some items cannot be canned so they will need to be frozen for later consumption. If you place foods into Glass Jars make sure food is completely cooled and do not fill completely. Leave about 1 inch headspace to allow for expansion.
Laura’s Favorite Way to Blanch & Freeze
Step 1: Wash & Cut Produce (My favorites to Blanch & Freeze are Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Cabbage)
Step 2: Bring water to a boil, place produce into boiling water and start timing according to chart below.
Step 3: Using a large slotted spoon place into a colander that has been placed over a bowl. Place next batch in water and time.
Great Spoon & Large Colander
Step 4: Allow to drain for a few minutes and place on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Freeze for a few hours or until you remember.
Step 5: Using your vacuum sealer place the quantity you would use for a specific meal, or soup and process. Place back into freezer! Done!
I Love my Food Saver Vacuum Sealer - I've had it for many many years which they no longer make that model but you can find plenty of other options that will fit your needs and budget by clicking HERE.
Looking to Can Carrots?
View My Recommded Canning Supplies HERE
Some of the links may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase. I only share links of products I either use or would be comparable to what I am currently using.
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