Preserving Your Garden's Produce

More and more people are turning to gardening and growing their own fruits, herbs and vegetables.  If you are lucky enough to have a garden and enjoy working in it, then all summer you have probably been eating vegestables straight out of the ground and fruit straight off the tree, but now it is that time of year when we think about bringing in the last of our produce from gardens and orchards.  I myself don't have a garden, but lately my friends and neighbors have been pushing their extra wealth of fresh produce on me, which I have been happily accepting.  I've received peaches, apples, tomatoes, and cucumbers to name a few, and while eating them straight from my friends' gardens is wonderful, I have been contemplating how I might stretch the bounty for several more months.  It's the time for putting up freshly grown food to enjoy all winter. 

Luckily the library has lots of books for helping with these tasks, since preserving and canning fresh foods is not something I do on a regular basis.  I'm only just learning how to freeze certain foods, and the library has books to help me with that too.  Great websites that offer tips and recipes for preserving foods are www.mealtime.org and sustainablepantry.com, but to me, nothing beats having an actual book I can hold in my hand and refer to when I get lost. 

Some great books on storing foods to check out at the library:

The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking With Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-Doux by Paul Virant

Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round by Marisa McClellan

Canning For a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors For the Modern Pantry by Liana Krisoff

Preserving Summer's Bounty: A Quick and Easy Guide to Freezing, Canning, Preserving, and Drying What You Grow edited by Susan McClure

Can I Freeze It?: How To Use the Most Versatile Appliance in Your Kitchen by Susie Theodorou