All summer we hear about the benefits of fresh fruit and veggies from our gardens, the Farmers Markets and in season produce from the grocery stores. With food prices as they are, it makes good economic sense that we would preserve some of those raspberries or blueberries, tasty cobs of corn and fresh juicy peaches. So save food for the future. Freezing, canning and root   cellars make for economical food planning.

Freezing may be the easiest food-preservation method. In this, many of us have adequate freezer space. By quickly freezing produce right out of the garden or grocery store container, we capture a higher nutrient content than if you ate them when they were fresh but several days old. Frozen beans contain more vitamin C than fresh beans stored in the refrigerator for two days.

If you’ve been under the illusion that your grandmother just smashed berries into a jar or that pickles grew on exotic trees and you just sealed a jar, maybe you need some information about being a more knowledgeable home-canner. NDSU has great information that will make it easy and safe. Check out your local County Extension Office of go to www.ag.ndsu.edu/food.

Most of us have basements and maybe one room that is dark, cool and moist. That could be the root cellar. Storing foods in a root cellar makes it possible to eat fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden well into the winter months. The length of time that fruits and vegetables keep well in root cellars depends on several factors; but carrots, beets, turnips and onions will last well into March. Onion can be braided and hung to dry. Root veggies do well stored in clean containers with dry sand poured over them and you dig them out when you want it. Years ago, winter squash was stored in grain bins. That means winter squash like warm, dry storage versus a root cellar with high humidity. Find root cellar storage information at www.extension.missouri.edu

This entry was posted on Friday, July 31st, 2009 at 10:50 am and is filed under Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.