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Embrace summer’s abundance by learning to preserve food

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By Julia Howard

 

It’s hard to deny that mid-summer at the farmers’ market is where locally grown fruits and vegetables are most impressive. Ripe produce overflows from market tables; squash, cucumbers, lettuces, tomatoes. Selecting from the season’s bounty turns the chore of shopping into a thrill.

After you’ve made it through the market, hands aching and shoulders sore from carrying heavy shopping bags, you may wonder, “What am I going to do with all this food?” Cornell Cooperative Extension Nutrition Educator and Certified Master Food Preserver Diane Whitten encourages you to embrace summer’s abundance and prevent food waste by preserving fruit and vegetables.

Owl Wood Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

“I want people to know that preserving is relatively easy. And for people currently canning and freezing, there are things you can do to enhance and preserve quality,” Whitten explains.

Whitten will host three workshops at the farmers’ market on Wednesdays this summer, focusing on food preservation techniques. On Wed, July 26, Diane will present on Freezing Fruits & Vegetables: Hacks to Ensure Quality. On August 30, the topic will be Dehydrating Fruits & Vegetables: Equipment, Tips, Tricks. On September 20, Whitten will teach Fermenting Vegetables: Let Nature Do the Work.

Whitten will share information on a food preservation method at each workshop from 3-6 pm, with 15-30 minute presentations at 3:00, 4:00, and 5:00 pm. This workshop series is free and open to the public.

Green Jeans Market Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

Whitten has taught food preservation techniques for Cornell Cooperative Extension for 20 years and has had a regular presence at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, sampling seasonal foods, sharing recipes, and offering nutrition information. She provides a wealth of knowledge, encouraging those interested in preserving food to use research-based recipes.

“A lot of online recipes are unsafe and can result in food poisoning, so I often refer people to recipes by the National Center for Home Food Preservation,” Whitten says.

In addition to three workshops at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, Whitten will host in-person classes at Cornell Cooperative Extension’s offices in Ballston Spa. On August 16, Whitten will teach about canning tomatoes and making salsa, and on September 19, Whitten will teach a class on fermentation. For more information on these classes, visit Cornell Cooperative Extension Saratoga County’s website. 

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open on Wednesdays from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at High Rock Park in downtown Saratoga. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SaratogaFarmersMarket.

Farm to freezer: the benefits of preserving food

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Green Jeans Market Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

By Julia Howard

Late summer’s bounty of fruits and vegetables is here. Vine-ripened tomatoes shift from green to red almost overnight, ripe cucumbers seem to hide under every leaf, and zucchinis of all shapes and sizes make impressive harvests. Whether you are a home gardener or an avid farmers’ market shopper, the abundance of summer produce can be overwhelming as they are only fresh for so long.

Freezing food, iStock

While enjoying fresh food is undoubtedly the best, preserving fresh fruits and vegetables has many benefits. Canning, drying, and freezing allow you to control your food ingredients and eat healthy year-round. Preserving food reduces food waste, waste in landfills, and our environmental footprint. It also contributes to the local economy and your wallet. With time and proper instruction, canning, drying, and freezing food is surprisingly easy.

There are specific methods to preserve certain foods; however, the fruits and vegetables that can be preserved are countless. Apples may be cooked down into applesauce for canning or freezing. Tomatoes may be stewed or dried or made into sauce or salsa. Cucumbers, beets, bell peppers, cauliflower, and green beans can be pickled. Mushrooms, berries, herbs, and even kale can be dried. You can freeze fruit, and many vegetables can be blanched and frozen.

Pickling, iStock

Before getting started, Diane Whitten, Food Preservation Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County, stresses the importance of food safety. “Always start with good quality fresh fruits and vegetables,” says Whitten. “Preserve them as soon as possible,” she adds.

In the day of online recipes and instructions, Whitten emphasizes the importance of using safe preservation methods to avoid spoilage, contamination, and even botulism (food poisoning caused by bacteria). Whitten offers several in-depth presentations and how-to videos from verified sources on Cornell Cooperative Extension’s website. Whitten also recommends The National Center for Home Food Preservation as an online source for current research-based recommendations for most home food preservation methods.

Don’t shy away when you find a good deal on a flat of tomatoes, a bushel of apples, or quarts of beets, cucumbers, or beans at the farmers’ market. There is a use for everything, and preserving food at home can be fun and very beneficial.

This week’s recipe: Refrigerator Pickled Beets

Food Preservation Resources: Preserving Rhubarb

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Compiled and shared by Cornell Cooperative Extension, by Martha Zepp, Program Assistant, Penn State Extension

Rhubarb is the vegetable that is enjoyed as a fruit. By itself, it provides a unique tart flavor, but combined with other foods to create sauces, pies, cakes, cobblers and jams provides us with delicious flavor combinations.

Selecting
Although fresh rhubarb is at its peak through May and June, harvesting can continue through the summer if plants have adequate water and don’t wilt from the intense heat of July and August. The quality is best if it can be pulled from the garden and used before stems have a chance to dry. Choose rhubarb stems that are bright pink, crisp, and free of disease or insect damage. Pull the stems from ground level instead of cutting them. At any given time, harvest less than one-third of the stalks from any one plant.

Do not eat rhubarb leaves, as they are poisonous.

Canning
Rhubarb can be canned or used in making jams and jellies. The National Center for Home Food Preservation has recipes for stewed rhubarb and rhubarb-strawberry jelly.

It is not safe to add any type of thickening to rhubarb before canning because the starch will interfere with the transfer of heat to the center of the jar during processing.

If you desire a thicker rhubarb sauce, add a little cornstarch, tapioca, or modified starch after you open the jar prior to serving.

Freezing
Rhubarb freezes well. Rhubarb can be packed into containers or freezer bags raw or pre-heated. Raw rhubarb gives a good quality frozen product without added sugar. According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, heating rhubarb in boiling water one minute and cooling promptly in cold water helps retain color and flavor. (Cut stalks in lengths to fit freezer container or bag before heating.) Watch the time closely as overcooking will cause it to lose its shape.

A dry pack simply involves putting either raw or blanched rhubarb into containers without sugar leaving ½ inch head space. Tray packs also work well with raw rhubarb. Spread a single layer of cut rhubarb on trays, freeze until firm (1 to 2 hours), then put in air tight bags or containers.

Rhubarb may also be frozen with sugar or syrup.

  •  For a sugar pack, mix 1 part sugar and 4 parts rhubarb and allow to stand until sugar is dissolved before packing into freezer containers.
  • A syrup pack involves covering the rhubarb with syrup made by combining 1 cup sugar with 2 cups water and allowing adequate head space for expansion–½ inch for pints and 1 inch for quarts in wide top containers.
  • In general, up to one-fourth of the sugar may be replaced with corn syrup or mild flavored honey.
  • When cooking with rhubarb that is frozen in syrup, remember to include the sugar as part of the recipe.

Freezing already cooked rhubarb dishes saves time when serving. Plain sweetened sauces or those thickened with tapioca or ThermFlo® freeze well. Breads, cakes, cobblers, and some pies freeze well, but don’t freeze rhubarb custard pies.

Source: https://extension.psu.edu/preserving-rhubarb, 5-8-2020.

Check out this video on How to Freeze Rhubarb to see both Dry Pack and Tray Pack methods

Provided by Diane Whitten, Nutrition Educator, Cornell Cooperative Extension. More food preservation resources can be found at http://ccesaratoga.org/nutrition-food/food-preservation.

Find rhubarb recipes here!