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Preserving the Harvest: Beginner’s Guide to Freezing, Canning, and Dehydrating (+ Supply List)

in In the Garden· Summer Garden· The Beginner's Garden Podcast· Vegetables

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Whether you grow your garden to stock up a year’s worth of some foods like I do, or maybe your small space has produced more than you can eat fresh, you will want to look at options for preserving the harvest.

While most people think of canning, this is only one option when it comes to preserving your hard-earned bounty.

In this episode of the Beginner’s Garden Podcast and article below, I share the basics of three common methods of preserving: freezing, canning, and dehydrating.

(Want to go directly to the supply list? Click here.)

beginner's guide to preserving the harvest

*links below contain affiliate links

Freezing: the easiest way to preserve the harvest

Freezing is the simplest, needs the fewest supplies, and is popular with beginner gardeners.

Basic freezing supplies

Food Saver. I love my Food Saver. I was nervous when I first invested in it because I wasn’t sure it would be worth it. But it has been completely worth it! The Food Saver removes the air from the bag so that it takes up less space in the freezer and also keeps your food fresh longer. You can buy quart or gallon sized bags, but I use the rolls so that I can make each bag just the size I need.

Food Saver Rolls are my favorite way to use my Food Saver. This is an older model, but it has been going strong for years! You can purchase a similar model here.

High quality zip top bags. If you’re not ready to invest in a Food Saver, you can use zip top bags. But you should know that brand absolutely matters! I’ve tried using the less expensive store brand and they don’t work as well. Pay more for the quality bags so that your home grown food stays fresh as long as possible. I have had the best results with these.

Food processor. Another item I wouldn’t be without is my food processor with a shredder and slicer attachment. I use it to shred zucchini to freeze and put in zucchini bread later. I use the slicer to slice carrots to freeze. It is so much quicker to use the food processor than trying to get all of my vegetables ready to freeze by hand.

Should You Blanch Vegetables Before Freezing?

Blanching means that you boil your vegetable for a little while depending on the vegetable then you plunge it into ice water. This has been confusing for me! One year I blanched all of my corn and it turned out well. The next year I read a tutorial on freezing without blanching and my corn was ruined. You want to make sure you trust your sources!

The first book I ever read on freezing garden vegetables was The Beginner’s Guide to Preserving Food at Home. This book contains a list of what vegetables require blanching and which do not.

From this book, these vegetables should be blanched before freezing: beets, carrots, whole kernel corn, and green peas. Those that are optional and don’t have to be blanched are green beans, broccoli florets, cabbage, corn on the cob in its husk, and squash.

Best Tips for Freezing Vegetables

When you’re getting your vegetables ready to freeze, make sure to remove all of the air from the bag. A Food Saver will do it for you, but if you’re using zip top bags you’ll want to press out all the air you possibly can. The air produces oxidation and reduces the quality of your food.

Best Vegetables and Fruit to Preserve by Freezing

Deciding whether you should preserve something by freezing or canning is a personal decision. There are some vegetables, like green beans, that my family prefers canned while your family might prefer frozen.

I shred and freeze zucchini and squash to use later in zucchini bread, and some people slice it up to use it in stir fry.

Peppers and onions are perfect to flash freeze. After chopping, lay them on a cookie sheet to freeze; then scoop them into a bag to store them.

food saver for freezing vegetables

I also freeze berries. Raspberries and blackberries are so fragile, flash freezing is the way I prefer, but other berries like blueberries do not need that treatment. The important thing to remember about freezing berries is to wait to wash them until you’re ready to use your frozen berries. Do not wash them before freezing.

I also like to freeze corn, carrots, and basil pesto. We use basil pesto at least once a month, and by freezing we eat basil pesto year-round!

As you can see, you have many options when it comes to freezing vegetables!

Canning: the most common way of preserving the harvest

Home canning has experienced a resurgence in recent years, and for good reason! With canning, you can save freezer space and put aside plenty of food for the off-season.

There are two types of canning: pressure canning and water bath canning. It is important to know the difference! You can hear my conversation with Melissa K. Norris on getting started with home canning to learn more. It can feel complicated to get started but once you learn the basics it isn’t hard! If I could start canning my first gardening season, anyone can.

canning supplies for canning tomatoes and other vegetables

Basic canning supplies for beginners

Pressure canner and/or water bath canner. I’d recommend starting with a pressure canner and/or a water bath canner. If you want to can any vegetables like green beans, shelling peas, or black eyed peas then you must have a pressure canner.

The good news is that you can also use your pressure canner as a water bath canner, but you can’t use a water bath canner as a pressure canner. If you plan to do any pressure canning at all, go with the pressure canner.

Only start with a water bath canner if that’s all you plan to do. You can use your water bath canner for pickles, jellies, fruit, and some tomato recipes. You can use a big stock pot if you can’t invest in a water bath canner just yet.

Canning Starter Kit. I’d also recommend a canning starter kit that includes a jar lifter, a funnel, and a magnetic wand for your lids. It makes everything so much easier! You will also need mason jars, lids, and rings. You can find jars at yard sales or given from friends and family. Let people know you’re looking and you never know where they’ll come from!

Kitchen Aid Fruit and Vegetable Strainer Attachment. Since I can a lot of tomatoes, I recommend the fruit and vegetable strainer with food grinder that attaches to a KitchenAid mixer. You can watch my video here where I talk more about canning tomatoes. This helps with any tomato sauce or paste.

Canning Resources. I recommend the Ball Blue Book of canning to everyone getting started with canning. It is a great place to start and then you can go on to other recipes.

If you want a more step-by-step approach (someone to walk you through the process), I highly recommend this FREE home canning Master Class from Melissa K. Norris. I watched it and learned so much I didn’t know, and I have been canning for years!

Best Tips for Canning Vegetables and Fruit

Always follow approved recipes! You want to make sure that the recipes you use have been approved for safety, and the Ball Blue Book of Canning is a great place to start.

Also, follow home canning experts like Melissa K. Norris, Jill Winger of the Prairie Homestead, and Theresa Loe from Living Homegrown.

Best Vegetables and Fruit for Canning

I can almost all of my tomato products (click here for recipes), green beans, black eyed peas, pickles, relish, pickled okra, jam, jelly, and corn.

Outdoor Canning

I’ve recently discovered the joys of outdoor canning! Using my Camp Chef Explorer Double Burner Outdoor Stove, I don’t have to worry about the kitchen heating up in the heat of the summer. Plus, the propane quickly brings water to boil for sterilizing jars, water bath canning, and pressure canning.

Dehydrating: a lesser-known option for preserving your harvest

Basic Supplies for Dehydrating

Dehydrator. The main appliance I recommend is a dehydrator. You can use your oven, but it needs to be very low at 100-120 degrees. My oven doesn’t go that low so I would need to keep my oven open and check on it frequently. It can work, but buying a dehydrator is well worth it.

nesco dehydrator for preserving herbs and vegetables

Mortar and Pestle. The second item on my list is a mortar and pestle. I asked for this for Christmas and I use it every day when I dehydrate herbs. A bonus is that my kids love using it and they can help in the kitchen!

Best Tips for Dehydrating Herbs

Pick the herbs in the morning because this is when they have the highest concentration in fragrant oils that you want.

Make sure they’re fully dry. If you are having any trouble with grinding your herbs, it could be that they’re not completely dry. If they’re not fully dry, they could spoil as they’re stored.

nesco gardenmaster for dehydrating herbs and vegetables

Getting Started: What to Dehydrate First

I like to dehydrate herbs like parsley, dill, and mint for cooking and teas. I also dry calendula and lavender flowers for personal care products. If I have extra garlic, I dry it and grind it in an old coffee grinder. It’s the best garlic powder I’ve ever had. And I enjoy drying cayenne peppers for cayenne pepper spice or crushed red pepper flakes.

Beginner’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest: Conclusion

All gardeners will begin adjusting their preserving methods as they learn from year to year. My guide definitely doesn’t cover every possible option. But my hope is that for beginners, this guide can help you get started and make the most of preserving your harvest this season!

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Filed Under: In the Garden, Summer Garden, The Beginner's Garden Podcast, Vegetables

Previous Post: « Garden Irrigation Best Practices with Joe Lamp’l
Next Post: How to Tell when Melons are Ripe and Ready to Pick »

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Comments

  1. Kristy says

    July 25, 2019 at 1:34 pm

    Hi Jill! I love all your episodes but wanted to say that the digging deeper portion of this one really resonated with me and almost brought me to tears! I really appreciate your authenticity and willingness to embrace and own up to your imperfections, as I feel this makes you more relatable and trustworthy – important qualities in a teacher! (And, yes, you are a teacher. 😉 )

    Also, a tip! When freezing produce in ziplock bags, I use a reusable metal straw to suck the air out prior to zipping shut. If done right, the ziplock “hugs” the produce, similar to the tight seal created by a food saver.

    Thanks so much for everything you do! I’ve learned so much from you and am excited for future episodes. 🙂

    Reply
    • Jill says

      July 26, 2019 at 7:22 am

      Thank you so much for your kind words, Kristy! And that’s a great tip about the ziploc bags and a straw. Great workaround for when I don’t want to haul out my FoodSaver for smaller projects. Thank you!

      Reply

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Notice a difference between the cabbage seedlings Notice a difference between the cabbage seedlings on the left and the ones on the right?
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I just love testing different things in my garden, and for these seedlings I tested two treatments I’ve never tried before: foliage feeding and a “root dip” using the plant growth product, Organic REV.
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The plants on the left were untreated; the ones on the right were treated.
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Then last Friday I transferred the seedlings into these larger pots, but before I did it, for the plants on the right, I dipped the root ball in a 50/50 REV/water mixture, saturating the soil and roots before transplanting. Again, the plants on the right were the only ones that got this root dip.
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The soil all plants are growing in is the same: a potting mix plus some Plant Tone organic fertilizer.
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While all the seedlings (treated and untreated) are growing in this fertile soil medium, what Organic REV is supposed to do is appearing to prove true — at least in this test. It helps plants more efficiently take up and use the nutrients that are present in the soil.
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I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to harvesti I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to harvesting from my garden in the winter. It snowed today, even! (Okay, just a dusting, and it already melted, but in central Arkansas, any snow is worth celebrating! 😂)
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Although I’ve grown cabbage in the spring before, this is my first time harvesting a fall crop. (My last two attempts were thwarted by hungry rabbits or rogue hens 😡.)
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I have several more plants that I’m hoping to harvest from now that the days are getting longer and maybe the heads will start growing again. And I also have a new crop started in my grow room.
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Four-season gardening may sound daunting but I assure you, fall and winter gardening is almost a hands-off endeavor. The only thing it really takes is a little planning (and some nurturing in the beginning).
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And the reward of picking from your garden in the winter (when your climate allows) can’t be overstated. It’s fabulous!!
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If you’re interested in learning how to incorporate more seasons in your garden growing, I have several exciting new resources coming up, starting with tomorrow’s first podcast of the new year on deciding if indoor seed starting is right for you!
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This fall-planted parsley 🌱 has done really wel This fall-planted parsley 🌱 has done really well in my Greenstalk Vertical planter. I recently harvested the lower leaves and dried them for use in the kitchen. But the rest of the plant is still growing well, and I expect to harvest from it for months to come.
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I planted the parsley along with other plants in the Greenstalk planter in September. Although the lettuce is done and I harvested the celery, the herbs like parsley, cilantro, chives, and oregano are going strong!
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I’ve spent the better part of two days selecting I’ve spent the better part of two days selecting and ordering seeds for this year. My husband thinks my intensive research is a bit over the top. Maybe.... 🤔
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But here’s what I do:
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1️⃣ Select the seed companies I’ll purchase from. Most of my orders were from @southernexposureseed because I’m in the SE US and the varieties there fit my climate well. Next, I placed a large order from @territorialseedcompany (great selection, informative catalog, and some of the best prices). From there, I supplemented with seeds from @bakercreekseeds (high quality heirloom seeds, highly dependable, free shipping), @johnnys_seeds (unique varieties for different needs than I can get elsewhere), and @seed_savers_exchange (heirloom seeds with a great mission).
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2️⃣ I went through my top 3 catalogs, circling varieties I was interested in.
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3️⃣ I entered each variety in my Seed & Plant Research sheet from my Complete Garden Planner, noting unique characteristics, days to maturity, and price. (Not all seed packets are equal in quantity so it pays to be a savvy shopper.)
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4️⃣ I chose which seeds to purchase.
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I usually plan my entire garden before ordering seeds, but I was a bit nervous about the seed supply (thankfully only a few varieties were sold out), so I did my best in choosing what I’d need.
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The process was LONG but a great way to spend the last two days of 2020 — with HOPE for the 2021 garden season! 💕
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My greenhouse lettuce is coming along! 🥬 I expe My greenhouse lettuce is coming along! 🥬 I expect now that the day length ☀️ will be increasing, the growth will accelerate in the next couple of months.
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Would love to hear your personal experience using Would love to hear your personal experience using shredded leaves as mulch! 🍂
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🌲 The trees on my property are mainly pine trees, so I’ve never had fallen leaves to collect and use as mulch. (That’s mainly why I use wood chips.) But when my dad offered to collect and bag up his leaves and give them to me, of course I said yes!
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Twenty-five bags later I realized I needed to figure out how to best use them. I knew they’d blow away if I just dumped them on the garden and they’d take forever to break down if I threw them in the compost pile. So I watched a few YouTube videos and settled on a leaf shredder.
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(A lot of people use lawn mowers to mulch their leaves but we don’t have a mower like that. I also tried the weed-eater as an immersion blender in a trash can idea once and it was a disaster.)
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I LOVED this leaf shredder! It was really easy to use and I shredded 25 bags in just a couple of hours. Most people shred the leaves into bags but I created a simple wired bin to collect mine, and I shredded the leaves directly into it. I applied the leaves to several beds already but I have half of them still in the bin to use later.
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