For years I handled the surplus of my garden harvest by quickly freezing the produce. By October I was throwing handfuls of cherry tomatoes into ziploc bags and putting them in the freezer, glad to be done with it all. I grated bags and bags and BAGS of cucumber and zucchini and threw those into the freezer as well.
My intent was to spend the winter making lovely sauces and zucchini bread with my summer harvest.
Except that never happened.
Last winter I didn't make one zucchini bread.
By the time I went to use the tomatoes and the grated zucchini they didn't seem fresh at all, despite spending months in the freezer. And, like I tell my mother every time I look into her freezer, "Shit doesn't stay good in the freezer forever!!"
Exactly.
So, I am sad to admit that I threw out all the bags of grated zucchini. A part of me died as I tossed them into the trash can.
The cucumber I kept because turning grated cucumber into relish, which I have been doing every time we run low, seems to be okay using some older produce from the freezer. But, zucchini put into baked goods has a freezery taste...yuck. Bye bye.
This year I was determined to do two things differently:
1. Deal with the produce immediately from garden to house instead of waiting until it piled up so high that it would take me three weeks to deal with it all;
2. Bake, can, cook with the produce AND THEN FREEZE instead of keeping them in their original state.
And, I think I succeeded.
And, I'm exhausted.
And, I will revamp my garden plan for next year planting less. (No, I probably won't...I will have forgotten by next spring the drudgery of today and plant just as much next year, maybe more.)
Here is a quick recap of what I planted in Garden2012:
2 zucchini
1 pickling cucumber
3 tomato plants (Roma, Orange Cherry, Early Girl)
4 Eggplant
17 Dark Leafy Greens (Kale, Mustard, Collard)
Onions; Garlic
Lettuces
Herbs: Basil, Oregano, Dill, Rosemary, Mint, Parsley, Thyme
6 Green Beans (2 varities)
And now the inventory list of all that I made with the harvest, give or take a jar/bag or two:
Pasta Sauce: 18 jars and ziploc bags
Tomato Jam (Smoked paprika and regular): 8 jars
Peach Jam: 8 jars
Plum Jam: 6 jars
Zucchini Relish: 9 jars (kinda like regular relish but...you guessed it...with zucchini)
Relish: 8 jars (made with the cucumbers)
Pickles: 6 jars
Pickled Beans/Sweet Peppers: 4 jars
Corn Broth: 2 jars
Vegetable Stock: 4 (4-quart container)
Pestos: 10 jars and ziploc bags (I used every combination I could think of using
the leafy greens, arugula, parsley, and basil. In some cases, I mixed the greens)
Zucchini Bread: 10 Loaves (and counting...)
Zucchini Sauce: 6 ziploc bags
Pear Butter: 4 jars
Dried Tomatoes: 4 ziploc bags
BBQ Sauce: 4 jars
Zucchini Chutney: 3 jars
Vegetable Filling: 4 bags (grilled eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, onions with oil and
rosemary; spread greek yogurt and balsalmic vinegar on french
bread. DELISH!)
Zucchini Sorbet: 1 tub (hey, we are getting desperate!)
Zucchini Custard Pie: (See above. Side note: it was actually pretty good!)
Obviously there are things here that did not grow in my garden, like peaches, plums, and pears, but I found incredibly easy (and oh-so-good!) jam recipes for the crock-pot on PinCrack...they take only a couple of hours cooking and so easy I can whip up fresh jam with very little effort!
This past weekend we managed to use up all the zucchini, thank God! I did put three small bags of grated zucchini in the freezer in 2-cup quantities and swear to gawd I will use them up before the end of the year!
I still have some green tomatoes in the back of my pantry turning slowly red and will make one more batch (which yields about 3 jars) of pasta sauce. The tomato jam was made because I was getting tired of making all that pasta and pizza sauce!! The jam is actually really good on a sliced turkey or ham sandwich. One night I made grilled cheese panini's and spread some of that jam on the bread...OMG, you gotta try it. I made two types of tomato jam: one super spicy with smoked paprika and another not hot.
I'm not really an official "canner" although I had hoped to attempt it this year (got lazy and then we bought a new fridge/freezer for the garage and I lost all desire to do the whole canning thing) allowing me to store the jars on my pantry shelves instead of in the refrigerator and freezer, but that didn't happen. The bad part about not canning "properly" (with the hot bath, etc.) is that it makes giving the goods away a little harder because people seem to be squeamish about canned goods that are required to stay in the fridge or freezer. If you are local (and don't mind keeping the jars in the fridge and/or freezer) and want something, drop me a line, I would love to share!
The family favorites so far: peach jam, pickles, relish, and the spicy tomato jam.
My intent was to spend the winter making lovely sauces and zucchini bread with my summer harvest.
Except that never happened.
Last winter I didn't make one zucchini bread.
By the time I went to use the tomatoes and the grated zucchini they didn't seem fresh at all, despite spending months in the freezer. And, like I tell my mother every time I look into her freezer, "Shit doesn't stay good in the freezer forever!!"
Exactly.
So, I am sad to admit that I threw out all the bags of grated zucchini. A part of me died as I tossed them into the trash can.
The cucumber I kept because turning grated cucumber into relish, which I have been doing every time we run low, seems to be okay using some older produce from the freezer. But, zucchini put into baked goods has a freezery taste...yuck. Bye bye.
This year I was determined to do two things differently:
1. Deal with the produce immediately from garden to house instead of waiting until it piled up so high that it would take me three weeks to deal with it all;
2. Bake, can, cook with the produce AND THEN FREEZE instead of keeping them in their original state.
And, I think I succeeded.
And, I'm exhausted.
And, I will revamp my garden plan for next year planting less. (No, I probably won't...I will have forgotten by next spring the drudgery of today and plant just as much next year, maybe more.)
Here is a quick recap of what I planted in Garden2012:
2 zucchini
1 pickling cucumber
3 tomato plants (Roma, Orange Cherry, Early Girl)
4 Eggplant
17 Dark Leafy Greens (Kale, Mustard, Collard)
Onions; Garlic
Lettuces
Herbs: Basil, Oregano, Dill, Rosemary, Mint, Parsley, Thyme
6 Green Beans (2 varities)
And now the inventory list of all that I made with the harvest, give or take a jar/bag or two:
Pasta Sauce: 18 jars and ziploc bags
Tomato Jam (Smoked paprika and regular): 8 jars
Peach Jam: 8 jars
Plum Jam: 6 jars
Zucchini Relish: 9 jars (kinda like regular relish but...you guessed it...with zucchini)
Relish: 8 jars (made with the cucumbers)
Pickles: 6 jars
Pickled Beans/Sweet Peppers: 4 jars
Corn Broth: 2 jars
Vegetable Stock: 4 (4-quart container)
Pestos: 10 jars and ziploc bags (I used every combination I could think of using
the leafy greens, arugula, parsley, and basil. In some cases, I mixed the greens)
Zucchini Bread: 10 Loaves (and counting...)
Zucchini Sauce: 6 ziploc bags
Pear Butter: 4 jars
Dried Tomatoes: 4 ziploc bags
BBQ Sauce: 4 jars
Zucchini Chutney: 3 jars
Vegetable Filling: 4 bags (grilled eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, onions with oil and
rosemary; spread greek yogurt and balsalmic vinegar on french
bread. DELISH!)
Zucchini Sorbet: 1 tub (hey, we are getting desperate!)
Zucchini Custard Pie: (See above. Side note: it was actually pretty good!)
Obviously there are things here that did not grow in my garden, like peaches, plums, and pears, but I found incredibly easy (and oh-so-good!) jam recipes for the crock-pot on PinCrack...they take only a couple of hours cooking and so easy I can whip up fresh jam with very little effort!
This past weekend we managed to use up all the zucchini, thank God! I did put three small bags of grated zucchini in the freezer in 2-cup quantities and swear to gawd I will use them up before the end of the year!
I still have some green tomatoes in the back of my pantry turning slowly red and will make one more batch (which yields about 3 jars) of pasta sauce. The tomato jam was made because I was getting tired of making all that pasta and pizza sauce!! The jam is actually really good on a sliced turkey or ham sandwich. One night I made grilled cheese panini's and spread some of that jam on the bread...OMG, you gotta try it. I made two types of tomato jam: one super spicy with smoked paprika and another not hot.
I'm not really an official "canner" although I had hoped to attempt it this year (got lazy and then we bought a new fridge/freezer for the garage and I lost all desire to do the whole canning thing) allowing me to store the jars on my pantry shelves instead of in the refrigerator and freezer, but that didn't happen. The bad part about not canning "properly" (with the hot bath, etc.) is that it makes giving the goods away a little harder because people seem to be squeamish about canned goods that are required to stay in the fridge or freezer. If you are local (and don't mind keeping the jars in the fridge and/or freezer) and want something, drop me a line, I would love to share!
The family favorites so far: peach jam, pickles, relish, and the spicy tomato jam.
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