We have found freezers either on the side of the road or from families who want to give them away for free. Whenever we pick, I spend the next day or two washing and freezing the berries (I do it on trays first, so they don’t clump together in the bags). I also buy things like a large box of peaches to slice and freeze as well.

With any extra berries (beyond what we have room to freeze), as well as a case of apples and pears, I do canning. This year I am making syrups, preserves (where the fruit is just whole or sliced in syrup, which I use honey for), and jams, as well as applesauce.

The books I rely on for canning on a couple of old ones: “Putting Food By” and “Putting it up With Honey”. I also discovered this blog this year:http://thesimplewomanscannery.blogspot.com/

Another thing that I do sometimes is if I find apples (organic) or bananas on discount, I dehydrate them into apple rings and banana chips. My kids adore them as snacks, and they are so easy and healthy (and cheap!).

I already have my freezer or I might feel differently. I use it for stocking up on lots of items, especially when on sale, and I can’t remember the last time we ran out of bread because I always have several loaves in the freezer. It’s definitely worth it to me.

Also, I’d love to have people comment on healthy ways to do this – low salt/sodium, low sugar, etc.

Thank you Crystal!

http://gettingfreedom.blogspot.com/2008/07/blessings.html

Did you know that you can freeze EGGS?? You break them open, gently mix them (no air bubbles) then freeze them with 1/2″ of headspace. Apparently… 3 Tbsp. equals one egg. I’m so excited to try this… my cousin has given us TONS of farm fresh eggs!

We ‘landscape’ with fruit trees and some edible ‘flowers’ (flowering kale, carrots, strawberries, blueberries). I freeze, can and dehydrate peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, pears, apples, nectarines, LOTS of apples (we have a small orchard, about 40 apple trees plus the other stuff). Everything is grown without pesticides and herbicides, we fertilize with composted manure from neighbors with horses or llamas, and the fruit is just lovely!

My daughter’s favorite snacks are dehydrated peaches, apples and – zucchini!

Funny that you should write about this topic today, as I was just thinking I would like to get back to this. I used to grow and preserve all kinds of things, but got away from it since having kids. Now they are old enough to help out, and enjoy the “pick your own” places. Just today my daughter and I picked blueberries for $1.50/lb, which is less than half the rate of store bought in this area.

Fruits are fairly easy to start with. I love to can applesauce, but you can easily freeze that too. Tomatoes–sauce, juice, ketchup, salsa, or just plain old tomatoes are easy. Anything pickled-zucchini relish taste great and is usually fairly cheap to make.

The biggest disadvantage to canning is the prep work-not only the produce but also getting the jars ready. And the heat! It just seems wrong to be introducing all that steam in to your house in August! But it’s so rewarding to see all those colorful jars of canned goods sitting on your pantry shelf, or pulling a bag of applesauce out of the freezer that you made yourself.

Your local county extension office will have a lot of helpful information on how to can and it is free.

The supplies needed in the beginning can be an expense but so well worth it because you will use the items over and over again each year. A Hot Water Bath pot and a Pressure Canner are both needed as well as pint and quart size jars. Wal-Mart usually carries all that is needed.

I would suggest finding some local person who would let you come over to help them; the quickest way to learn is hands on!

Jerri

Love your blog!

Hugs,
Carmen