Preserving Your Garden: Traditional and Trendy Ways
Hey there, green thumbers! 🌱 If you're like me, you've spent all spring and the summer so far, lovingly tending to your garden, battling weeds, and maybe even chatting with your tomatoes. Now that your garden is bursting with goodies, it's time to think about preserving your hard work. We’re diving into traditional and trendy ways to keep your flowers, herbs, and veggies fresh and fabulous, all winter long. Plus, we’ll sprinkle in some kid-friendly tasks to get those little green thumbs involved!
Why Preserve?
Preserving your garden bounty is like giving your future self a gift. When the snow's flying and your boots are permanently wet, you'll thank yourself for the jars of pickles, dried herbs, and beautiful bouquets adorning your home. Preservation extends the joy of gardening and ensures you have home-grown goodies even when the garden is under a blanket of snow.
When to Preserve?
The best time to start preserving is when your plants are at their peak. For most of us in Keswick and the Georgina area, this means late summer to early fall. This is when your herbs are lush, your veggies are ripe, and your flowers are in full bloom. Get ready to roll up your sleeves and transform your harvest into treasures.
How to Preserve?
Let's break it down by category: flowers, herbs, and veggies.
Flowers
- Drying: The classic way to preserve flowers is by drying them. Snip your blooms when they're just opened, tie them in small bunches, and hang them upside down in a cool, dark place. In a couple of weeks, you'll have dried flowers perfect for wreaths, potpourri, or everlasting bouquets.
- Pressing: Channel your inner Victorian or Joanna Gaines and press your flowers. Place blooms between parchment paper and tuck them into a heavy book. In a few weeks, you'll have beautifully pressed flowers ready for framing or card-making.
- Resin Art: Trend alert! Encasing flowers in resin can create stunning pieces of art. From coasters to jewellery, this method preserves flowers in a sleek, modern way. It’s a bit more complex, but totally worth the Instagram-worthy results.
Herbs
- Drying: Bundle your herbs (think rosemary, thyme, sage) and hang them in a dry, airy place. Once they're crumbly to the touch, store them in airtight jars.
- Freezing: Chop your herbs and freeze them in ice cube trays with a bit of water or olive oil. Pop a cube into your soup or stew all winter long for a burst of fresh flavour.
- Herb Butter: Blend chopped herbs with softened butter, roll into a log, and wrap in parchment paper. Store in the freezer and slice off a piece to melt over veggies, steaks, or bread.
Vegetables
- Canning: Get ready for a canning party! This method is perfect for tomatoes, beans, and pickles. Sterilize your jars, prepare your veggies, and process them in a hot water bath or pressure canner. Follow a trusted recipe to ensure safety.
- Freezing: Blanch veggies like broccoli, peas, and carrots, then freeze them on a baking sheet before transferring to bags. This keeps them from sticking together in a big icy clump.
- Fermenting: Embrace your inner scientist and ferment veggies like cabbage (hello, sauerkraut) and cucumbers (pickles, anyone?). Fermented foods are great for your gut and taste amazing.
- Root Cellaring: If you're lucky enough to have a root cellar (or even a cool basement), you can store root veggies like potatoes, carrots, and beets in sand or sawdust. This method keeps them fresh and crisp all winter long.
Getting Kids Involved
Kids love getting their hands dirty, so let them help! Here are some kid-friendly tasks:
- Flower Drying: Have them help pick and bundle flowers.
- Herb Ice Cubes: Kids can chop herbs with kid-safe scissors and fill ice cube trays.
- Veggie Prep: Let them wash veggies and help pack jars for canning.
- Labelling Jars: Hand over the markers and let them design labels for your jars and containers.
So there you have it, preserving your garden's bounty isn't just practical; it's a joyful, rewarding process that lets you savour the flavours and beauty of summer all year long. So, gather your tools, rally the family, and dive into the wonderful world of preservation. Your future self (and your taste buds) will thank you!
Happy gardening! 🌻🍅🌿
Shannon, the Garden Girl
Shannon, the Garden Girl, shows an easy and quick way to can beets. Preserving is a great way to enjoy fresh vegetables all winter long, if they last that long!