So far I've put up almost 6 gallons of green beans from our garden and banana peppers. A sweet friend of ours has canned/put up all she wants to this season so she's passed on her goodies to me. We barter back and forth all the time.
So to my own stash I've put a whole banana box (!!) full of green beans and over 120 ears of corn :) I'll put notes at bottom how I freeze them up. I've hit the farmers market and got bell peppers put up in the freezer as well as goodies to round out our everyday meals. I didn't plant regular cucumbers this year so I've bought them from the Amish for CHEAP this year as well as good size onions from the market...what we put out was small bulb ones.
All in all pleased with the garden this year. Squash is coming on as well as later season peppers (hot ones) that will go in the freezer etc. People need to remember that not just your own garden goodies can be put up in the freezer. Anything you buy at the farmer's market or even in bulk at a grocery store (as long as it's fresh looking) can be froze or canned!!
*** To freeze green beans:
Snap beans to desired size cutting tips if necessary. You can freeze as french style but it's not as easy! Get a pot of water boiling, drop a good amount of beans into water. Allow to boil 5 to 7 minutes (this is called blanching). Prepare a boil of ice water and immediately put beans into the water and allow to cool completely. Once cool, spread beans out on baking sheet and flash freeze for about 30 minutes. Remove from freezer, put beans in freezer bags and freeze :)
**To freeze corn:
Husk and clean corn. Make sure you get the strings off the corn. Get a pot of water boiling and add corn on the cob to the water. Allow to cook about 8 minutes. Prepare a boil of ice water and add the blanched corn to the water. Allow to cool completely. I use a handy corn cutter for the next step but a regular knife works just as well (and I do that too lol). Cut the kernels off the ears into a cake pan. If you cut straight down it makes whole kernels if you scrape it the action makes cream corn. Allow corn to flash freeze for about 30 mins then put into freezer bags and freeze :) Some people cut off the kernels and freeze without cooking. I precook mine first. I'm also going to try to see how it will freeze completely on the cob but have heard mixed reviews on that. So we'll see.
REMEMBER TO NOT SALT THE WATER FOR ANYTHING YOU ARE GOING TO FREEZE!!! It will break down the skin/membrane of the food over time and cause it to not freeze well.
***To freeze tomatoes:
Drop tomato into boiling water for 1 min. Remove and put into ice water. Skin will come lose and be easy to remove. Simply put the whole tomato (I put more than one per bag!) into a freezer bag and freeze. This will allow of stewed tomatoes, small batches of juice or homemade spaghetti sauce/paste later :)
*** To freeze zucchini:
Deseed it if it has large seeds. Some will ,some won't. Use a cheese grater and pull the zucchini, skin and all, over the larger grater holes. The green skin gives the bread recipes color and zing and will work fine in stir fry. Then simply bag it up in 2 cup bags (most recipes are 2 cups) for bread or desired amount for stirfry. Then freeze. You can also cube it up in uniform cubes if you use it in soups or casseroles. Then bag and freeze.
Seed saving: (Plants must be heirloom or seeds won't work!)
Tomato: pick a tomato, squeeze or use a spoon to pull the inside out of the tomato and into a mason jar (or any glass jar). Repeat with desired amount of tomatoes. Don't worry if pulp gets into the jar too. Once you have your amount in there add a few tablespoons of water, put a coffee filter on top of jar and rubberband it on. Sit in a good spot and don't move it around for about 3 to 5 days. A mold will start to grow don't freak out lol Simply remove the mold with a spoon (this is just the slimy membrane being removed from the seed...that is what keeps a seed from growing inside the tomato!), dump the seeds into a fine mesh strainer and gently wash seeds. Spread seeds out on a coffee filter and allow to dry. You may have to change the filter at least once. When a tomato rots in the garden the seeds go into the ground, winter breaks the membrane off the seed and it regrows in Spring. This just speeds up the process :)
Cucumber: Pick a nice smallish cucumber that is ready to pick. Allow to sit for up to 2 wks in a safe spot. Then simply cut, take seeds out and allow to dry out.
Beans: Allow a few beans to dry on the vine. Simply pop the beans out of the inside and you have your next round of seeds.
Important to note that once your seeds are dry you need to put them in an envelope, seal, label and then put somewhere cold (freezers work well) or some place cool where they won't get direct sunlight etc. Then you are ready for the next planting season.
Seed saving is as old as time. If you save seeds then you don't rely on manufacturers every year, you can keep certain plants alive and going that would die out with seed saving and you control how the seed has been treated. We are losing certain plants at high rates and certain breeds of veggies because people are going away from seed saving gardens and using hybrids!!
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