Broken Promise

I made a promise that I would not use my wonky photos for my new website. Stock photos are much sharper and certainly more professional. But old habits die hard. I found myself taking a photo for this post before I remembered my new format. So, I guess I will let the photo muse lead the way.

As is evident in the photo, I am elbow deep in garden harvesting. My countertop was a bloodbath of tomato juice as I skinned and chopped tomatoes for the freezer. Three kinds of peppers were de-seeded and sliced to join the tomatoes in the freezer. Zucchini was sliced and dried for zucchini chip snacks. Cucumbers were sliced and brined for refrigerator pickles. Green beans were fermented into a batch of dilly beans. They joined the fermented asparagus and sour pickles in the refrigerator. And a cutting of fall arugula will make its way into pesto.

I grew up in a home where food preservation was a way of life in the summer and I continued that tradition during the early years of my marriage. At some point my preservation diligence wobbled off the rails. I do not know if it was due to my lazy gene expressing itself or the fact that I started teaching full time. I suspect it was a combination of the two.

The circumstances this summer were such that we did not have any extended family members able to use our extra produce. We knew this would be the case when we planted the garden but we went full steam ahead just the same. Fortunately, we have a couple of neighbors who are willing to take few extra tomatoes or cucumbers. Zucchini is a tougher sell but we persevere. And we preserve.

It is certainly helpful that I retired from teaching. I do not have to complete household tasks at warp speed, especially when the calendar flips to August and September. I now have a renewed interest in preserving our excess produce. My goal is to tackle at least one project each day until the flow of produce begins to ebb. My definition of project is very loose and can be as simple as slicing a few peppers for the freezer. Truthfully, most of my projects are simple. I do not make elaborate salsas or fancy tomato soups for canning. I do not have a pressure canner or shelves full of empty mason jars. Freezing, dehydrating and fermenting are my methods of choice. No canning lids required.

I will use my chopped frozen banana peppers in dishes that have a southwestern flair. I use my frozen hot peppers in meals needing a little extra heat blast. My frozen chopped tomatoes are perfect for soups, stews and hotdishes. The fermented veggies add a sour, crunchy element to any meal. The refrigerator pickles will be gone before we are tired of them and the pickled beets will see the same fate. The zucchini bread will be used when we are looking for a treat with our coffee in the dead of winter. And my dried herbs will add zip to many, many meals.

Cheers to the power of a garden during spring, summer, fall and winter!

(p.s. My pro tip for preservation is this: Never, and I mean NEVER touch your eyes after chopping hot peppers. I may or may not have seared away one of my cataracts.)