Pop quiz, hotshot! What would you do with an overabundance of produce when it comes time to harvest? We’ve been thinking and planning about this for a while. Since, for some unknown reason plants rot if you don’t eat them, I’ve been doing research into the best and tastiest ways of preserving the wonderful bounty-to-be. Note: My idea of tasty might be different than yours.

Pickling of course is a classic. I want to pickle cucumbers, carrots, green beans, watermelon rind, and anything else I can think of. I made a hot pack cucumber, green tomato, onion, and carrot medley last year. It was good, but this year I want to try the fermentation method of making just regular old dill cucumber pickles. While we’re on the subject of fermented preserving, I want to say that I am wanting to try and make some sauerkraut the same way. If what I’ve been reading is correct, I don’t even have to add water to the cabbage; just pour in the salt and it will draw all the moisture it needs from the shredded leaves. This is supposed to be a very safe way to preserve food, since you should end up with a pH of 4.6 or less. This means that there is so much acid in the food that it will kill most harmful bacteria. It’s actually a pretty cool process. Normally when food rots, all sorts of bacteria come and have a smörgåsbord on your rotting harvest. If you happen to add plenty of salt, then a lot of these bacteria can’t survive (Science: Since there’s so little water in the salty area, many bacteria will shrivel and raisin up because the water gets sucked out of their bodies). Our nice friends leuconostoc mesenteroides and lactobacillus plantarum come and turn all of that lovely sugar stored inside the plant into acid. So, not only is it too salty for baddies, but it’s also too acidic. Now, that doesn’t mean it is 100% safe, but I would still eat it!

I’m not going to touch much on freezing foods, probably only this sentence and the next, because it is so common and everyone knows about it. Our big problem is we don’t have good storage space if we freeze a lot of food; we might have to improve on that.

Now we are starting to narrow down our options. Before I go onto another major way of food preservation, I will ramble about a food preserving agent.

Sugar.

Yes, sugar. Sugar can preserve food almost the same way salt does…kinda. If you have enough sugar, it will combine with all of the water available, which will leave microorganisms very thirsty. This isn’t anywhere near a perfect solution, but it is a good start, and can keep food fresh for up to a few weeks. If you combine it with other methods of preserving, it’s just awesome. This is where most jellies, jams, syrups, and marmalades come in. Last year I made apple jelly and apple butter. This year I want to increase those into apple butter, apple jelly, mint jelly, rose jelly, garlic jelly, strawberry jam, watermelon butter, and a yet undecided herb-medley jelly. I’m also very excited, because I’ve recently found a recipe for watermelon syrup (it’s made much the same way as maple syrup). I think I am going to try and change it around some to make some watermelon hard candy (Woohoo! Homemade Jolly Ranchers!).

Something I’ve never tried before is to dry fruits and vegetables. I might try something like that this year if the fancy strikes me. If I have any apples left over from the jelly, jam, and butter, I could dry those. It might be nice to dry some of our herbs as well. Heck, I might even make some paprika! This sounds like it might be fun after all.

In the end though, where would all of this be if we didn’t have a way to store the food long-term? Yeah, I think we know where I’m going with this–canning. I did a little bit of canning last year, mostly jelly, and I loved it. I as-of-yet don’t have a pressure cooker, so I’m limited to what I am able to can (with a boiling water bath only). That magic number: 4.6 pH comes in to play again. If your food is at least that acidic you can safely (for the most part) can it without pressure cooking it. I’ve been daydreaming of the possibilities: salsas, relishes, chutneys, pickles, jams, jellies, sauces, stews, soups, meats, fruits, veggies, and who knows what else!

It’s time to start thinking about what we’re going to do with it all.