Food Preservation for the Cold Months

I have spoken in the blog of raising all of the food that one can eat in a small area. But in the Maritime NorthWest of the US, we have short, cool growing season. How do we make our food last all year? The answer is that we re-learn some of the food storage methods known by our grandparents and great grandparents. We also adjust the foods we grow and eat to ones that will do well in a cooler climate. Let's look at food preservation first.

There are four methods of food preservation that I can think of. You may think of others.

Cold Storage -- this works for potatoes, carrots and other (mainly tuber) foods. All you need is a cool, dry place. The idea is to slow down the natural sprouting of these tubers to keep them fresh for several months.

Drying -- Some foods can be dried. Seed foods like beans and peas when dried will keep for years. Fleshy foods will keep for several months. We'll have a lot more to say about this later when the times comes to dry foods.

Canning -- I remember my Grandmother canning lots vegetables and fruits. My mother did less so, and mainly fruits -- and tomatoes. I have since learned that canning low acid foods is quite risky and the risk is primarily botulism, a very serious poison that can develop in canned food. High acid foods like tomatoes and most fruits can very well. We will also talk more about canning when the time comes.

Freezing -- Most vegetable and fruit foods can be preserved by freezing. It is easy and the food tastes good. Freezing requires a reliable source of energy to maintain the freeze, and it is proper to be concerned about that. We will also talk a lot more about freezing later.

Today, I am off to build more SWAMP boxes and to start sowing the first seeds of the year: lettuce, radishes, onions, and to start some tomato plants to use in demonstrations in April.