It is time to prepare for Preserving Vegetables during the winter months.
Are you looking for a healthy option to your daily diet? Then homesteading and gardening is your answer. For a small outlay, you can reap handsome dividends in the form of health and wellness at low cost. Your backyard provides you with ample land to cultivate a garden of vegetables and raise livestock for a constant source of nutritious sustenance.
Get More Homesteading and Self-Reliance Tips. Subscribe!
Since we are coming up on the Fall Harvest, in this post we are going to share some thoughts on…
Keeping Your Vegetables Fresh Through Winter.
You don’t have to waste your vegetables in winter. By following a few simple steps, you can make your vegetable crop last right through the cold period, even six months after you’ve picked them from your garden. Here’s what you should do:
- Cold storage. Pack your turnips, cabbage and carrots in a freezer. Keep them in cold storage just after you’ve harvested and washed them.
- Freeze or can. Summer squash and peas can be kept in your freezer. Beans and tomatoes are better canned. Make sure you’re careful with your tomatoes as they bruise easily.
An old refrigerator will be enough for storing crops harvested from a small garden. If you have a much larger harvest, you might want to consider building a root cellar. You can convert a section of your yard to a root cellar or you might consider building it under your house. To keep the frost out, you have to insulate the door properly. Your garden produce will remain fresh in the cold cellar throughout winter.
Check your crops carefully to make sure they’re not diseased or damaged. Cure your potatoes for two weeks at 70oF and pack them in partly wet sawdust. They keep well in temperatures below 40oF. For garlic and onions, spread them out on shelves in a place that’s at least 60% humid – perhaps in a chilly basement.
Adequately storing your garden produce can provide you with fresh vegetables throughout winter. And you’ll soon be brimming with health and vigor with hardly a dent in your pocket!
