Perhaps the coronavirus pandemic will spawn a whole new generation of people who will feel compelled to keep their food supply and other items at a level even above “well stocked” at all times, similar to what happened to those who lived through the Great Depression.
To be truly prepared for a long-term emergency, you will feel more secure if, rather than relying on the grocery store, you can turn to your own garden and after gardening season to your freezer and pantry.
If you don’t already have a vegetable garden, this may be the year to start one. If you already have a garden, you might think about it in a different way, with a view toward preserving what you grow.
There are many ways of preserving fruits, vegetables and herbs, some easier than others, but all worthwhile skills to have.
The easiest preservation method is freezing. Fruits like strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, apples, pears, and melons can be spread on baking sheets and frozen before being transferred to plastic freezer bags. Apples and pears can be peeled or not depending on future use. Vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and zucchini are frozen in the same way.
Beans, asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, beets, cabbage, peas, sweet corn and carrots need a period of blanching before freezing. Blanching is immersing the vegetables in boiling water for a short period which slows the enzyme action and retards spoiling. After blanching, vegetables are submersed in ice water to stop the cooking process. Blanching times vary among vegetables. For directions search for Publication B3278 at https://learningstore.extension.wisc.edu/.
Canning is another option for food preservation. There is some equipment involved, but it is generally inexpensive. Don’t be frightened of canning! Just read all the directions before you start and follow them carefully. The Division of Extension has two publications to help you at https://learningstore.extension.wisc.edu/, B1159 for vegetables and B0430 for fruits.
Dehydrating is a third method of food preservation. Dehydrators range in price from $40 to about $160, or you can use your oven set at its lowest temperature. Vegetables such as shell beans dry right on the plant and can last for years in storage. Herbs like thyme, oregano, marjoram, dill weed and seed, peppermint and lemon balm can be air dried.
The oldest method of food preservation – fermentation – is making a comeback in a big way. This is an astonishingly large and fascinating topic. At the most basic level, you need just vegetables and salt. Two good books to get you started are Fermented Vegetables by Kirsten & Christopher Shockey and Ferment Your Vegetables by Amanda Feifer. Last fall I tried fermenting for the first time. I fermented basil and a radish-onion mixture, both of which turned out wonderfully.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation provides information on how to preserve fruits and vegetables by freezing, canning, dehydrating, fermenting and more. Visit https://nchfp.uga.edu/ and click on one of the choices under “How Do I?”
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