Living in a cold climate with a short growing season - food preservation is a must. In order to be able to eat homegrown food all year round, we have to store it away. Here are 5 ways to preserve food that we use. Long time storage Into this category fall simple dry storage, root collaring, and ...
Food Preserving
Canning Dried Beans
Beans are a big part of a whole-food plant-based diet. The easiest way to have them available is by canning dried beans. Since we have a glass cooktop, we do all our canning on it. Here is how we pressure can dried beans on a glass cooktop. It works great for us, take what you like and leave what ...
Using a Water-Sealed Fermentation Crockpot
If you have followed our blog for any length of time you will know that we love fermented food. If you are new here, welcome! I would assume that you came here to learn about using a water-sealed fermentation crockpot. We have been huge advocates for simple fermenting using whatever pots, ...
Canned Zucchini Salad
Canned zucchini salad is an old Russian recipe using zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes. These 3 summer vegetables combined and spiced up with lots of garlic make a very delicious dish. Served as a side dish with some baked potatoes, or whole-grain rice, it makes a real dinner. Traditionally the ...
A Dozen Ways to Preserve Apples
It's apple time around here and apples are everywhere. Apples are one of the fruit crops that do well in cold climate and short growing season. We sure need a dozen ways to preserve apples. We do not always make them all, but love to have the options for many varieties. The apples we can grow ...
How to Freeze Berries
How to freeze raspberries, blueberries, currant, strawberries, and other berries. The good thing about most berries is that they are great fresh or frozen. Berries are the most nutritious in the fruit category, plus they grow well in cold climate. We grow many varieties of berries in our garden ...
Canned Zucchini Spread (Ikra) Recipe
Finally, I'm sharing with you the Canned Zucchini Spread (Ikra) recipe that I mentioned in the dozen ways to preserve zucchini post. I was not sure what to call it, spread, relish or condiment? Zucchini Ikra is delicious on bread or on top of a baked potato. It can also be enjoyed as a side dish or ...
Dehydrating Greens
Growing your greens is great, eating them is better. Seriously, to grow greens is very simple, as of right now, in mid-August, our whole garden is green. Most of the greens growing are edible, including some common weeds. Do we eat them all? No. With the abundance also comes pickiness. We have ...
How to Freeze Herbs
Fresh herbs from the garden are so aromatic and delicious. However, the time frame when fresh herbs like parsley, basil, cilantro, and dill are at its best is short. To preserve the freshness for longer, herbs can be frozen. Here is how to freeze herbs. What herbs to freeze All herbs can be ...
Preparing and Storing Canning Jars
The canning season is a busy time of the year. Preparing and storing canning jars so that they are ready to be refilled helps a lot. Yes, it eliminates a few steps of work during the cunning season. This can be done all throughout the winter as jars get emptied out, or beforehand in spring. Just ...