Preserving the Harvest

This was my recent contribution to the CSA newsletter. (CSA is short for Community Supported Agriculture, the main way we sell our produce. Over 100 families receive a pre-packed box of fruits and vegetables from June-October. They pay us up front for the season, thus 'supporting' our farm in the pre-harvest costs of growing the food.)

As you may have noticed from the recent plethora of choices in your box, the time of plenty has begun. Our fields are beginning to pump vegetables and leftover green, red, white, and yellow filled boxes have begun to line the walls of our walk-in, begging for a second chance.

And so the time of preserving the harvest has commenced. In the late-nights and off-hours, you can find the large canning pot full of boiling water, steaming up the windows of the farm center, sentinels of sterilized jars lining the stainless steal counters, chatty voices swapping recipes into the wee hours. I thought I would share some of the things canned thus far, to pique your interest and inspire your own preserving fervor. Jams have included blackberry, apricot, blueberry, plumb, and strawberry, as well as rose petal jelly. Preserved vegetables have recently taken off, with dilled beats, cumin carrots, and pickled fennel as the forerunners. We look forward to the near onset of string beans to dill, zucchinis to spice, and after that tomatoes to salsa and sauce. We recommend that if you happen to frequent the local farmers markets, you stop by the Happy Girl preserved food booth and peruse their creative cans for ideas. And as reference guides, we collectively suggest The Ball Blue Book of Preserving, The Joy of Pickling, Putting Things Up, and The Busy Person’s Guide to Preserving Food. Happy canning!