Preserving Food

Preserving food is a great way to save all of the extra food you have grown from your garden or bought from the store for later use. This is nothing new. Our grandparents and great grandparents all had root cellars filled with jars and canisters of food, fruits, vegetables, and meats, as well as sacks of different varieties of grains and flour. My grandparents also had large freezers back in the 1960s where they would store hunted meats and fish from lakes, all cleaned and cut into serving portions.

We preserve food here at David's Garden Seeds®.

Some of our family eating at a local San Antonio restaurant. We love meat and veggies.Some of our family eating at a local San Antonio restaurant. We love meat and veggies.

If you are concerned about food scarcity due to the coronavirus that happened in March of 2020, this may all be new to you. We sold thousands upon thousands of packs of seeds from March through May to a lot of brand new gardeners who were concerned about the empty shelves at the grocery store. This is a wonderful thing to see so many young people wanting to learn how to garden. Let's face it--the produce you grow will taste way better and more fresh than any produce you can get at your favorite grocery store, plus you know that you did not spray any harmful chemicals on it to hurt your precious children.

You can get wonderful, Non-GMO garden seeds from David's Garden Seeds®. David and I have been packing and selling only the best seeds in the United States for almost 11 years now. We pack fresh seeds every day and ship them out all across the United States. We have an informative website that we write, giving you our best tips for a successful garden.

Preserving Food Methods

We made pickles! Who doesn't love homemade pickles that you make from your garden cucumbers?We made pickles! Who doesn't love homemade pickles that you make from your garden cucumbers?

Back in the old days, long before electricity, people had to dry their food (think jerky) salt it, or can it in glass jars starting in the 1800s by heating it to kill bacteria. They had to grind grain and store the flour in bags, or bake hard tack which was like crackers only harder for a long journey.

Everyone loves pickled beets. The beets are from our own garden. Preserving food is not hard to do.Everyone loves pickled beets. The beets are from our own garden. Preserving food is not hard to do.

We will talk about blanching and freezing food, canning food, and drying food by a dehydrator. I have used our food dehydrator on fruits but I will be using it on vegetables as well. We canned vegetables and I made jellies and jams from fruit when we lived in Colorado Springs, Michigan, and in San Antonio. It is fun to can. We are thinking about putting in a commercial kitchen here on the farm so we can do some canning and sell it to the public. We can sell it only if it is canned in a commercial kitchen. So we will see how it goes on that one.

Strawberry preserves that I made are so tasty.Strawberry preserves that I made are so tasty.

It will be the same thing with jams, jellies, and preserves. In order to make and sell them to the public, they have to be made (or "put up" as my grandmother, Mildred Pitcher, used to say) in a commercial kitchen.

Did you know that in the old days before electricity, the only ways to preserve meat were to salt it down and dry it out in thin strips (beef jerky) or to smoke it? Smoked meat is delicious and incredible. My favorite is the smoked turkey and I love a good smoked ham as well. If you have a good smoker, you can make delicious meat. David has smoked many a delicious turkey for me over the years. If you have your own food dehydrator, you can make your own beef jerky.

Preserving food in a dehydrator. Chopped leeks grown in our garden get dehydrated.Preserving food in a dehydrator. Chopped leeks grown in our garden get dehydrated.

Preserving Food Articles

Blanching Vegetables

Canning Garden Fruits And Vegetables

Dehydrating Food

Freezing Strawberries

Return from Preserving Food to Favorite Recipes


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