Grow your own herbs, vegetables and fruit!

[Knitting Novice]

This is a big money saver, and nothing beats the taste of food fresh from the garden. Its only a few dollars for a packet of seeds and you get a heap of vegatables from them.

One of the best things to have is a lot of fruit trees, especially if you have kids. The first year of fruit you get your money back from buying the trees. Where we are now, we are lucky enough to have established orange, mandarin, lemon, fig, nashi and locut trees, and passionfruit and grape vines.

[Holly]

Veggie gardens are making a comeback in a huge way. Even folks without yards are container gardening.

The rain/sun mix this spring has been wonderful for my veggies. They are all out there thriving.
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[knittingmama]

DH works at the post office and he said that many more people than usual got seeds. Even driving through town we see lots of little plots where there weren't any before. Given the scares with food, and the cost, growing our own is becoming increasingly important.
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[A_nony_mouse]

[Ellie]

We have successfully grown some of our own veges for the past 4 years or so. We currently have cabbage, brussels sprouts, celery, cauliflower, onions, lettuce in now, all except the sprouts and cabbage are ready for harvesting. This week we added cucumber, carrots, capsicum, tomato which should be ready in a few weeks. We eat heaps of salad veges in summer. We also grow rhubarb and I have seeds for the oxheart tomato and cape gooseberry which will go in shortly.

[Holly]

I did pie pumpkin for the first time this year. I'm really anxious to see how that works out for me.
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[knittingmama]

Are your pumpkins ready? Are you going to can them, or do you have a root cellar?
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[Holly]

They are not quite ready....my plan, unless you have other advice, would be to roast them and then freeze the puree measured in cups.
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[knittingmama]

That's what I did the last time we had pumpkins. It worked out just fine.


I am doing tomatoes right now. Zillions and zillions of tomatoes.
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[Holly]

Did you know you could freeze them whole? Have we already talked about this?

Anyhoooooo......just wash them, dry them and put them in some sort of a freeze bag or container. When you need to use one just take it out of the freezer, cut around the stem, pop it in a small bowl of water and the peel slips right off. No more blanching when you have so many to do.

I have tried this and it works perfectly.
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[knittingmama]

One of my friends used a food sealer to put hers in the freezer last year. She said they were good enough to use in salad. I am just waiting for the canner water to boil. I didn't make sauce out of these; just peeled them and put them in jars. I don't really mind. I get to knit while I'm waiting.

Can brussels sprouts be frozen whole? We have a boatload of those coming soon.
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[A_nony_mouse]

Home Preservation
The best home preservation method for Brussels sprouts is freezing. As with any vegetable, Brussels sprouts will need to be blanched prior to freezing.
1. Select firm, young, tender heads. Examine heads carefully to make sure they are free from insects.
2. Trim, removing coarse outer leaves. Wash thoroughly. Sort into small, medium and large sizes.
3. Over high heat, bring one gallon of water to a rolling boil in a blanching pot. Blanch one pound of Brussels sprouts at a time. Start counting blanching time as soon as the water returns to a boil.
4. Blanch small heads 3 minutes, medium heads 4 minutes and large heads 5 minutes.
5. To cool, plunge the blanching basket of Brussels sprouts into an ice water bath. Use one pound of ice per pound of vegetables in one gallon of water.
6. Cooling should take the same amount of time as blanching, depending on the size of the heads.
7. Drain, pack into zip-closure bags or freezer containers, label and date. Freeze for up to one year at zero degrees or below.

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Preparation:

Wash and soak in salt water (1 tablespoon of salt per quart of water) for about 30 minutes to flush out any insects or worms. Trim outer leaves and sort according to size.

Blanching Time:
Blanch in boiling water; boil small heads for 3 minutes, medium heads 4 minutes and large heads for 5 minutes. Cool quickly.

Pack:
No headspace required.

Yield:
1 pounds of Brussels sprouts = approximately 1 pint frozen.
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Maximum Storage Time: 10 to 12 months at 0ºF.

Thawing: Brussels sprouts can be added to dishes for cooking directly from the freezer without thawing.

Tips & Shortcuts: Before blanching, it's a good idea to immerse Brussels sprout in brine (4 teaspoons salt to 1 gallon water) for 30 minutes to remove insects.
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FREEZING BRUSSELS SPROUTS

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Select green, firm, and compact heads. Examine heads
carefully to make sure they are free from insects. Trim,
removing coarse outer leaves. Wash thoroughly. Sort into
small, medium and large sizes.
Water blanch:
Small heads.......................... 3 minutes
Medium heads......................... 4 minutes
Large heads.......................... 5 minutes

Cool promptly in cold water and drain.

Pack Brussels sprouts into containers, leaving no
headspace. Seal, label and freeze.
Michigan State University Extension
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When you are ready to prepare your brussels sprouts just place in boiling water. Adding salt to the water will bring out the brussels sprouts sweet taste.
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[knittingmama]

Excellent information. Thanks for taking the time to put it up.
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[Ellie]

I was thinking along the same lines as you Holly, I have previously cut fresh pumpkin up and bagged it straight into the freezer (peeled and seeded first). It can then go straight into the roasting pan and comes up yummy. Doesn't work as well for boiling though..

[jbrose40]

How do you container garden? Persons with apts want to know.
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