Harvest season and winter storage: how to manage an abundance of food

17.10.2023 - 10:13 / growingfamily.co.uk / Catherine

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When the summer draws to a close and your homegrown produce is ripe for picking, the real challenge is knowing how to deal with this glut.

Luckily there are lots of ways to store and manage each year’s harvest effectively. Here are some tips to help you make the most of harvest season and minimise waste.

Transforming your harvest into shelf-stable creations is a rewarding process. Canning not only extends the life of your produce, but it also allows you to enjoyhomegrown goods year-round.

From fruits and vegetables to soups and sauces, nearly every item from your harvest can be safely preserved with this method. If you don’t want to go all-out and acquire canning equipment, using well-sterilised jars will serve just as well.

Once done, you can bask in the knowledge that with each pop of a jar lid, fresh, homemade food awaits you no matter what season.

Freezing is an excellent strategy for keeping both fruits and veggies tasting garden-fresh long after harvest season has passed.

By blanching vegetables before freezing, you can retain their colour, texture and taste without losing any nutritional value.

With fresh fruit, a simple rinse, pat dry and tray freeze process will do wonders in preserving their quality. So when winter rolls around, your freezer can be your best friend.

These are age-old processes which not only amplify your food’s taste profile, but fill it with beneficial gut-friendly bacteria too.

Here’s a brief rundown on fermenting and pickling at home:

Fermenting also keeps the concept of waste foreign in your household. Left-overs can easily become kimchi, sauerkraut or pickle, making them last longer and be more digestible too!

Don’t overlook your everyday kitchen appliances in the fight against