How Do You Store Potatoes?

The potato vines are all starting to die back now. This means that in another week or so, I'll finally get my answer as to if the bins did better this year over last year, or not. If the volunteers are any indication, it's been a good year for them in general; I've dug three of the random plants out already and have been pleased to see a good number of medium-sized tubers on each vine.

So, between the 7 bins, I'm anticipating at least 25 pounds of potatoes coming in. Seeing as how there's just the two of us, I need to come up with a way to make sure all of those spuds last through the cold months. Our main food storage area is in our basement, which stays around 55 degrees year 'round, and we have a dehumidifier to keep things from getting too damp. Unfortunately, 55 degrees is a bit warmer than is recommended for a root cellar (they should be around 40-45) so keeping the potatoes in there isn't a sure thing.

There are other options for storing potatoes that I think could work for us. I've been reading up on dehydrating and canning as possibilities, and I'm curious. I remember, vaguely, disliking store-bought canned potatoes as a kid, but I have never tried home-canned ones. Because they're a low-acid vegetable, I'll need to use the pressure canner versus a water bath, just to keep things safe. I happen to have some potatoes in the pantry that are starting to look a little rough, so I think I'll make up a test batch to see how they turn out. There's no real comparison between store-bought potatoes and home grown, but I think it'll be close enough to see if we like them canned or not.

To dry potatoes, it seems that they need to be cut thin and blanched, in order to take out some of the starch and prevent discoloration. That seems easy enough, so I'll definitely do a test batch of those, as well. I'd like to see how well they rehydrate before I invest too much time and energy into them.

I should probably look at freezing, too, while I'm coming up with ideas. We need to get a chest freezer anyway, with the beef coming in soon, so I think I'll have some extra cold storage space. I imagine it's really similar to drying, in that we'll need to blanch them first- so I could test freezing and drying out at the same time since the preparation is essentially the same.

Do you have any experience with canning, drying, or freezing potatoes? Or something I haven't thought of yet? Let me know over on Facebook; I'm always open for suggestions!

Pickle Verdict: WIN!

I'm really impressed with the Bread & Butter pickle recipe that I wrote about last week. Everyone who has tried them raves about how great they taste... and those zucchini pickles? Fabulous! The flavor of the zucchini still comes through, and they're a tiny bit milder since I skipped the onions & garlic. The only criticism I have of the zucchini test batch is that they're really squeaky when chewed! How funny is that? The cukes aren't noisy, so I'm not sure why these turned out that way.

Another thing I really like about this recipe is that my test batches were made as refrigerator pickles and not canned, but both the zucchini and cucumber batches picked up the flavor and were ready to eat in about a week. So, if you're not really into canning a whole batch (the recipe calls for 6 pounds of cucumbers!) it's worth making a little batch of brine and going the fridge route.

The original recipe is from The Big Book of Preserving The Harvest, by Carol Costenbader. The recipe I'm sharing today varies slightly from that, based on adjustments I made after trying the test batch.

6 pounds cucumbers, sliced 1/8th inch thick
1 large white onion, quartered and sliced 1/8th inch thick
4 cloves garlic, also sliced 1/8th inch thick
1/3 cup salt
Ice cubes

In a Very Large bowl (or two Large bowls), combine the sliced cukes, onion, garlic and salt. Mix well, and cover with ice cubes. Let stand for 3 hours. (In case you're wondering why: This step draws out some of the moisture from the cucumbers, as well as reducing any bitterness they may have. It also mellows the bite of the onion and garlic.)

For the brine:

4 cups white vinegar
3 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
1 1/2 Tablespoons brown mustard seeds

In an 8 quart saucepan, combine the brine ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. While this mixture is coming up to temperature, drain and rinse the cucumbers, onion and garlic. Let them drip dry for a little bit, to get out any extra water.

Once the brine comes to a boil, add the drained veggies and reduce the heat. Simmer this together for 5 minutes. After the time is up, pack your pickles into sterilized pint jars and top off with brine, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Put on the lids and bands per the manuafacturer's directions. Oh, and the original recipe says it yields 7 pints... I got 7 pints (which I canned) and a quart (fridge). Your mileage may vary...

If you want to can your pints, it's a 10 minute waterbath at sea-level; be sure to adjust for altitude if needed. Otherwise, let them cool on the counter for an hour and then put them in your refrigerator. I let mine rest in the chill box for a week, to let all of the flavors meld. Since this is a new recipe for me, I have no idea how long they will last as refrigerator pickles- but I can tell you we'll eat all of them long before they can spoil. They're *that* good.

For the zucchini- I just subbed that in for the cucumbers, and because I wasn't sure about how the texture was going to turn out, I skipped the onion and garlic. Now that I know they'll hold up, I'll try another batch according to my adjusted recipe.

What's your favorite pickle recipe? Come share it over on Facebook!

Ramping Up, Winding Down

The past few mornings have been cool and foggy, a sure sign that the seasons are getting ready to start changing. The afternoons, however, are still quite warm- and the produce coming in from the garden definitely reflects that.

I already have the first round of apples cooking in the crock pot, and a test growler of hard cider is bubbling away on the counter. I'm out under our apple trees several times a day with my bucket, gathering up the good ones to process, and the less desirable ones go to the animals. A friend has a cider press he's offered to lend us the use of; I'm looking forward to making arrangements to have a cider-making party here, very soon. We were going to do that last year, but most of the apples fell while we were out of town, unfortunately.


The garden continues in high gear: yesterday, in addition to my regular squash pickup, there were cucumbers, purple greenbeans, peas and kale all ready for the taking. Today, I need to harvest the seeds from the cilantro that bolted and let them dry. I haven't used coriander much as a seasoning, but I'm looking forward to trying it. So far, the seeds taste like a much milder version of the plant, so that's definitely something I can work with. Plus, I'll leave some seeds on the plant so I can have more next year.

The tomatoes are getting closer. They're almost to the top of the enclosure, so once they get that tall, I'm going to have to clip their main stems back, in order to force them to focus on ripening the fruit, instead of getting any taller. I'll give it another week, maybe two. There are some good flowers almost all the way up to the ends!

Blackberries are also on the agenda. They're starting to ripen quickly now, so it's just a matter of time before we're bringing those in and making jam. Last year's batch never quite set up (I think the pectin I used was past it's prime) so we've been using it as a syrup/sauce- but it will be nice to have an actual jam this year. Come hell or high water, that stuff is going to gel!

The pears are getting really close, too. We don't have nearly as many as last year, so it's important that we bring in the ones that we do have, when they're at their prime. Both Alex and I love dried pears, so I think that most of them will be processed that way. (Mental note: must take apart the dehydrator today and fix the weird noise it's making.) I still have a couple jars of pears in vanilla syrup from last year, so I don't need to worry about making more of those this time around. They're really good, but we just don't eat a lot of desserts.

Our potato bins are finally starting to slow down. I noticed over the weekend that some of the vines are starting to die back, which means they'll be ready to dig soon, too. If I had to guess, it'll be another two weeks, at the most. I dug up some of the volunteer potatoes the other day, and I have to say it looks like a good year for them, in general. We got 12 tennis-ball sized red potatoes from one small-ish looking plant!

The beef are finishing up their stint over in the neighbor's pasture. They've got 3 weeks left before the kill truck comes, then another 3 weeks of hanging after that- and then we'll have our third in the freezer. I have no idea what a third of a whole steer will look like, so this will be interesting. We're estimating a couple hundred pounds of meat... that reminds me, I still need to look into getting an additional freezer for storage.

This is how it will be, for the next 4 to 6 weeks: for every one thing we check off our lists, another two will get added. We'll be busy working to put up food and finish the fair-weather chores, before settling in for the cooler seasons. It's an exciting time, and it never ceases to amaze me at how fast the last little bit of summer always flies by. I think that's why it drives me bonkers that the back-to-school stuff and the Fall decorations show up in stores in July... it's going to go so fast as it is, why rush it?

What's on your to-do list for the end of summer?

Food Preservation: Freezing

Now that the garden is more or less on auto-pilot, it's time for me to focus on getting things brought in and stored for the winter. With the weather still being really warm, however, I don't really have an interest in breaking out the canning supplies and making up huge batches of... anything. I'd much rather put that sort of project on hold for a rainy day. So, I turn to my freezer. It's a great way to put up small batches of produce, keeping things manageable in the kitchen.

Berries lend themselves particularly well to freezing. Yes, the texture can change dramatically once thawed, but with frozen berries I feel like I have more options on their use. I can put them in baked goods, use them in smoothies, make fruit leather, or even make a jam out of them. If I were to can them up front, I'd lose that flexibility. 

Freezing berries couldn't be any easier. First, wash your fruit and let them dry a bit. I just leave them to drip dry in a colander for a few minutes, while I gather up my baking sheet and make sure there's a space cleared in the freezer. Then, I spread the berries out in a single layer, and pop it in the freezer. The next morning (or in a couple of hours, if I remember) the berries are frozen solid and can go into a freezer bag or your container of choice. Since they were frozen individually, they stay separated and I can just measure out whatever I need as I go. 

Veggies are also easy to freeze at home, but they generally need a quick blanch in some boiling water, in order to halt enzyme activity and keep the texture/color at its best. Here's a handy link to the National Center for Food Preservation website and their list of blanching times, by veg. Once the blanching is done, I treat them the same as I do the berries: freeze in a single layer, then portion out into vacuum-sealed bags. I even have a couple of bags of green beans left from last year in the freezer, and they still look and taste great!

I also like to make use of my freezer for pre-cooked meals. Whenever I make a batch of something that I'd consider a one-dish meal (soup, stews, chili, etc.) I like to make a little extra so I can freeze it for lunches or a fast dinner. I like using my straight-sided canning jars for this, as they can go right from the freezer to the microwave (minus the metal ring/lid), if someone's in a hurry.Otherwise, they thaw nicely in the fridge. I generally avoid using jars with a necked-down opening, just because it's harder to get something out if it's still frozen. 

The key to using glass in the freezer is to always remember that liquids expand as they freeze. In order to avoid any shattered containers, I do two things: first, I make sure to leave at least an inch of space between the food and the top of the jar. Second, I initially freeze the jars overnight without their lids on, and then cover them the next morning- no lid means that the filling in the jar has a place to go, if I happen to have overfilled it. If you're not keen on leaving something uncovered, then use some plastic wrap or foil in the interim. Once everything is frozen and the lids are on, the jars stack nicely in the freezer until you're ready to use them. 

Do you make use of your freezer to preserve foods from your garden? Stop by Facebook and tell me about it!

Best Laid Plans

Originally, my plan for today's post was to talk about some of the ideas presented by Toby Hemenway at his presentation "Agriculture, Horticulture, Permaculture" at the Mother Earth News Fair this weekend. However, while I was typing away here at my desk, I noticed a white rabbit standing outside my window.

No, really. A white rabbit.

I got up to take a closer look, and then saw a few more rabbits... MY RABBITS... out in the yard.

Oh, Crap.

So... I threw on my boots and ran outside for 2 hours of rabbit wrangling fun. First, I had to locate the escape tunnel, to make sure no one else could get out. Took me a while to find it, but hidden in the bushes about 6 feet away from the enclosure was their little Hogan's Heroes-style escape hatch. Very interesting, indeed.

The rest is a bit of a blur, but it mostly looked like this...

... with me close behind, swearing and muttering under my breath. 

Makes you want to raise rabbits, doesn't it? Pro-cage folks, I get it. I really do. Once the litter of kits that's underground comes up, we're going to move everyone into a temporary enclosure for a day or two while we re-do the colony floor. It'll either be poured concrete or a whole lot of wire fencing buried underneath. Maybe both, the way I'm feeling right now. 

I've actually been trying to sell some of our rabbits off, for a few weeks now. I guess rabbits aren't moving these days- although I was happy to sell Smudge a couple of weeks ago to a nice young guy who was looking to start raising his own meat rabbits. He's a nice buck, and should do well in the offspring department. 

Instead of a little extra cash in my pocket, however, I'll be processing three, maybe four rabbits today. Once they've all calmed down from their excitement, that is. I rounded everyone up and put my escapees into a portable pen (with a wire floor) that they can relax in for a while. It's definitely not the way I'd hoped to spend my day, but the weather is on the cooler side this morning, which is good for processing. Plus, we've clearly hit a critical point with these gals- if they're digging out, they're overcrowded, regardless of how well they all get along. 

So, it's time. I'm off to gather my supplies and set up my processing station. I won't be taking any photos while I work -too messy- but I will post some links to information I've found helpful for folks who are looking for more info.

Have you had a morning like this, where things start out one way and then everything goes a little sideways? In hindsight, the stories that end well can be pretty funny, so please share- either here or over on our Facebook page! 

Catching Up

It's been pretty busy over here; first we went on vacation- we've been taking a trip out to Glacier National Park in Montana every year, since 2008. I can't get enough of the place... it's like going home every time we go there. We spend almost the entire time hiking; this year we logged just over 60 miles for the week. Whew!

     
When we got back, the garden (as expected) was in full swing. My mom housesits for us when we're away (THANKS MOM!!) and she did her best to keep up with everything. There was, however, a zucchini hiding from her:

                Feed Me, Seymour!

So, as soon as we got back, we had to hit the ground running. I picked, blanched, and froze three pounds of green beans, and have been cycling pounds of zucchini through the dehydrator. I also had to scramble to get the apples that were starting to fall, and canned up some pie filling and applesauce. Blackberries are off the charts as well, so many pints of jam were canned up during the week after work.

Now the pears are here. I picked a bunch the other day and I'm just waiting for them to ripen a little bit more before I can them. I'm thinking I'll put them in a medium syrup with vanilla... mmm.

Plums are also on the way- the tree is loaded and I'll be up to my ears in those in another couple of days. I've scavenged the few early ones and have them soaking in some vodka; I'll give them about a week, and then strain out the spent fruit. A shot of that, plus a little simple syrup in a glass of seltzer makes for a nice treat after all this hard work!

True to form, my tomatoes are just putzing along. I have 3 (would be 4 but I ate the first one) reddish ones on the vine, and oodles of green ones just taking their time. I'll be stopping by the farm stand down the road tomorrow, to see if they have any uglies boxed up and ready for sauce. I nabbed a flat from them last week ($18 for 10 pounds of organic heirloom beauties!) and had a batch of sauce in no time. I like using my crock pot for stuff like this; I can put it on in the morning before work and when I get home it's pretty much ready. Beats standing over the stove all day- it's still too warm here for that!

What's your favorite thing to put up for the winter?