Preserving the Harvest

Lately we’re hearing a lot about eating with the seasons. In theory, I think this is truly the way Mother Nature intended it. I definitely think there are certain products that shouldn’t be eaten too out of season. Tomatoes are one of my favorites, but if you’ve ever picked up a tomato at the grocery store in January, you know what I’m talking about. Produce eaten out of season is comparatively tasteless, expensive and lower in nutritional content.

Recently, I joined a farmers’ cooperative which delivered fresh, local produce every week. Let me tell you long before February ends I had come up with every way I could think of to eat sweet potatoes and cabbage. While I like cabbage fine, I don’t really care for sweet potatoes and the lack of variety was maddening. So, what’s the solution? Well, obviously you have to find a way to preserve the harvest. Our grandparents did it and those old recipes are not only still out there, but safer and easier than ever.

This is a wonderful time of the year. The really exciting produce is just coming into season with promises of so much more to come. My goal over the coming months will be to capture the wonders of the harvest in ways that we can eat locally, seasonally – and well – over the coming months. I have no misconceptions that I will be storing all, or even most, of what we will eat through the winter, but you have to start somewhere. Moreover, I refuse to blow my food budget out of its normal parameters, so it will take a little trial and error. Wish me luck!