how do you perserve your vegetables?

[Martha27]

I am thinking about freezing b/c i always prefer frozen veggies over canned stuff in the stores but how do you freeze veggies from the garden? how long do they last? when is the best time to start? we already have more than we can keep up with eating wise and im thinking i should start freezing some of our zucchini and summer squash and also beans.

[EdnaMarie]

Wash first, because washing a frozen vegetable or fruit nearly always ends badly. I process some of mine (tbh I'm talking about those bought bulk on sale, not gardened ones 'cause we only have tomatoes) like broccoli etc. and I would definitely shell the peas etc. For squashes, if you steam and dice, then they are recipe-ready. I do mine at the ripest point because that's when they go on sale and I think it works because they're not going to ripen in the freezer, LOL! Oh, and tomatoes are pureed before freezing, or I pickle them.

[Alyantavid]

I freeze most of my garden since I'm a little scared of canning and I prefer frozen anyways.

Tomatoes - Roast or just freeze whole. When they thaw, the skin slips off and you've got basically stewed tomatoes.
Peppers - I chop and freeze. The texture doesn't hold up, but cooked in something, they're just as good.
Peas - we don't like peas alot, so I freeze them pod and all and use in stir fries.
Grean beans - blanch and freeze. These do really really well in the freezer.
Zucchini - I usually shred and then freeze, but I've seen people freeze them whole. I don't know how the texture holds, but I'd imagine they're pretty mushy.
Carrots - blanch and freeze. Again, they're better in something than just straight from the freezer.

Fruit, I pretty much just throw in the freezer after washing.

[EdnaMarie]

The texture does NOT hold, however, if you pre-wash and are using in a sauce, it doesn't make a difference if you plan on blending in a ragout and cooking. I have frozen some uh-oh-I-didn't-realize-that-was-still-in-the-crisper-HELP zucchinis and they were okay like that.

[Llyra]

http://foodsafety.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/e-320.pdf

[EdnaMarie]

Wow, Llyra, and they say the government doesn't do anything useful. See. How is that not amazingly useful?

[Martha27]

how long do you find stuff last in the freezer?

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by Martha27

how long do you find stuff last in the freezer?

I usually store vegetables no longer than one year in the deep freezer-- below 0 degrees, and rarely opened. For veggies stored in my regular kitchen freezer, which can't be kept so consistently cold, I would guess they'd start to deteriorate in quality sooner than that. But they're still safe to eat, even long after then-- it's just they won't taste as good, and the nutritional value might be diminished a bit.

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by EdnaMarie

Wow, Llyra, and they say the government doesn't do anything useful. See. How is that not amazingly useful?

[jenniepaige]

pickyourown.com has really easy to follow recipes for freezing and canning TONS of stuff. I just froze about 20 tomatoes from my garden. She says to peel and de-juice them prior (mostly) and it was really easy. I have also blanched and canned green beans, and sugar snap peas. With squash and zuch I just pureed it and froze, worked really well in soups and sauces and stuff like that.