who freezes foods from your garden for later?

[Grumpy's Gal]

what do you freeze and what do you use it for later? I freeze tomatoes and use them for chili and spg sauce.

 

[kristen17]

We freeze corn--on and off the cob. Freeze diced peppers and pepper strips for cooking. I can salsa, pickled peppers.

 

[zippehsmom]

My inlaws have a garden and they freeze green beans, squash & onions and greens. I'm not sure what else they freeze, but they have enough to last them all through the winter. They also give some to us.


I just love when they start getting the tomatoes and cucumbers, it saves us a ton of money.

 

[Southern4sure]

I dont garden but I buy silver queen corn by the bushel and cream it. I usually by 3 bushels. I freeze strawberries, blueberries, peaches, tomatoes, and bell peppers.

 

[Chicago526]

I'd love to start freezing fresh veggies and fruits. Any tips on how to do it so they defrost okay?

 

[Bronte]

I freeze peppers from my garden for cooking later (sausage and pepper yummy.) I also like getting corn on the cob now and freezing it for winter use.
Bronte

 

[onlyoneforme]

Any tips for freezing peas, should I shuck them or not, wash them?

 

[bonkos6]

Kristen17 - How do you make your salsa? It freezes ok?

 

[Twende]

We grow and freeze a lot of fruit and vegetables in our garden and then freeze or can them to enjoy all winter.

Somethings like blueberries freeze very easily and well. All you have to do is put them in a container and freeze them. They work great right from the freezer in muffins and pancakes. Or even just eaten cold by the handful! You can do the same with black berries and raspberries.
Strawberries do not freeze as well, they get mushy, so you are better of making a jam out of them either the kind you can or the kind you freeze.

Other fruits like rhubarb can be frozen after being cut into chunks or made into a sauce with sugar and water and cooked until tender and thickened and then frozen in small containers. The same can be done with apples by making apple sauce and freezing it or making apple juice and sweetening it if needed and freeze it in containers.

Grapes can be made into a pie filling and frozen. It takes time but it is really yummy! Or you can make jam or make juice and freeze it or make juice and then jelly.

We find that corn freezes better if you cook it on the cob for three minutes and then put in in cold water. When it is cool you cut it off the cob and freeze it in freezer bags. It tastes so good that way!

Green beans and picked and then snapped and boiled( I think 4 minutes) then cooled and put in bags in the freezer. Peas are done the same way only you shell the peas and then boil and freeze them.

We freeze green peppers by chopping them and putting them in freezer bags. Squash like zuchinni is either cut into chunks and boiled then frozen or made into bread with nuts and raisins!

We run paste tomatoes through a Champion Juicer and then cook the sauce to thinken it and freeze it in small containers. I usually take some and make stewed or whole canned tomatoes too.

Onions keep pretty well in a cold dark place if they are the right kind of onions with brown skins. We grow potatos too and keep them in a special dark pit in a hillside under the house.

Brussel sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower are easy to do. You simply boil them, chill them with cold water and freeze.

I hope that gives you some ideas. It certainly saves on money compared to buying all of them from the store.

 

[christinadei]

I freeze strawberries and use them for things like smoothies, etc. I also freeze fresh blueberries. Teh easiest way to do it is to lay them out on a cookie sheet and freeze, then put them in a bag or container. That way they don't all freeze together and you can get out what you need. It makes great smoothies when you use the frozen fruit, then you don't need ice.

We also freeze squash, zuchinni (why can't I spell that today?), okra, corn, and beans. Most stuff we just wash and freeze in whatever amounts we'll need.

 

[betsyboop]

How about peaches? How do you freeze them? We pureed some last year and froze them like that, but I would prefer to have chunks of them if possible

 

[BARBARAAPPLE]

just alittle tip that I use for cutting the corn off the cob:
I boil it for 4 minutes our so then put it in cold water then I stick the end of the corn in the hole of a bunt pan and use my electric knife to cut the corn off ,after the bunt pan is full I bag it up and stick it in the freezer .

It keeps the mess down and gets the corn done faster ...

 

[Southern4sure]

How about peaches? How do you freeze them? We pureed some last year and froze them like that, but I would prefer to have chunks of them if possible

I freeze peaches. I peel, slice and store in freezer boxes.

Here is my tip of the day....

Do you ever have just a small serving or less of a side vegetable left and wonder is it enough to save or toss? What I do is keep an air tight bowl in the freezer and add those small amounts to the bowl. Juice and all and I keep it frozen until the bowl is full. Then I use this bowl of veggies for my vegetable soup (I call it dump soup) The veggies are already cooked and you just add your stock, meat if you want and such. It is good stuff!

 

[PoohBearLovinMama]

Instead of boiling and freezing your veggies, can you steam them? I really prefer steamed veggies to boiled, but I'd rather boil to have garden grown veggies in the winter than to not have any at all.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

I'm a fruit freezer. Any type! I also freeze zucchini squash - I grate it up and use it for breads and muffins. Love the idea about corn as it is coming into season around here and will probably give it a try.

 

[my3kids]

I make bags of Pesto 'starter' with Basil. I use the food processor and combine everything except the cheese. I freeze them in portion size packs, thaw, then add the parmesan cheese and the additional olive oil required to make it the right consistancy at the time of serving.

 

[DisneyAunt]

Any tips for freezing peas, should I shuck them or not, wash them?

I usually shuck them and freeze them. I wash them as I use them.

 

[MarieS]

I peel and grate zucchini and freeze in 2 cup portions to use in breads during the holidays. I have also frozen green pepper in strips.

 

[mannasn]

Well, I don't - but my grandparents who live about 1/2-mile down the road do! And of course I reap the rewards... black-eyed peas, corn, squash, okra, tomatoes, green beans, apples, peaches, blueberries, butter beans, zucchini.... and then there's the free venison (my brother's a hunter, my uncle's a butcher - works out great for us)!

 

[Jodi3530]

I freeze zucchini, green beans, and cucumbers. I really like having the cucumbers in the winter with fresh from the garden taste.