Eat Locally Grown Food All Year

Image Gallery Canned food, stored in the basement, is just one method of preserving food for the winter. You can preserve apples, pickles, vegetable blends, whole tomatoes and tomato juice by canning. MARY LOU SHAW

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It just makes sense to eat locally grown food as much as possible. Not only is less petroleum used to transport it, but best of all, local produce is picked ripe — when it’s at its peak of flavor and nutrition. Unfortunately, though, believing in the merits of locally grown food won’t help many of us in the cold months. Community supported agriculture (CSA) subscriptions end and farmers markets close down as our own gardens die with the first frosts.

I know that people survived with only local produce all year before we started buying food from all over the world. Rediscovering some of the methods our ancestors used has been an annual challenge for my husband, Tom, and me. We are gradually learning how to eat all year from our 13-acre homestead in Ohio. To do this, we preserve the summer harvest and extend the growing season.

Saving Summer Produce for the Cold Months

Canning is still basic. For years, I’ve used a water-bath canner to preserve tomatoes, pickles and some orchard fruits. High-acid foods can be safely preserved this way, but when in doubt, the Ball Blue Book of Preserving gives guidance in all aspects of canning. This past year was our first growing celery, and there was such a bumper crop that I dug the pressure cooker out of the corner of the garage and put it to work. That allowed me to can a concoction of the extra tomatoes, sweet onions, celery, bell peppers, basil and parsley in quart jars labeled “veggies.” This highly nutritious potion is finding its way into stews, spaghetti sauce, soups and chili. No one has yet commented on the uniqueness of having celery in spaghetti sauce! Canning does take time during the high-yield months of August and September, but lining the jars up on the shelves gives me the same visual pleasure as piecing together a quilt — and the same satisfaction that I imagine a squirrel enjoys. (For more detailed information on canning, read Home Canning Basics.)

Fermenting and pickling add variety. Cabbage and cucumbers are two things that I ferment in crocks in the basement before canning. The advantage of putting cucumbers in a brine-filled crock is that it allows me to add a few each day as I gather them from the garden. After the crop has peaked and we’re able to eat each day’s harvest, I allow a couple weeks for those in the crock to pickle before I can them.

I cut and salt the cabbage destined to be sauerkraut, then put it in the crock and pound it with a wooden mallet. I really enjoy that because it reminds me of my Peace Corps days — women pounding millet with large wooden pestles. To add to my enjoyment, I use red cabbage, which gives a unique kaleidoscope pattern with each slice. When preparing sauerkraut, use noniodized salt to protect the necessary bacteria for fermentation. It takes only a few weeks for the cabbage to ferment. Then I pack it in quart jars that are processed in a water bath. I would like to have crocks of food in the basement throughout the winter, but I find it difficult to avoid introducing unwanted bacteria when fishing out portions for dinner.

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THE BIG BOOK OF PRESERVING THE HARVEST '

Carol W. Costenbader

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