Does anyone freeze veggies for the winter?

[shelleyb1969]

I was thinking today about freezing a lot of veggies to give to my chickens this winter. Does anyone else do this? Can you freeze whole tomatoes for them?

I'm even catching grasshoppers to freeze for them. I don't know how nutritious they'll be after freezing

, but it'll be something different for them this winter when they can't get out to forage. I've also got a worm bin full of redworms that I'll keep in my basement this winter...so at least they'll have those alive.

 

[redoak]

We freeze some veggies, I'm sure the chickens will end up getting some. We first freeze a single layer on a cooking sheet, then we vacuum seal them. This helps prevent freezer burn and it also saves alot of freezer space. We mostly freeze beans, snow peas, squash, pumpkin. Our tomatoes we can, so we haven't tried to freeze any.

 

[moenmitz]

I had a bunch of veggies I froze last year and gave them to them this summer when it was hot- frozen and whole. They really loved the frozen chunks of squash- eggplant, not so much! I freeze whole tomatoes for using in sauce, so I imagine they would work just fine for the chickens as well.

 

[warren]

Seeds like peas and beans freeze well and do not need blanching. Cabbage and leafy things do not freeze well. Watery things like tomatoes tend to collapse on defrosting. Berries like blackcurrants freeze well. Apples are better cooked. Some foods are best blanched, which means cooked slightly on the outside, before freezing.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I'd say you have some very lucky chickens! They're going to have a very yummy winter!