Freezing fruit for during winter

[Unswydd]

Does anyone freeze fruit and veggies from their garden for the winter?
With prices of everything going up I'm starting to think ahead to winter. I imagine crumble would get pretty boring all winter so I just threw some chopped up watermelon in the freezer and thinking of other things as well.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Yes! We have a thread for that, it's not just canning. We freeze and dehydrate foods too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/24789842/
You will get help faster if you go there.
Green beans and corn needs to go in boiling water for 5 minutes before you freeze.
I peel, core and slice apples to freeze, etc
Even though we do it for humans you can do it for your birds.

 

[Dandichook]

Yes! We have a thread for that, it's not just canning. We freeze and dehydrate foods too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/24789842/
You will get help faster if you go there.
Green beans and corn needs to go in boiling water for 5 minutes before you freeze.
I peel, core and slice apples to freeze, etc
Even though we do it for humans you can do it for your birds.

Woah, cool

Yes! We have a thread for that, it's not just canning. We freeze and dehydrate foods too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/24789842/
You will get help faster if you go there.
Green beans and corn needs to go in boiling water for 5 minutes before you freeze.
I peel, core and slice apples to freeze, etc
Even though we do it for humans you can do it for your birds.

What a cool thread! Thanks for sharing. It's a whopper, so before I forget, do you mind explaining why you need to boil them before freezing? Asking because my SO and I definitely just threw a ton of green beans into the freezer without boiling them this summer and have been eating them. Are we unsafe?

 

[WIchickMama]

We do it for humans and chickens at our house. We had lbs of the extras from making grape juice, soups, etc from canning past fall and then I would give a couple times a week during the winter or mix in their warm mash on the cold days.

I know it probably isn't the best-but I also had bought a few cans of generic baby food and mixed in mash over the winter as well-just to change it up every month or so

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I don't know about it unsafe I just know it has something to do with enzymes and making them taste better when you are ready to eat them.
One year I threw corn cut off the cob into the freezer without blanching and it was rubbery and tasteless.

 

[Dandichook]

I don't know about it unsafe I just know it has something to do with enzymes and making them taste better when you are ready to eat them.
One year I threw corn cut off the cob into the freezer without blanching and it was rubbery and tasteless.

Good to know!! Thanks. Our green beans have seemed a little tough at times, but I had attributed it to us not picking them early enough. We'll try blanching them and see if it makes a difference!

 

[Percheron chick]

Skipping the blanching step will not make the vegetables unsafe to eat. It helps to keep the flavor and texture closer to fresh. If you are just doing it for the chickens, I wouldn't spend the time but if it's for your dinner I would. For chicken fruit, I would just chop it up and put it in a freezer bag.
Save any extra winter squash and pumpkin you can. You don't need to do anymore then put them in a box in a cool room in the house. I sometimes wrap them in paper so they don't touch. The skin can't have any dings or cuts or they will start to rot.

 

[TooCheep]

Woah, cool

What a cool thread! Thanks for sharing. It's a whopper, so before I forget, do you mind explaining why you need to boil them before freezing? Asking because my SO and I definitely just threw a ton of green beans into the freezer without boiling them this summer and have been eating them. Are we unsafe?

"Boiling" before freezing is called "blanching". It is not necessary for all fruits/vegetables, but many definitely do better with it as freezing only slows down enzyme activity. The blanching process is fairly quick and does not fully cook the fruit/vegetable, but it does stop the enzyme activity.

Unblanched, preserved foods can lose firmness, vitamins, color and other desired qualities.

Here is a good link to better understand blanching of foods before preserving: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/blanching.html

 

[Percheron chick]

After you blanch the veggies, place them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Fish them out then place them single layer on a cookie sheet and place in freezer. Once frozen bag them up. When you need some for dinner they are individual frozen beans that are simple to grab just the right amount. You don't end up with a frozen blob of beans where you have to cook the entire bag.

 

[WIchickMama]

After you blanch the veggies, place them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Fish them out then place them single layer on a cookie sheet and place in freezer. Once frozen bag them up. When you need some for dinner they are individual frozen beans that are simple to grab just the right amount. You don't end up with a frozen blob of beans where you have to cook the entire bag.

Exactly what we do!