What did you do in the garden today?

[Sally PB]

Today's me is very happy that July me stuck with trying again and again to get the beans, peas, carrots going. The survivors are all looking so fresh and happy now when others are exhausted.

I have sooo much crabgrass to dig up. But I know that next spring's me will be very glad if I do.

I just learned about blanching beans before freezing them. It's supposed to lock in the flavor and prevent the beans from continuing to ripen in the freezer. I did not know that was even a thing. But if we end up freezing any beans this year, I'm going to blanch them for the first time and see if it makes a difference. In the past, we just washed and froze the beans. They tasted good later on, but not garden fresh. I am told that blanching them makes them taste like fresh from the garden without that slight freezer taste.

One year, I froze green beans without blanching. I pulled out a bag in December, thinking, oh what a treat. Uh, no. They were tough and tasted weird. So the next year I blanched them. MUCH better. Blanching/freezing is so much less work than canning, so after canning tomatoes, doing beans seems easy.

I attend a Senior Citizen's Cooking Class the last Tuesday of every month.

Dang. I need something like that. I need to learn how to cook meat, something I've never really gotten a handle on. Fry hamburger? Fine. Something in the Instant Pot? Sure. Turkey on Thanksgiving... um... yeah. Anything else... A "real" cook would roll their eyes at my efforts.

 

[fuzzi]

Well, I was thinking a person could just take out some chunks or slices of frozen zucchini and pop them into a soup or stir fry a little bit with the other veggies.



I just learned about blanching beans before freezing them. It's supposed to lock in the flavor and prevent the beans from continuing to ripen in the freezer. I did not know that was even a thing. But if we end up freezing any beans this year, I'm going to blanch them for the first time and see if it makes a difference. In the past, we just washed and froze the beans. They tasted good later on, but not garden fresh. I am told that blanching them makes them taste like fresh from the garden without that slight freezer taste.

I have never tried to freeze zucchini, blanched or not. But I think chunks or slices would be a whole lot better for the way we use our frozen food. This year I froze about 8 quart baggies full of cherry tomatoes. I am told they will be great in soups or sauces this winter. Of course, we only have to take out as many cherry tomatoes as needed at the time. That is what I would like to do with the zucchini.

FYI, Dear Wife has been freezing lots of her bitter melon (ampalaya) and white gourd (upo) that we grew in the garden the first time this year. She cuts them up into thin strips before freezing, but no blanching. I would think you could do the same with zucchini. Or maybe everything should be blanched first. I really don't know.

Well, answering my own question, I found a couple of articles on the Taste of Home that says vegetables should be blanched before freezing if you are storing them longer than 4 weeks in the freezer. Here is their suggested times for blanching...

View attachment 3630631

I will have to talk to Dear Wife about maybe blanching some of her veggies on the next batch, then later in the winter we can compare the blanched food with the non-blanched food to see if we can taste a difference.

I blanch as my mother taught me:

1. 1 minute in actively boiling water
2. 1 minute in ice water (ice cubes in the water)
3. Drain
4. Add to freezer bag, label contents and date with permanent marker
5. Lay flat in freezer, preferably making contact with the bottom of the freezer

 

[fuzzi]

Yup, have that too although it hasn’t ever done much for me.

Depends on what type of zinc. There are different types of zinc that your body can use more effectively. I also take mine with quercetin, they work well together.

 

[igorsMistress]

Dear Wife wanted me to get a vacuum sealer. I don't know the first thing about them, and neither does Dear Wife. At any rate, our Thrift Store had a used Deni Vacuum Sealer on the shelf last week for next to nothing in price. It came with the instruction manual, but no bags. I figure I will try it out on some regular baggies and if that works, maybe buy a roll of vacuum sealer bags from Amazon.

Here is the closest Google picture of what my used Deni Vacuum Sealer looks like...
View attachment 3630634
I don't think they make them anymore, but if it still works, it might be worth buying a roll of bags. If we don't like it, maybe we will learn about the process and can make a more informed decision next time. At any rate, I paid almost nothing for this one, so I won't feel bad if it does not work out for us.

If anyone has some good advice on using vacuum sealers, or what brands to look for and which brands to avoid, please let me know. Thanks.

I don’t recommend sealing baggies, but your results may vary and my machine is different.

I buy my vac sealers at walmart. Buy the bags there often unless I happen upon them cheaper elsewhere. Not all vac seal bag brands are equal and I’ve gotten some crappy ones from Amazon so I stick to the same brand all the time now.

 

[Sueby]

I use my vacuum sealer all the time, it was a great purchase. I buy & cook in bulk & freeze most things. Green beans, I always blanch them. I've tried frozen squash & it's icky - I'll only shred it & use it for cakes/breads. Speaking of, I have 3 squash I need to shred, drain & freeze.

Hope you're on the mend @igorsMistress! I had it last fall & all I could do was pray for death.

Nasty out there. Made the girls a mash & will bring them some ice later on, other than that I'm not going out there.

I did notice my spinach is coming up. Going to succession plant another row of lettuce. Right now. Even though I said I wasn't going out.

 

[saysfaa]

Blanching stops the enzymes in the veggies. Without blanching, enzymes continue to work even at freezer temperatures (more slowly, of course). They degrade the taste and texture.

Fruit usually doesn't need blanching because it is acidic enough to deactivate the enzymes.

 

[jerryse]

Another cloudy day without rain. I got my order of one-piece canning lids. Regular and wide mouth. I have good luck with them sealing. A bit of a learning curve on how to tighten them. A light tightening is all that is needed. More than that and they are bugger to open. My last canning, I used whatever lids I had 2 pieces mostly. I did it a little different and all sealed. I put them in the water bath canner with lids on loosely brought it to a boil and then tightened lids. Lids were above water. Then processed. One-piece lids have a thick seal and can be reused.

 

[igorsMistress]

I use my vacuum sealer all the time, it was a great purchase. I buy & cook in bulk & freeze most things. Green beans, I always blanch them. I've tried frozen squash & it's icky - I'll only shred it & use it for cakes/breads. Speaking of, I have 3 squash I need to shred, drain & freeze.

Hope you're on the mend @igorsMistress! I had it last fall & all I could do was pray for death.

Nasty out there. Made the girls a mash & will bring them some ice later on, other than that I'm not going out there.

I did notice my spinach is coming up. Going to succession plant another row of lettuce. Right now. Even though I said I wasn't going out.

Thanks, feeling better every day. I had it a couple of years ago too and it wasn’t too horrible for me that time either. I thought it was allergies until I got the fever and even that wasn’t bad. Super thankful!

I also buy in bulk and vac seal a lot of stuff. Prevents freezer burn and stuff lasts longer.

 

[igorsMistress]

Depends on what type of zinc. There are different types of zinc that your body can use more effectively. I also take mine with quercetin, they work well together.

I think I have something that has both? I’ll have to check, but it was for immune system I’m pretty sure.

I try to eat a good diet and take a multi vitamin daily so should have everything covered except I take extra D daily. D deficiency is common here in AZ because we all hide from the sun half the year.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Woke up this morning to light rain.... Well that was unexpected but delightful. Not a lot but enough to wet the ground, at least. And looking at the extended forecast, it's going to cool down!