What do you pickle, freeze, preserve....

[Llevrah]

Apologies ahead I'm certain this is in the wrong one I just can't decide where is right

My plan for kind of bulk growing this year was to 'preserve' as much as possible so we'd be eating homegrown out of season as long as possible.

I've Google and got some ideas I hadn't thought of like freezing kale...no idea why I hadn't thought of it.

My biggest bulk I'm hoping for is tomatoes. 32 plum tomato plants that I'm hoping will produce well to make chopped tomatoes and passata as I use lots of this in cooking.

What do you freeze, pickle, preserve and how? Does it taste as good as it can or does it diminish in the freezer or however you have preserved it please? X

[fishpond]

A very good question which I hope will be answered by many.
I will add my sixpennies worth later (for what its worth).

[Potstubsdustbins]

SWMBO does all ours.

Toms are made into tomato ketchup/bottled, soup and puree and frozen.

Runners beans, peas and some onions are frozen as is.

Courgettes, cauliflower, calabrese and leaks are mixed with different sauces and frozen.

I don't think they are quite as good as fresh from the garden but still much better than anything you can buy and of course you know where it comes from and how it has been grown.

[Scarlet]

I make tomato sauce for pasta sauces. Depending on time, either roast or bung them in a pan and add garlic and herbs. I usually freeze in freezer bags placed in icecream tubs so I can stack them in the freezer. I use the same tubs over and over and it saves on freezer space. I use for pasta/pizza/bol sauce etc and haven't bought any tomatoes for years. Also bag up courgettes, Toms, and pepper for use in lasagnes etc. I can eat that on its own stuffed with herbs on spuds .
Pickles, chutneys, jams & jellies.
Frozen fruit for desserts.
I'm not keen on frozen beans though I know lots of peeps do. Kale and chard can often be picked in the winter - I grow my Kale in the GH so Ive often got enough to pick.
Dried beans, chillies, nuts.

[Potstubsdustbins]

^^^^OH I forgot the chutneys SWMBO will not be amused.

I think the thing with runners is how you treat them. SWMBO has tried all sorts of ways and has settled on, wash in cold water, slice and freeze, to cook she puts them in a pan of cold water and as she starts to plate up dinner turns on the gas as soon as they start to bubble they are out and on the plate.

[noviceveggrower]

I'm afraid I want to be able to pickle, jam and preserve stuff but I am a bit useless in the kitchen. I have all the books but never do it. Instead my mom insists on doing it, she is a big Delia fan, and no one does it better than her.
So my mom freezes all the beans I grow, jams strawberries and other fruits and makes chutneys and pickles other items.
In fact I think the only thing my mom trusts me with is drying out the onions. Oh wait a minute no she doesn't.

[Guest]

Must do preserves mincemeat, fruit jellies, butters and cheeses (the girls won't do lumps), chilli jelly, chutney and cider pears and a few jars of various pickles. I freeze bits and bobs depending on gluts.

[Mr Bones]

Pickle jalapenos (slice jallies into a sterilised, pour on boiling vinegar and seal).
Dry apples and pears if we get enough
Freeze soft fruit, peas, broad beans
Cook and puree courgettes with onions, stock and cheese before freezing for pasta sauce.

[Ladyslip]

Pickle.....chillies onions cabbage cucumbers
Bottle/can tomatoes as pasta sauce/passatta
Piccalilli peppers onions cauliflower .....chutneys....plums..brown sauce.....jam occasionally rhubarb and various derivatives....freeze carrots leeks onions beans
Smoke and powder/flake some chillies. Freeze others for cooky use :-)

[Small pumpkin]

I make lots of jams, pickles, chutneys, soups and sauces. I freeze, beans, peas, carrots, fruit. Dry chilli's. I'm thinking about having a go at wine this year ( depending on how well the crop does )
I'm very interested in some of the ideas put forward. llevrah how do you freeze kale? Scarlet more explanation on the courgette, tomato, pepper lasagne freezing thing? That sounds lovely.
I like this thread

[Llevrah]

I make lots of jams, pickles, chutneys, soups and sauces. I freeze, beans, peas, carrots, fruit. Dry chilli's. I'm thinking about having a go at wine this year ( depending on how well the crop does )
I'm very interested in some of the ideas put forward. llevrah how do you freeze kale? Scarlet more explanation on the courgette, tomato, pepper lasagne freezing thing? That sounds lovely.
I like this thread

Not something I have yet tried myself but after finding out about freezing it MIL who also has an allotment told me she does it too.
Chop off the greenery and get rid of the stalks. Put it on a baking sheet or tray in the freezer and freeze it. Once it's frozen stick in a bag and chuck it back in there. That seems to be all there is to it.

LOTS of things on here I hadn't thought of. Really hadn't even given soup a thought at all.

Thank you all

[Penellype]

I am very sensitive to textures and I find whole chunks of veg, whether frozen on their own, in soups or in casseroles, almost always lose their texture - exceptions are peas, which freeze well straight from the pod, broccoli florets (but not the stems) and chopped cabbage.

I therefore freeze the following:
Peas, currants, raspberries, blueberries whole.
Courgettes, tomatoes, carrots, turnips, swedes, leeks, beans, broccoli, kohl rabi etc as pureed soups.
Potatoes as mash.
Onions and peppers chopped raw, for cooking (pepper skins can become rather tough).
Tomatoes peeled and chopped and lightly cooked for a sauce base.
Spinach having been cooked until just wilted in the microwave.
Fruit purees, stewed apples for use as pie or crumble filling.

I've found trying to freeze liquids in plastic bags inside a rigid container usually ends up with the bag trapped inside the block of ice. As I like to defrost things in the microwave I try to avoid this so I freeze most things in butter or ice cream tubs, which can then be turned out when frozen and put in a plastic bag.

[Llevrah]

I am very sensitive to textures and I find whole chunks of veg, whether frozen on their own, in soups or in casseroles, almost always lose their texture - exceptions are peas, which freeze well straight from the pod, broccoli florets (but not the stems) and chopped cabbage.

I therefore freeze the following:
Peas, currants, raspberries, blueberries whole.
Courgettes, tomatoes, carrots, turnips, swedes, leeks, beans, broccoli, kohl rabi etc as pureed soups.
Potatoes as mash.
Onions and peppers chopped raw, for cooking (pepper skins can become rather tough).
Tomatoes peeled and chopped and lightly cooked for a sauce base.
Spinach having been cooked until just wilted in the microwave.
Fruit purees, stewed apples for use as pie or crumble filling.

I've found trying to freeze liquids in plastic bags inside a rigid container usually ends up with the bag trapped inside the block of ice. As I like to defrost things in the microwave I try to avoid this so I freeze most things in butter or ice cream tubs, which can then be turned out when frozen and put in a plastic bag.

I thought it was just me with freezing fluid in bags. You have no idea how pleased I am it's not
The battles I have had trying to get bits of bag to come out of a lump of frozen stew or casserole or something grrrrrrrrr

[Finley]

I make gallons of tomato sauce for the freezer with roasted garlic, apple and green tomato chutneys.. think will griddle sliced courgettes for freezing this year. Pesto frozen in ice cube trays (add the cheese on defrosting). Pickled onions and beets. With the freezer bags, dunk the whole bag in a bowl of hot water until the contents unstick. I make jams and jellies from raspberries, strawberries, quinces and apples. If the globe artichokes come good I'll braise the hearts lightly in white wine vinegar then jar in olive oil. This thread is great!

[muddled]

When I have a large number of tomatoes ripening (sadly not the case this year) I start saving one and two pint plastic milk bottles. Perfect for freezing tom sauces/passatas in manageable amounts.

I keep a large plastic box in the freezer for 'odds and sods'...split garlic and onions, veggies where I've had to cut damage out, the stray pepper or courgette left on the plant when the bulk are harvested...these are chopped and added to the box as I come across them and the resulting mix used for soups stews and stirfrys.

I make jellies and picallili (not a fan of chutney...always seems so 'brown')

Freezer space is limited so last years experiment was salted runner beans...a huge success!

This years experiments are to be dried courgettes (a delicacy in Southern Italy) and I hope a better texture and use of space.
Also, fruit cordials because I'd much rather my children consume sugar than artificial sweeteners and the sugar tax is resulting in aspartame turning up our previously sweetener free orange squash brands

I freeze brocolli in small chunks ready for broc and blue cheese soup (our absolute favourite) by chopping, freezing in a single layer on a tray and then scraping the tray into a bag so its 'freeflow'

An embarrasingly large amount of fruit I preserve in alcohol as rumtoft (in my defence, everyone asks for this as xmas prezzies....honest ) The fruit from the bottom of the jar goes into xmas trifle or is encased in chocolate.

Herbs, some are dried but most are chopped and mixed into butter and frozen in ice cube trays.

There are more but this post is already too long!