Freezing & Preserving Garden Goodies?

[Rinda]

I'm asking ahead to find out if anyone knows how best to put vegetables away for the winter.

We put out a huge garden and have always blanched veggies (green beans, corn, peas) before freezing. I've been taught that this is necessary to stop the enzyme process (of course it does :rolleyes: ) to keep them tasty and edible.

Well, since we've decided to go nearly all raw as much as possible we would like to know other alternatives other than blanching. Can a person just skip the blanching process and freeze veggies successfully for quite a number of months? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[FloridaPatty]

veggies. Also dehydrating them is another way to save the crops.

[Lady Green Jeans]

I canned and froze produce for years when I lived back in Ohio. Blanching and hot water bath canning both stop (kill) the enzymes. You may try lightly blanching (very briefly) or simply not blanching at all and check the results. Have not had much luck there--texture and taste just don't quite cut it.

Dehydrating just may be a viable option--there is the "Simply vegetable" company that sells dehydrated products at the health food store. If you have an abundance, sure worth a try. Please keep us posted what you try.

[jacsam]

I have done this with peppers...the texture isn't the same when they thaw, I also do it with berries. I like to dehydrate my tomatoes.