Freezing Greens from the garden

[donnyandcathy]

We have an overabundance of greens from our garden, and they all had to be picked before they went to seed.
I was wondering if any of you have had success freezing greens fresh?
We have spinach, all types of lettuces, kale, and chard. I know when I freeze them that I will have to use them in soups, dips, or smoothies, which is fine, I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't mess them up by freezing them.
Would I wash real well, spin to dry, and then just pack them in a bag to freeze?
When I was ready to use them, would I just use them in the recipe, frozen, or defrost first?
Thanks so much, and I hope I don't sound ignorant ;) It's just my daughter worked really hard to grow these for me, and I want to make sure I don't waste them.
Cathy

[kgarrett]

I would also like to know the answer for this. I don't know what to do with my greens if I don't use them before they go bad.

[sport]

I freeze greens and then add them frozen to a smoothie.
Just remember to freeze them in portion sizes. When you take all of the air out of the bag they do not take up much room.

[DebB]

I've read (haven't tried freezing them myself, although I will with our garden's bounty in the fall) that once frozen, you can actually sort of smoosh them up in the bag. That they'll break into tiny frozen pieces - thus taking up very little room in the freezer. *Ü*

[Factoid]

I've asked this Q bef and apparently it is ok to do. I have seen frozen greens eg lettuce before though and it just looked bad/ rotten so I am still wondering.
I have chopped down some greens added oil and frozen in a jar but not eaten that yet. That was an attempt to break down cell walls when I was without a blender.
Would be interesting to see how green smoothies frozen would be too.
Interested to find out how others went with the freezing.

[streetsurfer]

Hope your feeling well Cathy!

[streetsurfer]

I found this info I'd taken from an older post here. The two that I've tried are ice cubes, and quickly blanched and frozen. I don't recall from whom the post originated or I would give them credit.
Freezing kale. Four ways to go:
Freeze in a little of the rinse water.
Spin dry after washing, breaking into pieces for condensed packaging, and freeze.
Blanch and freeze.
Blend/puree and freeze into cubes for smoothies and soups.

See which you like best. Ice cubes worked well for smoothies. The other way I tried left the kale kind of leathery.....I think it was the blanching first method, on some red kale. It did not seem to grind up as well in smoothies but may have worked well for other dishes.


I hope you're feeling well Cathy!

[islesgirl]

Hi Cathy,
Although some believe that some damage occurs to living foods when they are frozen because freezing can expand and burst cell walls and the resulting oxidation diminishes the nutritional value of the food, at least freezing introduces no known toxins.:)

I grew spinach, chard, beets (with greens of course), kale, collards, romaine, red leaf lettuce, parsley. I did this the past two summers and froze most of it just to keep up with it.

First I washed it carefully, then used my "Food Saver" to suck out all the air in the bags and then froze it. Another poster was right when she said to try to keep the portions small or the size you'd use in a smoothie or two. Some packaged greens are easier than others to break up once frozen and it depends on their water content. I only used these greens in my smoothies though and they must have been okay because my smoothies took away all my cravings, filled me up and made me feel fabulous and made my skin glow and tighten up.:D

What a dear daughter you have.

[revdrcyn]

When I have an overabundance of greens, I juice them and freeze the juice (in freezer jam containers - they hold about a cup each).

It takes up a lot of room in the freezer, but I've found I don't like the consistency of frozen greens.

[donnyandcathy]

Thanks so much everyone, I may have them eaten before I need to freeze them ;)
I used a lot of the spinach for the smoothies.

Thanks StreetSurfer for asking about me. To be honest, I'm really struggling, but trying to stay focused, and stay raw.
I'm so glad that the warmer weather is here, and the fruit is coming into season.
I'm waiting for the yummy watermelons!!!:D
How are you doing?

Night,
Cathy

[Evie]

I recommend dehydrating them and making your own green powders for smoothies and recipes. I have frozen before...but did not like them after being in the freezer after amonth. ;)

[Factoid]

I was just thinking about DIY green powder! How do you do it? Do you blend it all then dehydrate, then blend it again?

[christinajade]

As long as you pretty much only want them for smoothies because after freezing the greens will most likely become soggy after thawing out.

[shaycorl]

freeze them in pieces and a proper way so next time when you need to get them, they just don't give you hard time on it.