It’s harvest time here in the South, and all gardeners will tell you straight out that there’s nothing worse than wasting the crops they worked so hard to grow. In our family, there’s a legendary acre or so of land in Slayden, Mississippi that’s set up for excellent growing conditions, and we pitch in and help Amy’s father with his farm there when we can. We can pull up to 15 gallons of tomatoes from the vines in a single week. We share them with friends, and still, we have an almost-overwhelming bounty.
So what do we do? There are plenty of methods of preservation that work well, but few that take so little prep and are so fail-safe. Once the water and moisture is out of fruits and vegetables, they won’t degrade. Talk about magic! It’s a great idea to buy a few things from the farmers market now or use your own homegrown produce in your dehydrator to make a few food gifts or stock up for fall and winter meals.