Preserving your organically grown food is one of the best benefits of organic farming. It is not only a great way to keep your abundance all year long, kids will love learning about all these different techniques to preserve your harvest, and they also make meaningful eco-friendly gifts.
Here are five more ways to preserve your harvest from your organic farming efforts. When working with heat or alcohol for some of these preservation techniques, be sure to supervise the children who are taking part in the activity.
1. Cold Room Storage
Freeze your harvest in a freezer to preserve all its nutrients, or put them in a cold room like an underground cellar-like what our grandparents used to keep their harvest during the winter. You can also experiment with making eco-friendly and off-grid cold storage boxes like an “African Fridge” made of two clay pots and sand.
2. Canning
Many are daunted by the canning process, but it can be the most effective way to preserve your well-earned harvest from your eco garden for an indefinite amount of time. The Norwegian Canning Company in Norway displays canned tins of food that are still edible after 100 years! Whether you use boiling water or pressure-canning, just make sure you get your recipe from an up-to-date and reliable source.
3. Booze
Preserving food in alcohol is said to be even easier than canning though it will take much longer. Fruits that are preserved in booze like vodka at the end of summer will be just about ready for your Christmas and winter desserts and sweet treats. But matched with homemade eco-friendly packaging, they make for perfect stocking stuffers for the holiday gift-giving season.
4. Salt
Salt is one of the world's most ancient methods of preserving. By removing all the moisture from food via osmosis, it's essentially dehydrated. And a concentration of 20 percent salt is enough to kill harmful bacteria.
5. Honey
Even the Ancient Egyptians knew about the preservation and healing properties of honey. Tombs have been opened where 2000-year-old honey was found in perfectly edible states. To preserve food in honey, put them in a jar with enough natural honey to cover them and leave the lid slightly open for the first few days to allow gas to escape. Afterward, you can seal the lid.
Written by Jan
About the Author
Jan is a travelling yoga teacher and writer who advocates spiritual growth while leading a conscious,earth-centered lifestyle, as close to nature as possible. She currently lives on an island in the Philippines surrounded by tropical jungles and white sand beaches. She and her partner conduct sound meditations and journeys while advocating sustainable and organic gardening practices.