by Rex Trulove

Created on: April 01, 2009

Having a wonderful bounty of fresh vegetables does little good if they spoil before they can be used. Eating them is one way to take care of the problem, however this isn't practical if you have a large amount of vegetables to deal with. The vegetables need to be preserved in one fashion or another. Thankfully, there are many tips and tricks for doing exactly that.

Canning

Home canning is one of the most used methods of preserving vegetables. The number of vegetables suitable for canning is large and includes potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, corn, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and beets. Over simplified, the idea is to process the food and to put it in hot jars with enough fluid to cover, then to seal with a lid and ring so the lid will create an air proof cover once the jar cools. This locks nutrients and flavor in, while also allowing the vegetables to keep for a surprising amount of time.

There are several advantages to canning, not the least of which being that this allows a large amount of vegetables to be processed and stored at one time. Seasoning can also be added, to lend flavor to the canned veggies. For instance, canning a combination of corn, beans, diced potatoes, carrots, and onions with some salt, pepper, oregano, basil, garlic powder, and thyme will result in a great ready mix for making soups and stews.

Onions, carrots, potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower can be combined in a vinegar bath with salt, garlic, and peppers or other spices, for a wonderful pickled vegetable mixture. Vinegar is great for preserving vegetables, in fact. Home canned horseradish is usually made by cleaning the horseradish, peeling it, grating it, putting it into heated jars and barely covering with hot vinegar, then sealing.

NOTE: If you are making home canned horseradish, make sure you work in a ventilated area, and do not touch your eyes when working with the grated vegetable. Raw horseradish is strong and irritating.

Freezing

Freezing is a method of choice for preserving vegetables for many people. Generally, the vegetables are quickly blanched before freezing, to lock the flavor in. They are then frozen as quickly as possible. For example, corn on the cob can be blanched for exactly three minutes in boiling water, then frozen. In the middle of the winter, cooking the corn as you would fresh corn on the cob can surprise anyone eating it, because it honestly does taste fresh.

A key to freezing vegetables is to cool them as quickly as possible. If it takes too long to freeze

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