Planning for winter: How to optimally preserve your harvest

Preparations for the winter

Most gardeners, who rejoice and are filled with pride at the impressive harvests in the fall, are already wondering by the beginning of spring next year how many of last season's harvests will remain untouched and not given away.

And then housewives start vowing not to plant so much next year. But... A new season arrives, and the same thing happens again. But here's the strange thing: despite the fact that the bins are stocked with all sorts of jars, some vegetables or preserves quickly run out, and they're still bought at the store. How can this be avoided? How can you plan your harvest so you can more effectively allocate your energy during the summer season and save money in the winter, maximizing the potential of your summer cottage or garden? Planning and distribution, strict accounting, and following your chosen strategy. This article will tell you what you need to consider when planning your harvest, how to optimize costs, and how to manage the volume of your harvest while still having time to relax in a hammock or go on picnics.

Historical excursion

At the dawn of our young Russian Federation, when most of us were children, we had countless jars of produce in our homes... and countless bags of root vegetables, too. A significant portion of it was eventually eaten, and some would last for another year, and some for several more. Now the situation has changed; the selection in stores has become much more diverse, and seasonal fruits and vegetables from neighboring hot countries are no longer a rarity.

In the Soviet era, people bought huge quantities of salt, sugar, oil, and vinegar, which were then used during the canning season. Alternative methods of preserving and storing food emerged, many adopted a healthier lifestyle, and the interplay of various world cuisines became more intense.

Even if you don't have a cellar or a separate storage area with a specific temperature regime, it's entirely possible to preserve your harvest with minimal processing or the addition of large amounts of preservatives.

The modern slogan for home-prepared foods is: as few preservatives as possible!

The standard storage options in an average apartment include a cold cabinet in the hallway, a refrigerator with a freezer, and storage on the balcony. Of course, variations are possible. An additional freezer or a separate refrigerator for canning, for example, or a drawer under the windowsill for storing vegetables, for example. But even a minimal set of storage options or systems allows you to preserve a large quantity of vegetables, fruits, and berries for future use in the healthiest possible way.

Great drought!

As it turns out, the simplest, most effortless, and most effective method is drying. A wide variety of units from various brands are now available. Square and round, with five or ten trays... All that matters is the temperature setting offered by a specific unit. The more temperature settings and the higher the temperature, the greater the possibilities.

In the homes of those who prefer drying as a method of preserving, it typically runs from May to December. The season begins with drying young, aromatic greens and ends with drying the slices of late-ripening apples, which are not eaten fresh and are used in compotes and pies.

What can be dried from the harvest:

young greens (dill, garlic, onion);
fermented fireweed and other fermented leaves;
medicinal herbs that grow like weeds all over the garden (they used to be mercilessly thrown away, but now they can be dried, packed in beautiful jars and used to make decoctions for beauty and health in the winter);
apples, chokeberries, rose hips;
sliced strawberries, young carrots, beets, parsley root, rutabagas for healthy snacks or chips, if you add salt and spices;
a universal cooking mixture (onions, garlic, carrots, bell peppers, root and leaf parsley, dill, carrot greens, celery and all sorts of aromatic herbs), add beets for borscht seasoning;
mushrooms (but these are not from the garden, but a by-product of walks in the forest near the dacha), etc.

For storage, use three-liter or one-liter jars with tight lids or zip-lock bags of the appropriate size. The key is airtightness! Then, your harvest, ten times smaller and taking up minimal space, will last until the next season of fresh vegetables from the garden.

You can make pastila and other healthy snacks in a dehydrator. However, they usually don't last long and are gobbled up right away.

What's so great about drying? Your harvest is no longer considered "off-standard." Anything huge or out-of-shape, anything deformed during harvesting, and basically, ANY part of the harvest that can't be stored anywhere else, can be dried. You can dry both mixed vegetables and single-vegetables. It's also a great handmade gift. Get a pretty jar, mix different dried vegetables, add sea salt, wrap it beautifully, and you can go to a party with confidence—no one else will give you a gift like this!

In terms of energy consumption, this is much more cost-effective than throwing away produce that doesn't store well, but which required a lot of effort, and buying tasteless imported goods or even local produce at farmers' markets. The method is completely justified.

Oh, frost, frost...

This is the second most popular method because it also works great for preserving without preservatives. It also saves incredible time throughout the rest of the year.

Minimal harvesting. All that's required is washing and drying the raw materials, chopping or pureeing, packaging, and freezing.

What can be frozen:

berries (strawberries, whole and pureed, blueberries, lingonberries, all three types of currants, cranberries, raspberries, etc.);
fruits (halves of plums, apricots; slices of peaches, nectarines);
vegetables (green beans, whole and sliced bell peppers, halved and diced tomatoes, mushrooms fried with onions, Swiss chard, spinach, diced green garlic, dill and parsley, green peas);
If you have a dehydrator, it's best not to freeze vegetables like carrots, as they dry well and then regenerate when cooked.

Ziplock bags are ideal for packaging. They are sold in 1,000-piece batches and come in a variety of sizes, allowing everyone to choose the portion size they need for freezing. Freezer space is saved through clever cutting or partial pre-processing. Some fruits and vegetables are halved or sized for future cooking, such as plums and tomatoes, or bell peppers. Others are pureed (strawberries or tomatoes). The puree or chopped herb mixture is frozen in ice cube trays and then poured into cubes in the same ziplock bags.

All this is VERY convenient to use later, without spending more time on processing.

Where, where, in the refrigerator!

This type of storage primarily applies to sweets and berries. Primarily, we're talking about uncooked jellies and light preserves with added alcohol and a minimum of sugar. These include jars of currants, fresh strawberries, or a mix of seasonal fruits. And, if space permits, thick tomato juices and sauces, halved tomatoes, tomatoes in their own juice, eggplant and zucchini "mushroom-style," and green tomato caviar (because there's room now). Tomato paste made in a bread machine can also be stored in the refrigerator.

It's also worth noting that sterilized products without added sugar or salt, such as cherries for dumplings and pies, also store well in the refrigerator.

Grandma's treasured closet

Everything that couldn't fit in the refrigerator and freezer is collected in the cabinets.

Firstly, everything that is dried in a dehydrator and packed in jars or large cans.

The main inhabitants of the cold cabinet are jars and bottles of juice. Fresh or pasteurized, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that these drinks are incredibly healthy in winter! No Tetra Pak drink from the store can compare! The number of liters of juice you can store may be limited either by the harvest or the number of jars you can fit in the cabinet.

Next come pickled cucumbers. They store well in a cool cupboard. Pickled brown tomatoes are becoming equally popular, so they're often found alongside cucumbers.

Lovers of various marinades, winter salads, or jams with a high sugar content also store their trophies in such cabinets.

Sugar-free applesauce, evaporated in a bread machine to remove excess moisture, and various tomato sauces with a minimum of preservatives are perfectly stored in a cold cabinet.

Another promising preserving method is fruit and berries in light syrup. This saves significant space compared to large jars of compotes. Apple cider vinegar, pasteurized pumpkin juice, light pickled cabbage, and other delicious and healthy preserves can be stored in a cool cabinet.

Root vegetables are stored in the lower drawers of the cold cabinet.

Thus, with the proper use of modern technology, it's possible to process significant volumes of vegetables, fruits, and berries, using minimal preservatives and storing them in accessible storage areas.

But the most important thing is ease of use, the presence of vitamins and healthy fiber in the diet, and therefore a high quality of life. This comes from both productive work in the garden and from consuming high-quality products you can trust.