storing home grown food

Pickles, chutneys and jams are a great and tasty way of preserving fruit and vegetables.

Onions can keep for up to 12 months if stored in a cool and well ventilated place. Potatoes will also keep well in the same conditions, stored in hessian sacks.
Root veg will keep well in sand, or in a clamp. This is simply a crater dug in the ground, covered and insulated with straw.

Another thing you can do, especially if storage space is a issue, is to plan and stagger your sowings so that you have a steady supply of food, minimising the need for preserving. Obviously this isn't possible with things like potatoes and tomatoes etc.

I found this forum which has a few nice snippets of advice

www.allotments-uk.com...

Originally posted by worldwatcher
This was posted in a H1N1 thread, but there is a section that I'm linking that deals with food preservation

getpandemicready.org...

You can freeze most garden veggies and if you have a vacuum sealer, even better. I like pickling stuff like peppers, cucumbers and fruits. don't have the conditions to have a root cellar, but I'd love to have one

I have personally canned, frozen and dried garden veggies for preservation. I will give a quick run down of each.

Canning: A little labor intensive but an excellent method for preservation. Once canned, you are all set. No refrigeration. Veggies maintain flavor but because they are blanched and stored in liquid they lose texture.

Freezing: Much less labor intensive than canning. You still need to blanch tomatoes to get the skins off but you can vacuum seal and place in freezer. Downfall is that you need a lot of freezer space and if the power goes out for extended periods you are in trouble. I have frozen peppers and zucchini as well with good results. Freezing destroys texture but flavor remains.

Dying: By far the least labor intensive. Slice veggies, place in dehydrator. I put mine in vacuum sealed bags afterwards and they keep for a very long time. without refrigeration. Flavor changes but not bad, texture is obviously compromised but they do rehydrate moderately well. This is a good options for tomatoes and fruits.

Canning and drying is by far the safest, with regards to shelf life, stability and storage, in a SITX. Relying on freezing is very risky because of the potential of power failure. Once this stuff thaws it is ruined if not used very quickly.

There's a fantastic Reader's Digest book called "Food From Your Garden". You can often see it for sale on ebay. All the fruit and veg are in alphabetical order with tips on planting, growing and harvesting and cooking. Some great recipes too. Then theres' a huge bit at the end on canning, drying, pickling, jams, preserves, wine-making, freezing, etc. the lot. Lots of clear, very detailed drawings throughout. I recommend it.

Originally posted by wigit
There's a fantastic Reader's Digest book called "Food From Your Garden". You can often see it for sale on ebay. All the fruit and veg are in alphabetical order with tips on planting, growing and harvesting and cooking. Some great recipes too. Then theres' a huge bit at the end on canning, drying, pickling, jams, preserves, wine-making, freezing, etc. the lot. Lots of clear, very detailed drawings throughout. I recommend it.

Is this it?
Book

as you posted this and its been somewhat well covered let me just this little tidbit on Emergency Preparedness issued by the CDC with the H1N1 virus Pandemic alert... it makes for a handy list of what you should have and what to plan on gathering

CDC recommendation:
Foods and Non-Perishables:
•Ready-to-eat canned meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, beans, and soups
•Protein or fruit bars
•Dry cereal or granola
•Peanut butter or nuts
•Dried fruit
•Crackers
•Canned juices
•Bottled water
•Canned or jarred baby food and formula
•Pet food
Side note here the CDC will not recommend any Walter filtration system or type of tablets, boiling for 20 minutes is they only thing they will ever advise

My Add-ons to this list

•Flour, yeast and whatever else you may need for your favorite homemade bread/pancake recipe
•Quick Cooking Oats for oatmeal
•Beans
•Bullion to season soups and beans
•Canned Meat and Fish
•Homemade Freezer meals *
•Lemons, Oranges, apples and other fruit that will keep for a while.
•Lemon Juice and frozen orange juice concentrate for (both fruit and juices are for extra boosts of vitamin c)
•Tea and Coffee
•Plenty of powdered milk (to drink, and cook with … you can make yogurt with it)
* You don’t want to rely strictly on freezer meals since there is also the potential for losing power with many emergencies, but with a health related one like this potential pandemic outbreak they will come in very handy.

Medical, Health and Emergency Supplies (recommended by the CDC)

•Prescribed medical supplies such as glucose and blood-pressure monitoring equipment
•Soap and water, or alcohol-based (60-95%) hand wash
•Medicines for fever, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen
•Thermometer
•Antidiarrheal medication
•Vitamins
•Fluids with electrolytes
•Cleansing agent/soap
•Flashlight
•Batteries
I don’t really have anything to add to this other than speak to your health care professional about anything else you should keep on hand. If you have kids, give your pediatrician a call. He can advise you on what over the counter medications you should keep on hand for your child. Remember before modern health care a good number of people died from burns and infected wounds

[edit on 21-5-2009 by DaddyBare]