News
ENLARGE
The flowers are blooming and trees are budding. This time of year typically signals spring cleaning. When you're cleaning the house and doing those once-a-year chores, don't forget to include your pantry and freezer on your to-do list.
Now is a good time to take an inventory of your preserved foods. What do you have left? How much did you use? Did your family really like that salsa recipe you tried last year, or do you need to look for a different one? Take stock: If your family really liked those green beans and that variety really produced in the garden last summer, you'll want to be sure and plant that kind again this year.
Now is the time to be ordering those vegetables seeds. It's a good time to take note of the varietals that you're planting. Think about what the yield was last year. Do you need to plant more or less? Think about what your family used and what went to waste on the vine. If you've got room in the garden, now would be a good time to plant an extra row, with the excess produce being donated to United Community Action Network and the emergency food distribution programs throughout the county.
Check your cupboards. Pull the older products to the front so you're doing a proper rotation of foods. That's another terrific reminder why it's a good idea to date all your preserved foods.
It's another reason why that food preservation diary comes in handy. Keep a notebook or notepad of what you're preserving. Facts you'll want to be sure to include are the date preserved, what you preserved, how much you had and how much finished product it yielded. What variety did you use? Where there any problems with the process time or recipe used?
Here's a good example. You canned X variety of peaches from Y produce stand. Even though the peaches were advertised to be freestone, they sure weren't when it came time to can them. As a result, you got a whole lot less yield. Maybe that variety turned brown much more quickly than others. These are all good notes to remember so you don't purchase that variety again.
It's a good time to clean out the freezer, too. Defrost it, vacuum the coils and wash and sanitize it. Move the foods from the bottom to the top so you can get them used up. How much frozen fruit do you have left from last year? How much do you need to buy this year? What foods do you need to get used up so you have enough room for new produce from this growing season? Juice those leftover berries for jelly.
If you're new to preserving foods or you've canned all your life, the Master Food Preserver Program may be of interest to you. We've got a new class starting on April 6. For information and an application, check out the Douglas County Extension Web page at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/douglas.
Susan Busler is the Family Community Development Extension agent for OSU Extension Service of Douglas County. She can be reached by e-mail at susan.busler@oregonstate.edu or by phone at 541-672-4461.
Now is a good time to take an inventory of your preserved foods. What do you have left? How much did you use? Did your family really like that salsa recipe you tried last year, or do you need to look for a different one? Take stock: If your family really liked those green beans and that variety really produced in the garden last summer, you'll want to be sure and plant that kind again this year.
Now is the time to be ordering those vegetables seeds. It's a good time to take note of the varietals that you're planting. Think about what the yield was last year. Do you need to plant more or less? Think about what your family used and what went to waste on the vine. If you've got room in the garden, now would be a good time to plant an extra row, with the excess produce being donated to United Community Action Network and the emergency food distribution programs throughout the county.
Check your cupboards. Pull the older products to the front so you're doing a proper rotation of foods. That's another terrific reminder why it's a good idea to date all your preserved foods.
It's another reason why that food preservation diary comes in handy. Keep a notebook or notepad of what you're preserving. Facts you'll want to be sure to include are the date preserved, what you preserved, how much you had and how much finished product it yielded. What variety did you use? Where there any problems with the process time or recipe used?
Here's a good example. You canned X variety of peaches from Y produce stand. Even though the peaches were advertised to be freestone, they sure weren't when it came time to can them. As a result, you got a whole lot less yield. Maybe that variety turned brown much more quickly than others. These are all good notes to remember so you don't purchase that variety again.
It's a good time to clean out the freezer, too. Defrost it, vacuum the coils and wash and sanitize it. Move the foods from the bottom to the top so you can get them used up. How much frozen fruit do you have left from last year? How much do you need to buy this year? What foods do you need to get used up so you have enough room for new produce from this growing season? Juice those leftover berries for jelly.
If you're new to preserving foods or you've canned all your life, the Master Food Preserver Program may be of interest to you. We've got a new class starting on April 6. For information and an application, check out the Douglas County Extension Web page at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/douglas.
Susan Busler is the Family Community Development Extension agent for OSU Extension Service of Douglas County. She can be reached by e-mail at susan.busler@oregonstate.edu or by phone at 541-672-4461.
