Preserving What We Grow in the Garden

Fruits and vegetables are a good source of dietary fiber, making you feel fuller for longer and preventing overconsumption of food. The health benefits of fresh produce include lower rates of diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.

One way to use the ingredients in your garden is to preserve them by dehydrating raw fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers with a food dehydrator. This process makes them safe to store or share with other people because they have been made into a powder that can be easily reconstituted. This article provides some basic guidelines on how best to use the things we grow in the garden.

Preserving What We Grow in the Garden

1. Wine Making

Some fruits can be used to make wine. You can use a blender to mash up the fruits into a pulp or mash them with a potato masher. You can ferment your wine in glass jars or places them in plastic bottles as long as it does not contain metal parts. If you have tried delicious dual fruit wine, then you know how good it can be. A wine kit is an infusion system with a container for fruit, a separate filter, and a glass bottle. You can use fruits like apples, oranges, pears, and berries to make wine.

2. Compost Tea

Compost tea is a liquid fertilizer made from compost. The compost tea brewing process kills off any harmful bacteria in the compost because the high heat destroys them. The compost is dragged into barrels, combined with water, and pumped into large tanks. A pump returns it to the brew tank, where oxygen is bubbled through it to create bubbles that help carry the bacteria into the tea as it settles in buckets placed below. This fertilizer is beneficial for plants and is easily made.

3. Soap Making

You can make soap from fruit and vegetable skins. The products are made in large factories that process the skins chemically. By making them yourself, you have control over the ingredients and do not have to pay a high price because they are relatively easy to produce in your kitchen. You may even be able to use some of the leaves of the plants if they are not too harsh and rugged but still edible. There are various recipes online, and one by Hadwen Trust discusses how it helps people living without bath or shower facilities during freezing weather.

4. Skin Care

Mashed fruit and vegetables can be used to make facial masks. The fruit pulp detoxifies the skin, and the removal of dead cells promotes smooth skin. Some fruits, such as apricots and pears, are used in skin care products such as lotions and soaps. The fruit can be crushed, and the juice squeezed out into the water to create a thick cream that you can use for more intensive skin care treatments. It is suitable for sensitive skin because it contains no harsh chemicals.

5. Pickle Making

Pickling vegetables is a way of preserving them without the use of preservatives. The vegetables make a sauce or brine with a low pH level. They are then canned in jars and sealed to keep the food safe. Using fruit as part of the brine makes pickles more effective and nutritious. Penicillium candidum bacteria released during fermentation is also used by fermenting fruit such as apples and pears with sugar to produce vinegar that can be used in piquant pickles. It is essential to use a food dehydrator when making pickles so that traces of chemical preservatives are not present.

6. Fruit Jams and Jellies

Fruit can be used in jams and jellies. This makes a good choice for using excess fruit because they taste delightful and will not spoil if they get too old or sour. The berries must be pureed before they are used in jams or jelly because the seeds contain a potent poison. To make jelly, you should use apples as a base ingredient because they are sweeter than other fruits. It is also essential to use water instead of water with sugar in it because the sugar content will make your jam or jelly turn out too soft.

Using the things we grow in our garden is a valuable way to save money, avoid added preservatives and chemicals, and make our homes healthier. This is because we can use them to produce many beneficial foods that taste good and provide us with valuable products.