Gardening – Extending a garden’s bounty

One of the natural flow-on effects of gardening is the inevitable excess of produce that arises. This is where various food preservation techniques come into play.

In this increasingly uncertain world of natural disasters, political instability or supply chain disruptions, these techniques are valuable skills that support self-reliance, environmental sustainability, and a deeper understanding of food systems. Knowing how to preserve food through bottling, dehydrating, freezing, fermenting or pickling enables people to store food safely and extend its usability, reducing reliance on grocery stores or pre-packaged items, reducing food waste and reducing plastic waste.

Homemade preserved foods contain fewer additives and preservatives than ultra-processed, store-bought versions. Many food preservation techniques are passed down through generations and teaching these skills ensures the next generation is prepared for emergencies or shortages, while protecting their health and saving money. It helps preserve cultural heritage and creates intergenerational bonds through shared experiences and recipes, not to mention the fun and laughter that often surrounds the process.

Preservation is a great teaching opportunity for young ones. For example, understanding fermentation involves knowing how beneficial bacteria work and how pH affects the process. I can guarantee that once a child has watched a kombucha or vinegar scobie grow and they get to handle it, they will never forget that experience. It’s a hands-on way to learn important scientific concepts.

In our house, we practice a lot of preservation techniques. Just this week I have been drying various tender herbs, such as basil, by hanging them in the garden shed out of the sun. Aside from sprinkling into dishes during cooking, dried herbs are lovely steeped into olive oil. Another great storage technique for herbs is to blend them as a pesto and freeze them into cubes and bag for use over winter.

Persimmon slices are dried in a dehydrator, and the heat produced also keeps the room warmer. These will replace imported apricot chunks in the delicious homemade muesli that Angela makes. Tomatoes are also easy to dehydrate this way and can then be stored in oil and, even better, with dried herbs. We dehydrate any flush of mushrooms we forage or grow; superb texture and taste when added to soups and pastas.

Bottling is a major preservation technique in our household. Aside from pasta sauce, we bottle apples (with cinnamon), peaches, plums, feijoas, capsicum jelly, strawberry jam, persimmon jam, boysenberry jam, chilli sauce, lemon honey and lots more. Angela has just finished the tomato processing season, mostly going into jars as a pasta sauce, with garden herbs, and any other vegetables that are available at the time to add texture and flavour. Green tomatoes that probably won’t ripen are cooked with vinegar, herbs, sugar and onions into a delicious relish that stars on every cheese board we make.\

If she runs out of time to bottle, then a simple cooked tomato puree is frozen into bags, with a handful of basil added before freezing, this makes a great base for soups or more pasta sauce later. Spinach (including Malabar and Kiwi spinach) can be steamed, squeezed and frozen into rolled balls, to be used the same way as the courgettes. I’ve run out of space to write about pickling, fermenting and distilling, but rest assured, nothing is wasted. Courgettes are grated, squeezed to remove most of the moisture, then vacuum-sealed and frozen for fritters, lasagna, hash browns, stews and more.