Personalizing Your Food

Local, healthy eating all year-round.

by Dag Falck

It used to be that Grandma was busy this time of year “putting up” food. Even though this had a certain charm, I also remember an intensity of “this is serious business!” Back when she had a family to feed, the produce grown in her garden, fresh berries from the fields, and even bartered foods with neighbours got transformed into storable forms so they would last well into winter and even spring. If she didn’t do this, the family might have had nothing to eat.

I’m getting serious about eating locally year-round. But slaving over a hot stove pickling cukes, handling large pots of boiling water and dozens of Mason jars, and measuring pickling salt is too much work. For me, it’s not about survival, but rather the pleasure of eating local, tasty, healthy, and uniquely personal food.

Having said that, I have a number of options. Labour-intensive preserving includes pickling onions, hot peppers, and other produce, fermenting cabbage to make sauerkraut, and canning whole tomatoes. Slightly less onerous tasks would be sealing vats of jams and jellies in tight jars. Much easier, and the thing I prefer, is simply storing beets, carrots, and potatoes in sacks in underground cold storage. No cold storage? Here’s how to make one:

Take a tub and put a layer of sand or sawdust on the bottom. Then put down a layer of crop, leaving some space between each root vegetable. Cover with a few inches of sand/sawdust, lay down your next layer of vegetables, and repeat till you get to the top. This keeps the moisture level perfect. Keep in a cool place (even outside is OK, as long as the tub is sheltered and protected from heavy frost).

Living a modern lifestyle doesn’t usually include pickling crocks or root cellars, but freezing and drying are popular ways to preserve food, and both are top-notch when it comes to safeguarding taste and nutrition.

When freezing berries you can use the individual quick frozen (IQF) method, which will yield whole, firm berries in February. Simply put a single layer of berries on a cookie tray (with edges) and put it in the freezer. When the berries are hard, slip them into a food storage bag and keep in the freezer—done! For making smoothies or syrups, save time by putting blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries straight into small storage bags and freeze. Then use the whole bag.

Sweet peppers are easy to simply chop up, bag, and freeze. Hot peppers can be hung with sewing thread by the fireplace mantle as Mexican-style decor while drying. Once they are dry, put them in the blender and you have your own hot spice.

Crushed tomatoes can be boiled down in a big pot at low heat for many hours and bagged and frozen when cooled. Surprise everyone by using cherry tomatoes for this; your dinner guests will want to know how you got your tomato sauce so tasty and sweet. Blanching for four minutes does it for beans, corn, and carrots. Just remember, never thaw frozen vegetables before cooking; put them straight into whatever dish you are preparing. This preserves their texture and taste.

Eggplant and zucchini won’t freeze whole, but they are great as part of a pre-made dish. If you have access to a variety of veggies, make your favourite stew and freeze in bags ready to heat and serve. Start now to explore how far you can stretch “local” into winter and spring.

Dag Falck and his wife Elina grow their own organic garden and are building an underground cold storage to stretch the garden’s bounty well into winter.