Preserve and Enjoy Favorite Foods Later!

Sometimes it happens – we grow or purchase more food than we could possibly eat. Talk about a good problem to have! Luckily, food preservation is a great way to save that gorgeous, delicious food for later.

Benefits of Food Preservation

Maybe your garden is overflowing with produce, you simply could not pass up that sale on blueberries, or you made enough soup to feed a party. Food preservation to the rescue! Here are some of the benefits of taking the time to preserve that food:

1. Save money by stocking up on sales and preserving your purchases for later.
2. Take advantage of seasonal ‘bumper crops’ in your garden or local community. (For instance,  can apple butter, dry apple slices or freeze pie filling in a good apple year!)
3. Reduce food waste and help the environment.
4. Meal prep – make a big batch and freeze portions to enjoy later.
5. Make your own dried fruit or meat to take as a light-weight snack when hiking or traveling.
6. Create gifts for family and friends – jams and jellies are a classic, but pickled vegetables or some sauerkraut also make great gifts.
7. Save the flavors of the season for later and preserve food at the height of its nutrition.

Preservation Methods

Perhaps when you hear food preservation, your mind immediately goes to you standing at the stove, spending the whole day sweating over canning equipment? Canning is absolutely an option, but there are also many other simple ways to preserve food:

• Drying
• Fermenting
• Freezing

Getting Started

Whether you are new to food preservation or a long-time enthusiast, here are some resources and ideas to provide inspiration:

• Check out Colorado State University Extension’s helpful new website, Preserve Smart, which is a great resource for food preservation tips and recipes! You can also download the app in Google Play of on your iPhone.
• Freeze over-ripe bananas, then whip up some banana nice cream when your sweet tooth strikes.
• Get creative – when summer squash overtakes your garden, zucchini bread is good, but so are summer squash pickles.