Deeply inspired by an extremely lovely thread on the Pemberton Food and Farm facebook page,  it felt timely to share weekly tips on how to preserve fresh produce that’s in season right now, to build your personal food security going into the winter.

You can do this whether or not you have a garden… if you haven’t grown things yourself, buy them when they’re in season, at the grocery store or at the farmer’s market or at the pop up food stands, and “put them away” for later.

Start with a simple one.

Fresh fruit and berries can be “flash frozen” on baking trays, and then packed into ziplock bags in the freezer, and used all through the winter for smoothies, baking, or even jam.

Last week, we picked up 3 boxes of blueberries, and packed them away. My gurus told me years ago, when we first began this habit, that you don’t need to wash the berries in advance. You don’t want to wash them before you freeze them, as there’s a risk they might get mooshy. Instead, rinse them by the handful when you pull them out of the freezer, before you use them.

Use a sharpie to mark the year on the outside of your ziplock.

I’ve been recycling my ziplock bags for years.

Making my grandmothers and great-grandmothers proud.