Can I freeze veggies from the garden?

Question

So I have this garden and it grew much better then I had planned. I planted a little bit more of each just in case I had trouble getting them to grow.

Now, I have more than I can eat. I just can't keep up with my garden.

I was told that especially with the lettuce I can clean it, zip-lock it and then freeze it. I should be able to do this with all the veggies right? I mean we can buy frozen veggies, so why can't I freeze them myself?

Answer 1

lettuce will wilt when it is frozen. but most garden vegee's like beans, pepper, tomatoes and such can definitely be frozen (I do it every year). the key is to blanch them in boiling water after you clean and cut them for 2-3 minutes. then immediately drop them in ice water to stop the cooking process and dry them on clean towels and freeze in bags. they will last quite a few months in the freezer...good luck!

Answer 2

YOu can freeze veggies. But some have to have a hot water bath. Different veggies require a different preparation. YOu need to find you a cook book with freezing direction or maybe check online. As for freezing lettuce I dont know about that.It gets soggy. Good Luck.  

Answer 3

Great idea,certainly you can freeze home produce and enjoy that fresh picked taste.Not sure about lettuce,though.Cauliflower and cabbage  do OK,so give it a whirl!

Answer 4

Julie hit the nail right on the head...blanchin stops enzymes in veggies that continue to work when frozen even..this drains the vitamins, taste and color if not blanched..lettuce will wilt in the freezer..here is a blanching chart for  all veggies blanch for certain times, and you must dip them in a cold water(with ice) bath after blanching to stop the cooking process..

http://www.helium.com/items/258744-how-a...

This is why you blanch reasd aboutr the vitamins here..

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnu...

Here is a blanching chart for veggies..This covers alot of veggies..if any are not here simply search the veggie independently on how long to blanch

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/he1...

Answer 5

  First time garden to many veggies after sharing  , I have tried the blanching and it works. Make sure you have a lot of ice to cool veggies down and get all air out of zip bags I used a straw. It was  easy and  we are going to have a lot of veggies this winter. Not lettuce that wont work .            Good Luck