How can I keep my food in my garden fresh for at least 6 months?

Question

How can I keep my food in my garden fresh for at least 6 months without using glass canning jars that are way to high these days? I have cantalope, watermelon, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, jalapenos, lima beens, green, red, yellow peppers, leaf lettuce and onions. Can I freeze them or? If so in what?

Answer 1

We used to wash the tomatoes- dry them and    freeze them whole, place them on a  cookie sheet  1/2" apart in your freezer - when they freeze solid - remove the cookie sheet - then they will be like hard balls.  They will be good for soups, sauces, casseroles etc.. in the cold weather.

cucumbers - make a relish out of them.

jalapenos - you can dry them. bell peppers they should be cored and frozen in air type freezer bags.

The glass mason jars are expensive but if you try going to a thrift store to buy them  - then any grocery store you can find the new lids that way it is an inexpensive way to do canning.

Lettuce, cantaloupe and watermelon should be eaten asap or shared with a  food bank in your area.

Have fun!!

Answer 2

Green beans can be canned or frozen, same with tomatoes, those you will want to do some prep work to, either cut them or juice them or something.  Peppers can be frozen, but you will need to cut them first, and then will on;y be good to add color to soups and stuff.  Onions should shay good for a long time in a dark cool dry place.  Cantalope and watermelon you will want to eat fresh.  You can try dehydrating them and storing them for awhile, but not forever.  I did recently see a recipe for freezing cucumbers, but I don't know how well that would work.  Leaf lettuce needs to be eaten ASAP.  I don't know about Jalapenos, but I think those can be dried for cooking purposes, and you can have lima beans dried as well, thats haw you buy them in a store!!

Answer 3

You can freeze some of them but even frozen veggies aren't meant to last 6 months.  Some of them to need to blanch before freezing and some you can't freeze at all.  I would google  how to freeze each veggie.

I know you cannot freeze cucumbers or lettuce.