Pickling without Canning Making your own pickles can be a quick, easy, and delicious way to put by many of your garden vegetables—not just cucumbers but also beans, peas, radishes, turnips, carrots, cauliflower, peppers, eggplants, zucchini, and more. And pickling these vegetables need never involve toiling over a hot stove or working with quantities inappropriate for a small household or urban home garden. Learn about the difference between fresh and fermented pickles, how to make refrigerator pickles (with vinegar), how to brine vegetables and store brined pickles, and how to make freezer pickles, miso pickles, and even nuka (rice bran) pickles. You’ll see brining containers, taste pickles of different types, and take home recipes. Copies of The Joy of Pickling will be available for signing. The Many Ways to Preserve Tomatoes The next best thing to a garden-fresh tomato is a home-preserved tomato. There are so many good ways to preserve your garden tomatoes that you need never be tempted to buy industrial tomatoes. Learn about choosing different tomato varieties for different purposes; boiling-water versus pressure canning (don’t worry—you don’t need a pressure canner!); acidifying canned tomatoes, and whether it’s necessary; how to peel and seed tomatoes and how to avoid doing so; how to make sauces, ketchups, salsas, chutneys, and clear or thick and flavored juice from your tomatoes; how to pickle tomatoes; and how to dry tomatoes and make good use of the dried product. Processing equipment will be displayed, and everyone will bring home a copy of the Extension publication “Canning Tomatoes and Tomato Products.” Preserving Berries Details to come. |