The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest is a comprehensive guide to preserving foods at home. Transition through each phase of home food preservation with confidence and ease, while enjoying my family’s favorite recipes. Each chapter contains updated information that will allow you to make a sound decision on how foods will be preserved in your home.
The guidelines needed to preserve foods can take years to learn. Information on how to preserve foods at home tends to be difficult to find and often outdated. However, wrong information can be found just about everywhere. The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest is written for those who want to know, and understand, why guidelines have been established.
We live in a modern world full of science, though as a homesteader I value traditional methods. Is there a way to understand both? Absolutely. Preserving foods is not black and white. There is a shade of grey that goes along with it.
What will you find in The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest?
Whether you’re a novice to preserving foods or a seasoned preserver who is ready to move onto the next phase, this guide is for you.
Each chapter contains tips, charts, and how to’s, with a plethora of reasons and explanations in between. In no way does The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest dictate how foods are to be preserved. Instead this book provides you with sound information in order to make the best decision for you and your family.
Hot Water Bath or Steam Canning
Begin at the beginning. The easiest phase for preserving foods is through hot water bath or steam canning. Create amazing shelf stable foods such as jams, jellies, marmalade and pickled items. Learn how to can fresh fruit juice and fruit pies. Also, put-up relishes, salsas, and chutney utilizing this method. But it’s canning tomatoes which has many interested. Can this fruit be preserved using these method? In short, yes. This chapter explains why.
Pressure Canning
Let’s take the fear out of pressure canning. Somewhere, somehow, someone made you fearful to pressure can foods. Something about killing people? There’s none of that in The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest. What is available in my book is the knowledge as to why low acidity items should be pressure canned. And how to pressure can foods with comfort and ease. Meats, fish, vegetables, soup, and stews are ideal candidates to be pressure canned.
Drying
Dehydrating is another easy phase for beginners. However, those interested in learning traditional methods, this chapter is for you. In addition to this, learn how to select the best dehydrator for the job and tips on how to successfully dry goods for long-term storage.
Curing
Curing foods is a lost art. But don’t fret, this method is quickly making a comeback, especially for those who homestead, farm, live off grid, or maintain an urban homestead. Learn how to comfortably cure bacon, cheeses, meats, and produce. Gather the necessary information on how to cure foods such as salami, pepperoni, and much more. Is it necessary to preserve foods using nitrates? No, but you’ll need to know why and how to do it right.
Fermenting
Yet another lost art. Fermenting is not only beneficial to your overall health; it is an easy method for preserving the harvest. Foods such as sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, sourdough, and kombucha are items often purchased from the market. Why not learn to make these items in the comfort of your home?
Freezing
More than likely, many of you have a freezer full of food because you’re too nervous to preserve it any other way. This chapter provides the best tips to freezing foods for long periods of time. Additionally, the very last phase of home food preservation can be found in this chapter, freeze drying. Freeze dried foods maintain up to 97% of their nutrients when preserved in its raw form. Making herbs used for medicinal purposes is an ideal candidate for this method. Freeze dried foods have a shelf life between 10 and 25 year. However, more times than not many of the foods preserved using this method are consumed much quicker.
Cold Storage and Root Cellar
The desire to consume garden fresh foods during the winter months is important, and vital to many. Learn how to properly cure and store foods for long-term storage. Additionally, learn what produce has a longer shelf life when stored fresh. For those who do not have a root cellar, don’t worry. Fresh foods store well in a cold storage space within your home!
From one farm girl to another, thank you for taking the necessary steps to owning your food source! It’s now okay to put aside the fear and own it!
Grab a Copy of My Book
Grab a copy of my book at the following online locations:
