Calypso Storage Share Note: Week of August 1, 2005

Your Share This Week:

*Kale
*Cucumbers
*Onions
*Dill
*Basil
*Parsley

We are happy to provide you with your first storage share this week! We are experimenting with offering this type share and welcome any and all feedback. We will provide you with a selection of storage and/or fresh eating crops for the months of August and September. We will choose crops for you on a weekly basis and include some storage tips and preservation recipes. If there is something that you are specifically interested in, please let us know - we will be happy to work with you – Enjoy!

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To Preserve Kale:

Freezing: Chop Kale leaves – (you may choose to remove the stems or not). Stem the chopped kale until just wilted. Drain any excess water by placing the leaves in a strainer or on a rack. When leaves have cooled, place them in a thick ziplock and freeze.

To use – just pull a bag out of the freezer and chop the greens while frozen. Add to soups, stir fries, quiches, sauces, etc. We add kale to meals 3-4 times / week through the whole winter. To do this, we freeze approximately 5 full bushels of kale each fall for a family of four (with frequent visitors…).

Root Cellaring: Whole kale plants can be kept successfully buried in soil in the root cellar. If you are interested in giving this a try – let us know and we’ll give you a plant or two at the end of the season.

To Preserve Cucumbers:

Pickling: Pickles are the most common way to preserve cucumbers – there are many ways to make pickles – the following recipes are quick and easy.

Bread and Butter Pickles
Adapted From The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest

5 lbs medium sized cucumbers 1 lb onions
2 cloves garlic 1/3 cup salt
Ice cubes 4 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground turmeric 1 ½ teaspoons celery seeds
2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds 3 cups white distilled vinegar
Small bunch of parsley

In a large mixing bowl combine cucumbers (sliced into rounds), onions (quartered), and garlic. Add salt and mix thoroughly. Cover with ice cubes and let stand for 3 hours. Rinse well and drain. Combine sugar, turmeric, celery and mustard seeds, and vinegar – heat to boiling in a large saucepan. Add drained cucumber mixture and heat for 5 minutes. Place a spring or two of parsley in the bottom of each clean, sterilized jar. Pour cucumber mixture into sterilized quart jars, leaving ½ inch head space. Cap and seal. Process 5 minutes in a boiling water bath. Makes six 1-pint jars

Quick Dill Pickles
Adapted from Putting Food By

5 lbs medium sized cucumbers ½ cup sugar
½ cup salt 3 cups white distilled vinegar
3 cups water several fresh dill heads
garlic

Mix together sugar, salt, vinegar and water - bring to a boil. Scrub cucumbers, remove stems and blossom ends; cut lengthwise in halves or quarters, not longer than the shoulder height of the jar. Put a head or part of a head of fresh dill in each clean, hot jar. Pack the jars with cucumbers upright then tuck a half or whole clove of garlic in each jar (optional). Pour in the boiling vinegar mixture, leaving ½ inch of headroom. Adjust lids. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

To Preserve Basil and Parsley:

Drying: Drying is the easiest method for preserving herbs. Simply expose the leaves, flowers or seeds to warm dry air. Leave the herbs in a well ventilated area until their moisture evaporates. Parsley is a hardy herb and can be hung in small bunches to dry. Basil is more tender and must be dried quickly and carefully. Some books recommend drying basil by hanging the bunch within a paper bag with ventilation holes. When leaves are dry and crispy – they are ready to be stored in air tight containers in a dark, cool place.

Pesto: Use a mixture of basil and parsley in your favorite pesto recipe. The pesto can be easily stored by filling jars leaving 1 inch head space, topping with a thin coating of olive oil and storing in the freezer. Visit Calypso’s website for archived farm notes with several different pesto recipes.

Recommended Resources:
Gulliver’s Books can probably order any of these titles for you:

Keeping Food Fresh – Old World Techniques and Recipes by the Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante (Chelsea Green Publishing)

The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest by Carol W. Costenbader (Storey Publishing)

Putting Food By by Greene, Hertzberg and Vaughan (Penguin Books)

So Easy to Preserve by Andress and Harrison (Cooperative Extension Service, University of Georgia) – available from the Alaska Cooperative Extension

Back to the 2005 Farm Note Archives!