By Amy L. Dempster, Westford Eagle
Backyard gardens are crowded with cucumbers and green beans. Farm stands are weighed down with succulent tomatoes. There is a bounty of peaches and other stone fruits at farmers markets. But that’s not a problem for two local women who get busy this time of year preserving summer favorites for the long winter ahead.
Tamar Amidon and Sally Rosenthal share a passion for eating local, fresh produce. They also ensure that their families can reap the benefits of eating locally year round. But they approach the process a little differently.
Littleton resident Tamar Amidon moved to the area twelve years ago. When summer came she happily discovered two dwarf peach trees in her backyard. She thought, “How cute, I’ll make some pies.” Before she knew it she had over three bushels of fruit. Panic set it.
“I decided to start making jam,” continued Amidon. “Peach Ginger and Roasted Peach Vanilla became popular with friends and family which encouraged me to learn how to can from home.”
Developed in 1809 by French confectioner and brewer, Nicolas Appert, canning is a method of preserving food in which the contents are processed and sealed in glass jars. There are a variety of canning methods. The boiling water bath is the most popular for home canners because of its ease and use for popular foods such as fruits, pickled vegetables and tomatoes.
That is where Tamar started with her peaches but her interest soon led her to explore other methods. “I got so into it that I started canning major amounts, moving onto pickles, salsas, pie fillings and tomato sauces. Then with the pressure canner a few years ago I started with chili and soups. I put up 100 jars or more in a year, depending on how the local produce goes.”
Westford resident Sally Rosenthal takes a different approach to preserving local harvest. Busy with her three young children during the summer, Sally chooses the freezing method.
“I got interested in preserving food in 2007, when I started trying to eat more locally grown and produced foods,” said Rosenthal. “With a long New England winter, it's difficult to eat local food throughout the year if you don't do some of your own preserving.”
Sally’s children love picking fresh fruit so she makes it a point to freeze strawberries, blueberries and peaches to use in smoothies and baked goods. Her herb garden that the children help tend is the source for homemade pesto and herbed butters.
A shareholder with Dragonfly Farms’ Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and supporter of the Westford Farmers Market, Rosenthal spends the most time cooking freezable prepared foods to make use of the produce variety she gets each week. She explained, “I make and freeze big batches of soups to preserve veggies like kale, sweet potatoes, leeks, and potatoes for the winter. I also have plenty of veggie stock in the freezer that I've made with excess and scrap vegetables.”
RECIPE – Zucchini Relish (courtesy of Lisa Daigle)
Shopping List
- 3 medium zucchini
- 1 sweet bell pepper
- 1 jalapeno pepper, optional
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons celery seed
- 1 teaspoon mustard seed
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- Pinch of hot red pepper, optional
Make It
- Roughly chop the zucchini and peppers. Add to food processor and run until chopped finely.
- Place mixture in a colander. Sprinkle with salt to draw out the water. Let stand for an hour or so. Drain the water off and rinse the vegetables. Drain well again.
- Combine sugar, celery seed, mustard seed, vinegar and hot red pepper flakes in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add the chopped, drained vegetables and stir. Simmer 10 minutes.
- To refrigerate, cool the mixture a bit before adding it to your containers.
- To can it, pack your relish in hot prepared half-pint jars, leaving a quarter-inch of headspace. Put on your lids and rings. Process 10 minutes in your boiling-water canner. Let sit overnight without jostling to make sure lids seal.
