How to Use Your Fall Harvest
I have zucchinis growing out of my ears!
When the autumn equinox has passed and the first frost is any day now, crunch time to harvest is upon us in New England.
I have an excess of summer squash/zucchini, tomatoes at all stages of ripeness and peppers that are finally prolific, and herbs I’m just not ready to dry all staring at me, waiting for me to do something before that first freeze-thaw cycle.
So, if you need some new ideas for using your harvest, here you go!
Summer Squash and Zucchini
Turn your summer gifts of whole zucchinis on your neighbor’s doorstep into stocking stuffers with zucchini relish!
You can treat the zuccs just like cucs! Grate them up with vinegar, onion, mustard seed, etc. (follow your favorite relish recipe) and can them up for use all winter long. This is an excellent way to enjoy your harvest as an almost-fresh ingredient on your favorite sandwich all winter long.
Feeling creative? Apparently if you can summer squash spears in pineapple juice, they become eerily convincing. Perhaps this could be a long con for your holiday ham recipe this year? Worth a shot if you’ve got the squash!
Tomatoes and Peppers
Turn your red tomatoes into sauce to either use, can, or freeze. But what about the green ones?
You can put them in a paper bag and wait for them to ripen OR make some green tomato salsa!
Perhaps you also have an excess of hot peppers, and you’ve already made your fire cider and dried cayenne for heart health… now make some green tomato and pepper blocks, frozen to be added to chili and stew for a little kick all winter.
Or, if you like making guacamole, make some guac blocks (sans avocado).
Take your green tomatoes, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder, lime juice, maybe you have jalapeño, and cilantro if that’s in your herb selection. Mash it all up and freeze it. Next time you make guac, you can just thaw this out and mix in your avocados - done and done!
In my research I also came across the idea of pickled green tomatoes. I’ve never tried this, but check it out and let me know if you do.
Herbs Galore
Basil, cilantro, rosemary, dill… Their life cycle is over and you’ve shut down your outdoor kitchen for the season.
Now it’s time to dry. This is a great solution IF you have the infrastructure - well-ventilated, cool, dry space with enough space to allow airflow between your bundles of hanging herbs.
If you don’t have this set up, what do you do?
Blend and freeze. Mix your herbs with your cooking oil of choice, or just water if that’s your vibe, and fill some ice cube trays with the mixture. Now, next time you want fresh herbs for dressing or cooking, you can just thaw a cube and you’re off to the races!
Add to your fire cider. Herbs are medicinal. Throw some leaves into your fire cider to give it an extra boost! Oregano, while perennial, is a great addition as it is an excellent antiviral.
Salt, sugar, butter. Add fresh herbs to salt or sugar as a flavored finisher for steaks and sweets! Either refrigerate it, or dry it (dehydrated would be best) for shelf stability. My vote is using your rosemary for this across the board.
Bring them inside! I have a friend whose grandparents have a rosemary plant they bring from summer-home to winter-home, inside and outside. They named her Rosemary and I believe she is currently 7 years old? If you have a nice, south-facing window, you could pot up a select few herbs and bring them in to produce a little longer, if not all winter! Grow lights, watering bulbs/globes, and heat mats are your friends here.
Bonus points if you have too many eggs!
Chickens stop laying in the winter if you let them, so now is the time to store your eggs to hold you over through the slower-laying months. Water glassing eggs involves making a water-lime solution and putting unwashed eggs into it.
Stored in a cool, dark place, your eggs can stay good up to a year and a half. Talk about resilience!