4 minute read
Savor The Flavor Of Summer Year-round
By Justin Miller
The harvest may be plentiful, but the storage is likely few. If every flat kitchen surface is filled with garden goodies, freezing the surplus is a great way to enjoy fresh vegetables all year long.
The Three Ps Of Freezing
Gardeners can take simple steps to ensure quality freshness for eight to 12 months.
“When properly picked, prepped and packed, vegetables can hold their fresh qualities for about a year,” said Janice Hall, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System coordinator for Macon County.
Picking
When picking vegetables to freeze, time is of the essence. A good rule of thumb is to have vegetables prepped and packed in the freezer within two hours of picking.
In general, vegetables are better if picked early in the morning, right when dew is off the vines. When picking vegetables to freeze, tender and just-matured vegetables are best.
Prepping
The first step to prepping vegetables is a thorough wash. This is the perfect time to look for inferior or overly mature vegetables; remove those. After washing, it’s time to blanch. Blanching is a method in which vegetables are quickly submerged in boiling water to stop enzyme action. If not blanched, the vegetables would lose flavor, color and texture.
“Properly blanching vegetables is a must,” Hall said. “This stops the enzymes from destroying the fresh flavor of the vegetables, while also removing bacteria.”
After the vegetables have been properly blanched, they must be shocked in ice water to stop the cooking process.
“To stop cooking, submerge the vegetables in cold water at least 60 F or below,” Hall said. “Blanching and cooling should take about the same length of time.”
Packing
Choosing the right container is essential when packing vegetables for the freezer. Hall suggests packing meal-size portions of vegetables firmly in moisture- and vapor-resistant freezer containers. Use containers that are odor-free, grease-resistant and crack-proof at low freezer temperatures.
“It’s important to check approved recipes for the required headspace,” Hall said. “Headspace is the distance from the opening of the container to the packed food. It allows for expansion of the food as it freezes.”
Label and date containers before storing in the freezer. Freezer tape is another way to identify vegetables and packing dates. Do not overload the freezer, as this will add to freezing times. For optimal quality, place containers in the coldest part of the freezer and store at 0 F or below.
More Information
In-depth freezing instructions are available in the Alabama Extension publication “Freezing Summer’s Bounty of Vegetables” at aces.edu.
By Lois Chaplin
Red Okra
Alabama
Dwarf Okra
When the Alabama heat cranks up, so does okra production.
Even though it’s late in the planting season for many summer vegetables, okra thrives during hot and humid months. There’s nothing like a pod freshly picked from the garden — small, flawless and crisp but tender. The okra I’m thinking about is perfect enough to eat raw. Small ones are ideal vessels for scooping ranch dip or hummus.
The hardest thing about growing okra may be seed germination. I roll seeds between sheets of sandpaper to scarify the hard surface, then soak them overnight before planting. The seeds love warm soil and will sprout in a few days in moist ground. Once established, plants are more drought tolerant than most vegetables, but root-knot nematodes are a possible hurdle. These worms stunt plants and reduce production. You can help ward off nematodes by rotating okra with mustard, cabbage, kale, collards and other members of the cabbage family. Mustard is a natural fumigator if planted as solid cover crop.
Because okra plants are big but strongly vertical, it’s OK to plant okra as close as 18 inches apart in a row. Okra grows well in sandy or clay soil if it drains well. These plants don’t like standing water and need full sun.
The real challenge is personal. Which okras will I grow? Okra’s geographical dispersion from its native Africa through the centuries has resulted in dozens of varieties to pique the interest of gardeners who enjoy trying something new. A quick online search for heirloom okra sources fat pods, skinny pods, red pods, smooth pods, short plants, tall plants and pink flowers, in addition to the green-podded, yellow-flowered varieties most of us know and love.
Its adoption by many cultures means there is a world of ways to prepare okra. In India, one recipe calls for frying in a light batter and dusting with spices. In Turkey, it’s fried whole and added to a stew. A Lebanese recipe calls for flash-frying whole pods and adding them to a tomato sauce. Here at home, cornmeal-coated fried okra is probably the most popular. No matter how you slice it, okra offers a world of possibilities for Alabama gardeners, foodies and folks craving the taste of summer.
For more insights on okra’s storied past, check out “The Whole Okra” by Englishman-turned-Southerner Chris Smith.
Lois Chaplin is an accomplished gardener and author. Her work appears here courtesy of Alabama Farmers Cooperative.
