Preserving Late Summer’s Abundance

I’ve been teaching lots of food preservation classes during this late-summer season of abundance.

Most recently I did one for Just Food at the Whole Foods Culinary Center in Manhattan. The week before, I gave a two-day workshop for Genesis Farm. We covered the whole gamut: canning, pickling, fermenting, dehydrating, salting, you name it.

Genesis is a gorgeous place to visit. In addition to a sizable Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm and the ongoing workshops, there are lovely trails and wild places to explore.

Along the trails I found an occasional human mystery, like this old travel trunk that had clearly been left open to the elements for a long time:

I also got to visit Howling Wolf Farm. Howling Wolf’s business model is similar to a CSA, but instead of members paying a yearly fee for their produce, people were asked to make an investment in the farm. The plan is that within a few years the farm will be providing its investors with almost all of their food, including meat, eggs, dairy, and of course, fruits and vegetables. I got to taste some of the raw milk the investors get to take home from the weekly distribution, and it was incredible-I didn’t know milk could taste that good!

Both the wild and the domesticated harvests are bountiful now, so I’m doing lots of food preservation for myself as well as teaching it. This was a share at my CSA recently:

If you’re new to food preservation, I’ve got some classes coming up.

I wish you rich harvests and a well-stocked pantry,

Leda

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