Making good progress through a wet couple of weeks

It’s been quite a rainy couple of weeks here at The Farm, but we’ve managed to make some good progress getting the hoop houses ready for summer crops. We’ve even managed to get the raspberry patch ready, during a nice break from the rain. It’s such a great experience to be part of the transition from winter to summer crops, and to see the difference just a day of work can do. Thanks to the interns at Diana Dyer’s farm for spending the day out here helping us weed the raspberry patch!

So what’s so exciting about raspberries? Besides tasting great and being great for you, they’re also easy to preserve, so you can enjoy the taste and health benefits all year long. Preserving fruits when they’re fresh is a great way to save money and continue to support local agriculture, even when the fruit isn’t in season.

Raspberries are a great source of fiber, folate, and water. They’re also a very versatile fruit: they’re easy to bring for a snack, and as an addition to numerous foods, such as yogurt, oatmeal and muffins.

A quick how-to freezing guide:

Materials need

  • fresh raspberries
  • strainer
  • choose one: heavy duty plastic freezer bag, rigid freezer container, freezer jar, or heavy duty freezer foil
  • salad spinner (optional), a clean towel, or paper towels

Instructions

  • wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water
  • put raspberries in a strainer and hold under running water, making sure to wash off all raspberries
  • turn off the water, and shake off water
  • put the raspberries into a salad spinner, or onto a clean towel or paper towel; thoroughly dry off raspberries
  • put raspberries into a heavy duty plastic freezer bag, a rigid freezer container, a freezer jar, or heavy duty freezer foil; make sure to leave some room in the bags for expansion
  • date the container – frozen raspberries should be used within 8-12 months
  • put the raspberries in the freezer, and enjoy all year long!

 

Resources:

http://www.joybauer.com/food-articles/berries.aspx

For a nice video on how to preserve raspberries, visit: http://umaine.edu/food-health/food-preservation/how-to-videos/preserving-raspberries-freezing-jams-more/

 

 

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