Freezing Rhubarb

Rhubarb is chock full of vitamin C, fiber, vitamin K, and several B-complex vitamins, rhubarb is low in calories (about 13 per half-cup serving). However, because it is so tart, recipes often call for sweetener to be added, which can raise the amount of calories.

Rhubarb Quick Tips

•One pound of fresh rhubarb = about 3 cups chopped or 2 cups cooked.
•Remove leaves and store rhubarb stalks in a plastic bag in the fridge for about a week. If stalks get limp, stand them in a cup/sink of cold water for an hour.
•Not into canning? Chopped rhubarb can be frozen for up to six months (or so).
•Because of its acidity, rhubarb will turn your pan brown unless you cook it in a stainless steel or enamel-coated cast iron (non-reactive pans).

Freezing Rhubarb is Easy!

Give your rhubarb a rinse, to remove any dirt or grass.
Trim off ends and any bad spots.

Chop into pieces about an inch long and spread out on a cookie sheet in a single (or there abouts) layer. Pop those sheet pans into the freezer! Once the rhubarb is frozen transfer into a freezer container of your choice. If using freezer baggies, or tupperware, use within 3-6 months. I prefer vacuum seal bags and aim to use within one year.

You may want to portion the rhubarb into amount for your favorite recipes. You can even note that recipe on your container. A triple batch of strawberry rhubarb jam calls for 6 cups, so I always do a few in that amount. Don't forget to write the date on the bag!

Rhubarb may also be canned, dehydrated or freeze dried.

Using Frozen Rhubarb

When we use frozen rhubarb we just throw directly into the recipe, no need to thaw. It may be a bit watery when thawed. Nothing coming out of the freezer is going to be like the fresh product, but it's going to taste great and do the job!!

6 Ways to Prep for Preserving Now

Preserving season is already upon us!! What?! Wait?! you might be saying, but it is. I've harvested willow bark and stinging nettles, both for tinctures, thus far and it's time for me to harvest more stinging nettle for teas and infusions. Asparagus is already here, rhubarb is just around the corner, someone out there is likely picking radishes and it just rolls on and picks up from there!

Last week I pulled strawberries and rhubarb out of the freezer to make jam - delicious abundance. This week I'll roast the last butternut squash. You never regret taking the time to preserve.

So, how can you get ready for the coming season, or seasons, of preserving? Here are a few ways...

1. Clean out your freezer!

This is a big goal for me right now. (That I'm totally behind on...we need to eat more tomatoes!) I like to get my large chest freezer kinda tidied up and cleaned out for the beginning of the season. It's no good to stack new items on top of old items - things get lost. Sometimes that's good when you come across a surprise package of asparagus (or bacon), but when you find a bag of strawberries from 2014...

Don't have a freezer? Get one!! (We have three. Two mainly for meat.) Soooo handy. I like to can, so things are energy dependent and perishable, but there are many things that are simply easier to stick in the freezer - fruit, rhubarb, peppers, celery, greens, corn, bone broth, peas...

2. Tidy your pantry.

Whether you have a whole pantry room in your basement, a closet, or a cupboard in your kitchen, give it a look-see. Clean it up. Get familiar with what left to help you prioritize for the seasons ahead.

This helps me see what I'm not using. Haven't gone through a ton of green beans, so not a huge priority - tend to eat them mostly fresh.

2. What have you run out of?

Just to organize your brain for preserving season, and plan your shopping/gardening. Clearly you use these items the most and want to preserve more this season. Spend your time preserving what you really use - this is where it will save you money and bring more enjoyment!

For the first time in years I actually froze enough celery! Yay! I dried celery leaf as back up when I run out. We're out of jam, and salsa...more of those this year.

3. What's high priority? What do you spend the most money on?

Kinda what we talked about above. Know where you are going to source these important items (market, specific farmer, maybe this takes precedence in your garden). Again, this is what's going to save you money and bring more enjoyment.

We go through a lot of tomatoes, so this always is high on the list. Now, with a little one in tow, freezing and canning fruit (to round out our apple diet) is high on my list. What fruit we don't grow I buy in bulk from a local co-op, or other small farms.

5. Get your tools sorted.

Handy tools include a pressure canner and a water bath canner, along with canning funnels and tongs, etc., as well as a dehydrator (or two). Make sure to get your own lined up and ready, or perhaps go in on items with a friend, family member or neighbor - make it a social event!

If you don't have any of these items, perhaps pick one as a place to start. Dehydrators are great for many, many items; we primarily use them for herbs, apple rings and mushrooms, as well as extra onions in the winter sometimes. Water bath canning is for high acid items - applesauce, tomato stuff, jams, pickled items - and can be less time consuming than pressure canning. But, I think a pressure canner is essential - broth, meats, veggies.

The Living Earth Center in Mankato has all of these items to loan out as well!

6. Get your sources sorted.

As the season rolls on think about where you're going to purchase or trade for your high priority, and other, items. Thinking you are going to need a 5 gallon bucket of peas, instead of the quarts at the market tables? Talk to your farmers ahead of time about large quantities, or to find out who has your favorite tomatoes, etc. Are you growing these items? Buying them at market? Ordering through a co-op? When it comes to meat (I consider sticking a whole hog in the freezer part of my preserving plan.) you need to think ahead for bulk quantities (best bang for your buck).

Don't know where to find something? Ask your friendly local farmers! The Mankato Farmers Market has already opened and New Ulm's market begins at the end of June.

Okay, go get started!

During this rain day I'm going to put a pound or two of asparagus in the freezer and dry some nettles!

What are you excited to preserve this season?

Will this be your first year preserving? What questions do you have?

Sowing Seeds

An update with what we have seeded in the greenhouse, and in the garden!

Many folks are asking about more gardening and food preservation questions - let us know what you're looking for and we'll try and walk you through what we do as the season goes on!

It's good to see all this spring green - inside and outside of the greenhouse.

Onions, lettuce, peppers, basil, pea shoots.

What's Growing in the Greenhouse

onions
celery
lettuce
peppers
tomatoes
tomatillos
ground cherries
kale
chard
herbs: sage, ashwaganda, parsley, basil, rosemary
(Items I don't grow anymore that I would have started by now - leeks, other herbs.)

Some seeds I sow into small pots, then transplant the out into
larger plugs or pots. Sage, rosemary, basil, beet greens, chard pictured.

I still have a couple rounds of pea shoots, the last seeding of microgreens and a last cutting of winter lettuce (personal) growing in the greenhouse as well.

Microgreens, celery, ground cherries, pea shoots.

More pea shoots, tomatillos, early basil, kale, parsley, many tomatoes!

Early Spring Crops

When the soil is ready to be worked, mid-late April, There are many items you can get into the ground to get the garden greening up. If you've planted garlic, or rhubarb, it's already poking up and greening your garden!

Last Sunday, April 5th I planted spinach! This is the earliest I have ever been in the field. Don't despair if you are not ready, you have plenty of time to plant. I never depend on getting in the field before April 20th, and I don't get warm season goodies (tomatoes, squash) in until the end of May. Sunday the soil was at 54° - great for spinach - I'm waiting for 60° for my peas, potatoes, onions. I usually plant onions and potatoes around May 1, but it may be earlier this year! My lettuce is ready to head outside as soon as the real cool temps (20s) pass.

As soon as you can work the soil there are many crops you can plant - cool season crops, root crops, greens. Spinach, lettuce and radishes are nice items to start with, as they have shorter seasons and you can plant another crop after them. It's good to get peas in on the early side, so you get a crop before the heat of the season comes in. Any root crops can go in early too - parsnips, carrots, beets, turnips, etc. Carrots and beets can be planted in multiple successions through July; do a late crop for storage roots.

Here's one reference for you - Minnesota Vegetable Planting Dates Chart

What I plan to seed/transplant in April - spinach (direct seed), lettuce (transplants, but can be direct seeded well), peas (direct seed), kale (transplants), chard (transplants).

I'll have some transplants at the store a little later on - stay tuned for updates. I recommend Shellee's Greenhouse, in Madelia, as a great source for garden transplants! A great small business that supports the community, we also grow organic transplants for Shellee - including heirloom tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, ground cherries, basil, cucumbers and celery.

Lettuce transplants!

Celery plants headed to Shellee's Greenhouse, Madelia.

Hundreds of tomato babies! Some for the farm,
most for Shellee's Greenhouse, Madeila.

March Produce (What real food looks like)

Here's a glimpse at what we are still eating farm fresh and what March (practically April) food looks like. Fresh storage produce is still abundant; although, we are getting down to the bottom of our bins.

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Real food is imperfectly perfect.

Carrots are a little hairy and sprouty, drying out some. These have simply been stored in plastic bags in the refrigerator. A little colder could have keep them a little better.

Onions are still nice and firm, some are starting to sprout a bit on the inside, no biggie. We simply keep these in baskets in our basement. It's not the ideal condition, but it's what we have. If my onions to start to get real sprouty, and I have a lot left, I'll slice and dehydrate them (you can also chop and freeze).

I've got potato aliens taking over the basement! These are on their last legs. As you can see they have lost a lot of moisture and are starting to get wrinkly and softer. We store these in our basement, along with the onions; they would prefer it cooler and more humid, but this is what we have. I'll make mashed potatoes to freeze when I have many extra like this, but we only have about 7 lbs left.

Thelma sanders acorn squash looking pretty as the day she came off the vine. Some get wrinkly, just cook 'em up, or bake and freeze the puree. While they are past their prime for flavor, I have had these last a year in the pantry - winter squash is your easy preserving friends. Again, just stored in the basement, only stacking 1-2 layers high.

Butternut squash stores just as grand, there are always wrinkly ones too. I try to bake and freeze these guys...if they go too far they just end up going to the chickens or pigs (one reason why animals are essential on the homestead!).

Beets are stored like carrots. Harder to tell, but they are getting a little soft - lost moisture.

Apples, still munching away on these daily. Some are firmer than others, all are still delicious. Many are wrinkly, some a little brown at the center, but quite usable. Last rounds of applesauce, apple butter, and fresh cider, are getting made to use these "beauties" up.

March produce doesn't always look picture perfect, but this is what REAL food looks like. I'd rather be eating this food - grown by us, or someone we know - than have perfect looking food. 

Grocery bills are lowered during fresh garden season, and all winter, by eating fresh, growing our own, and preserving the harvest. We're healthier for it and more connected to our land, as well as our own bodies. When you eat fresh and healthy like this you feel good - it feeds you body and soul.

•

Still eating fresh from the freezer - shell peas, peppers, chard, kale, tomatoes, venison, beef, chicken/chicken stock, pork, frozen soup, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, celery, garlic, lard.

Still eating dehydrated items from the pantry - herbs (basil, sage, oregano, parsley, nettles and more), onions, celery leaf, mushrooms.

Still eating canned items from the pantry - tomatoes, broth, green beans, jams, applesauce...and whatever else I'm forgetting.

Take stock at this time! What have you run out of? What are you missing? What do you need to grow/preserve more of this season?

Rhubarb time!

Spring is sprouting up, and blossoming forth, all over the place! That means it's almost rhubarb time!

This brief delicious season is the right time to enjoy rhubarb crisp, making jam and freezing chopped rhubarb for year-round use.

Rhubarb is chock full of vitamin C, fiber, vitamin K, and several B-complex vitamins, rhubarb is low in calories (about 13 per half-cup serving). However, because it is so tart, recipes often call for sweetener to be added, which can raise the amount of calories.

Rhubarb is excellent for canning and easy to freeze. Here are some rhubarb tips:

•One pound of fresh rhubarb = about 3 cups chopped or 2 cups cooked.
•Removing leaves and store rhubarb stalks in a plastic bag in the fridge for about a week. If stalks get limp, stand them in a cup of cold water for an hour.
•Not into canning? Chopped rhubarb can be frozen for up to six months (or so).
Because of its acidity, rhubarb will turn your pan brown unless you cook it in a stainless steel or enamel-coated cast iron (non-reactive pans).


Try a recipe or two!

Rhubarb-Yogurt Tart

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp Bars

Rhubarb Simple Syrup

Rhubarb Crisp

Photo Update May 24

In this post...News from the Farm...&...What's in Season...

Fresh from the Farm

The trees have moved past full bloom into petal fall, we can see successful pollination and little pear, plum and apricot fruitlets in the trees. 

We are busy seeding and transplanting crops into the veggie field, for August/Fall/Winter markets, Fall/Winter CSA. We have delivered loads of organic transplants to Shellee's Greenhouse in Madelia - it's so fun to work with other local women business owners!

Brooke and Shellee, of Shellee's Greenhouse with organic
basil and cucumber transplants.

The strawberries have hit full bloom and will ripen to be enjoyed by our Spring CSA members - just a few weeks away!

There's always plenty to do, but learning is important. I was happy to spend a field day out learning from another farm's systems and experience. Below you can see a moveable tunnel system used for extending the season - a fascinating system.

T-shirt order is still underway - see more details, or head over to the order form - until June 22!

What's in Season

Rhubarb, asparagus, nettles, chives, wild edibles like ramps and mushrooms.

I have been busy harvesting rhubarb for customers and the New Ulm Community Market (Thursday markets 2:00-7:00pm), as well as for freezing to make into strawberry-rhubarb jam later on. Try these Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp Bars.

Rhubarb chopped and headed to the freezer.

I have also been harvesting stinging nettle to dry for tea/infusions, make into tinctures and infused oil for herbal salves. If you are interested in nettle tincture, to use for your seasonal allergies, contact me and I'll make sure you get some out of this year's batches!

Stinging nettle in the dehydrator. Once dried I use it for teas and infusions.

On our woodsy forays we have harvested wild ramps, gray morel mushrooms, pheasant back mushrooms and oyster mushrooms. Not near enough morels yet though!!

Asparagus is ready for harvest every other day. While we eat a lot fresh, the seasonal abundance is getting put up in the pantry too. This year I am canning all of the fresh asparagus. In the past I have always frozen it, it keeps well that way, but I like canning, as it is energy independent in storage and freezer space is always at a premium.



Like I said, we are always working hard... ;)

Earth Day Events!

You may have spotted Brooke at the Ag Expo with a Twist, held by the Madelia Chamber last week, or you may have spotted John pruning at the New Ulm or Lake Crystal Orchard, or at the New Ulm Health and Home Show. We're a little more elusive in the winter. If you are waking from hibernation and eager to see your friendly farmers' faces a little bit more (and you can't quite wait until the Market opens) you have several opportunities to see us on Earth Day, Saturday, April 21!

9:00-10:00 AM • Re-Skilling Festival • St. Peter

John will be presenting Phenology: Re-learning Observation.Learn how to practice studying phenology; thinking about the timing of events in nature, observation of plant, animal, weather, seasonal changes in our region. Using phenology to make educated predictions of other events in nature; i.e. when to start tapping maple trees, when to expect to hear frogs croaking, time to start looking for mushrooms, etc...

11:30-2:30 • Earth & Family Fair • New Ulm

John will be presenting Pollinators and You, alongside many other great presentations.

See the event for full details, but beginning at 11:30 a.m., outdoor activities will include:
Educational talks about nature: Talks will be offered at four locations beginning at 11:30 a.m. and repeating every 30 minutes (last talk starts at 2 p.m.). People of all ages are encouraged to bicycle to each stop via a guided or self-guided tour (see below), although everyone is welcome to attend even if not arriving by bicycle. Featured talks will be:
• Riverside Park: “Healthy Rivers” with Ron Bolduan and Scott Kudelka
• New Ulm Pollinator Park: “Pollinators and You” with John Knisley
• South Market Park: “Garlic Mustard Pull” with Joe Gartner (attendees will learn about this invasive plant and can take a turn pulling it)
• Park & Rec Shop (6 N. Front St.): “Urban Forestry” with Shane Omersa

12:30-1:30 PM • Re-Skilling Festival • St. Peter

Brooke will be teaching Canning, Drying, Freezing 101: Making the most of the season. We'll go over basic techniques and equipment involved with preserving fresh, in-season produce to eat in season all year long.

Check out more details on the event pages:

2018 River Valley Re-Skilling Festival website
Earth & Family Fair facebook page
Earth & Family Fair flyer

Local & Seasonal in the Winter

{My local foods morning//musings on winter seasonal eating}

Chicken broth in the canner, nettle infusion steeping, pig liver/tongue/heart in the dehydrator, farm dogs chewing on marrow bones, smoked hock prepped for dinner tonight.

Organs dehydrating, stock canning, nettle infusing.

Winter is the time when I prepare our chicken bone broth and shredded chicken for the seasons ahead. This is an important part of our “seasonal eating.” Bone broth nourishes us and the pups as food and medicine. At the same time as we make broth we get shredded chicken to can and sometimes we throw in hocks that give us an easy meal--these ended up in hock-o salad (lol, taco salad). The dogs enjoy the marrow of the bones.

Nettle is one of the native, wild herbs I forage for food and medicine. One ounce steeped in a quart of water for 4 hours, or overnight, provides nourishment and a healthy (tasty!) beverage. The high levels of vitamins and minerals and very bioavailable (easy for our bodies to use).

The organ meats get dehydrated for dog treats. Let nothing go to waste!

Winter is a great time for these projects and also a great time to learn new skills to prepare you for the seasons of bounty ahead! How are you eating seasonally this winter? What new skills are you learning/wanting to learn?

From the Pantry :: March

Fall storage items we are still eating from the pantry:

Winter squash (some are getting wrinkly)
Potatoes (beginning to look a little alien)
Garlic & shallots
Red & yellow onions
Sweet potatoes (bought from another farm)

Summer produce items we are still eating from the freezer:

Greens
Broccoli
Shredded zucchini
Peppers
Peas
Various fruit - rhubarb, strawberries
Other items below these, yet to be discovered...

Side Track!

Redefine what you think of as eating seasonally! YOU define the season, if you start preserving for year-round/extended consumption. Part of this may also include redefining what you think these items may look like - octopus sprouting potatoes, wrinkly spuds and squash. YuM.

It's Pantry and Freezer Clean Up Time

With spring and farming season just around the corner we have been putting priority to cleaning up our pantry and freezer. Focusing on prepping items for our busier times. This is the first time we have been so successful at this, during this time of year and it feels great. 

Potatoes: Our storage potatoes may indeed last us until the summer's new potatoes come in! With our potato stock we have been making twice baked potatoes with the larger, better looking tubers. Along with these we also continue to freeze portions of mashed potatoes.

 Twice bakers and mashers headed to the freezer. This is one way to redefine how we eat seasonally.

Winter Squash: We have butternut and acorn squash in the pantry and because of the wet WET fall they are not storing as well as normal. We have been roasting and freezing portions of puree and I still aim to can some (cubed) before we are done. P.S. Another reason I have really been enjoying this is because I have been adding squash to the dog's food and they love it (well Odin loves it, Hazel tolerates it).

Chicken: We put fifteen stew hens in the freezer in November and we have slowly been putting up shredded chicken and stock/bone broth. The chicken, veggies and herbs sit in the crock for a day, before shredding and canning. Then, the bones, skin, etc. goes back in for another day to make bone broth for cooking and using as a healthful drink (which I also put in the dog's food sometimes). I'll add apple cider vinegar to help extract beneficial minerals from the bones and sometimes I toss in a beef marrow bone to increase the benefits. After it's done I strain the broth and pressure can it (then sort out the 48-hr cooked veggies/skin, etc. to throw in the dog food). ;)

Organs: We always get back our pig organs when we harvest and since we aren't super good at eating them they have sort of piled up in the freezer. While one of us likes liver, the other doesn't, so we have resolved to dehydrating these items (if they don't get put into sausage) for dog treats. This is proving a great way to clean up the recesses of the freezer.

Still on the List

Lard: crank out a bunch of rendered lard. (Try making some soap?!?)

Garlic/shallots: freeze some olive oil/garlic balls; ferment some for holistic farm management.

Zucchini: I always freeze too much! I should crank out some breads to stick back in the freezer.

Freezer excavations: what is hiding at the bottom of the freezer? (Usually way too many frozen peppers.)

Lard, beautiful lard!

What's Missing?

It's a great time of year to check in and see what you are missing - what do you need to preserve more of next season? For us, celery. Darn it! Every year we run out. Okay, I'm going for an ice cream bucket full this year! Also, we need a new salsa to put away, one type is not enough. It would also be nice to have some canned beans.

What's on your list?

Resources & Other Interesting Things...

Why is organic food so *#@! expensive?? | Ali Partovi | TEDxManhattan

Bone Broth, Broths an Stock

8 Bits of Plastic You Can Quit Right Now

Fall Shares Now Available!

Grab a Fall Share to keep eating local and fresh into winter, and stock up your winter pantry. Items like potatoes, onions, garlic, winter squash store for months. This is a great way to pick up a little of the fall bounty Minnesota has to offer. All produce is certified organic.

Fall Shares are a mix of bountiful fall items and storage crops.

Two sizes available Full & Mini Available first-come, first served, limited quantities.

Pick up will be at the farm from 4:00-7:00 pm, Wednesday, October 26th and will be market style. Bring your own containers.

Full Fall Shares

~1/2lb garlic, 3-5lbs onions, ~10lbs potatoes, shallots, tomato-basil soup, apple butter, butternut & acorn squash, greens, 3-5lbs beets, cabbage, 2-4lbs carrots, ~2lbs leeks, table & baking apples. $80

Mini Fall Share

garlic, onions, potatoes, apple butter, winter squash, beets, leeks, greens. $25

Amounts are approximate, amounts & items may change, based on availability. Let us know if you have any questions!

How to Reserve your Fall Share

Email us at alternativerootsfarm@yahoo.com or call us at 507-439-6541.

{Preserving the Harvest} Kale & Broccoli

Cooling blanched kale, to stop the cooking process and prepare for freezing.

Today I spent a little time cleaning out the cooler and making good of the last bits of harvestable produce out in the garden yet. The kale and broccoli are still going!

My blanching pot, cooling pot and draining baskets. Muffin tins at the ready for freezing portions.

Kale portioned into muffin tins for easy freezing.

 I found that removing the kale from the muffin tins was easiest done when it wasn't quite 100% frozen, or if it was, letting it thaw a tiny bit before prying it out with a fork. Then I popped 4 in a freezer baggie, and packed those freezer baggies in a large baggie. The rest of the kale was packed in freezer containers, also in manageable sizes.

We use kale for soups all winter, as well as in our eggs.

Draining blanch & cooled broccoli.

I love seeing broccoli turn instantly bright green when blanched--it's so pretty! We freeze our broccoli in vacuum seal bags, in usable portions. Generally I pack them in the bags, stick them in the freezer for a while, before I seal them, just until the water freezes to make things easier.