canning-jar giveaway, and produce-stashing tips

AS I PLANT MY PARSLEY, PICK ASPARAGUS and get ready for tomato transplant time, it gets me thinking about tomorrow (as in “the offseason”) when my Northern garden doesn’t offer up so much food as it will the next few months. No worry, because I am a hoarder—of fresh garden and farmer’s-market produce (though not on sagging shelves like that 1940 Farm Security Administration slide, above!).

Details on the giveaway are down at the end, but first, a word about not just canning but also freezing in glass: You may recall that last year, with increasing evidence about how problematic plastic is in contact with foodstuffs, I shifted even more of my storage containers to Ball jars and Pyrex containers and such.

This year, I’m investing in getting rid of the rest, so the tips list starts with that subject.

A year of parsley, in freezer “logs,” or… …a year of most any green herbs in green ice cubes (pestos), such as parsley, sage, chives, garlic scapes, rosemary, cilantro…you name it. Frozen whole tomatoes: Why bother with tins from the store? Pop whole ones into bags, jars or freezer boxes; pop some out as needed.

(Remember them from this other post?) Tomato junk: What I do with the dregs of the vegetable garden, an all-purpose base to soups, stews, chilis. Waste not… Freezing garlic: Why put.