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By Angela Petty, FAN board member  First came the cherries—red delights, dripping from my neighbor’s tree. I stopped buying fruit and became ever more vigilant on neighborhood walks. In my own yard, I spied lemon frosting persimmon flowers and planted a garden, mostly the makings of future salsa. By July, I was lingering in alleys picking blackberries and later figs, plums, grapes and apples. As summer fades to fall, I am now enjoying too much tomatillo salsa and watching persimmons color orange. It is the season of plenty. And whether the garden survived the heat and camping trips, we are sure to find food hanging over fences or from generous neighbors. But bellies full, what do we do with it all? And how can we enjoy this nourishment year-round? The answer: food preservation. Wanting to learn more and share some local, home-grown knowledge, I asked neighbors about food preservation methods: freezing, dehydrating, fermenting, and canning. Here’s what I learned: Freezing is a simple way to start. However, there are tricks to get the most out of your frozen cache. I met with Julie Felix who preserves garden produce. Some vegetables, like the peas her granddaughter shelled, need blanching to keep from degrading in the freezer. Other produce, like peaches, benefit from a lemon juice soak to preserve color. Sliced peaches and berries can be first frozen on a cookie sheet to keep conveniently separate. Julie also dehydrates, then freezes peaches in a vacuum bag to conserve space. Freezing in jars? Leave space for the liquid to expand, she explains. Julie brings out her tomato sauce at friend gatherings and makes birthday enchiladas with her tomatillo sauce. Another neighbor, Pam Fitzpatrick, also preserves her harvest “to have [local] food to eat later on.” Pam favors dehydrating for its mobility. She uses a quality, temperature-accurate dehydrator she bought used. When overwhelmed with backyard plums and pears, Pam and her partner cook them up, then dry soupy fruit into fruit leather. Her specialty, however, is dehydrated “Mama Pam’s Spaghetti sauce” which she takes on trips to Texas to visit her daughter. Jessica Jackowski practices a method that relies on microscopic creatures: fermentation. Lacto-fermentation utilizes bacteria on fresh vegetables to transform them into umami deliciousness with increased nutrient availability. Essentially, “fermentation is a controlled rot,” says Jessica. It requires “setting the table for lactic acid bacteria,” the bacteria that dominates this anaerobic process. There are two important ways to ensure this: making sure you have enough salt and submerging the vegetables. Jessica advises beginners to start small and have fun. You can find her fermenting various greens (dandelion, nettles, cabbage, mustard), scallions, peppers, cucumbers and lemons from her prolific Meyer lemon tree.  Lastly, I joined Stephanie Cannon who packs “goodness in a little jar” canning. Some of these jars end up as gifts in her friends’ pantries. Stephanie first learned to can from her working mom at a time when people “sealed” jars by melting wax over the food, a practice that is no longer considered safe. Whether you water bath, steam, or pressure can, there are many safety protocols. Use research-based recipes to ensure the correct acidity, and consult resources like the OSU extension, Stephanie advises. After an enriching OSU extension tuna canning class, Stephanie and two friends started doing this “stinky but rewarding process” together. She also gathers with friends to exchange home-preserved foods.
In preserving food, we find nourishment in local food and community. by Angela Petty
Ode to alley fruit park plums forgotten mulberry FIGS! I hear your call, echoing from season’s past a promise of sunlight in my mouth sunset stained hands held, in sustenance Tart Spring cherries summer berries frozen in time dried apples on the shelf grape snacks persimmons fall The box of kiwis, still seated at my winter table You care for me so tenderly how can I care for you? |
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August 2025
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