Preserving your garden bounty

By Marie-Christine Perry

Mushroom foraging, a beloved activity in France, is starting as autumn is turning woods into a rich tapestry. This to me usually means I need to bring my dehydrator from its basement storage, and indeed some friends recently took me to some of their chicken of the woods finds and I dehydrated all the small bits of this gift. But this year, the dehydrator has been active all summer long, as I decided to experiment with herbs, veggies and fruit from my garden.

I dried thyme, sage leaves, bay leaves, oregano and lovage all throughout the summer, and an abundance of cherry tomatoes lead me to prepare some in garlicky olive oil, later to be served on charcuterie boards, leaving more to be  eaten like candy out of hand. 

Harvesting young carrots the Farmer’s Market Committee grew at Botelle for the Norfolk Food Pantry, I dehydrated the fronds to be part of my “green powder”, made with dehydrated greens of every kind: parsley, chives, lovage, carrots tops, bolted lettuce, Swiss chard and beets greens. Once dried, all these greens are reduced into powder in my blender, and stored in glass jars. I then use this powder in soups, sauces, and smoothies. I started experimenting with drying strawberries and plums, with mixed results, but I am not giving up, as I discovered the internet was a source of many recipes for dehydrating anything from bananas to pineapples, corn to cabbage and even meat.

My favorite part of this newfound craft is that it is so easy to store dehydrated food. From zip-lock bags to glass jars, any container that closes well can serve. This leaves room in my freezer for other things, and is a lot easier to manage than canning. 

Of course, using dehydrated food is different, and calls for different recipes, than using frozen or canned food. I do like the challenge though. I am starting to experiment with making “meals in a jar”, although I do not camp – just for the fun of it!

I started my dehydrating journey with a very cheap plastic dehydrator, but have now graduated to a more “professional” one, and I have dried peppers sweet and hot, eggplant slices , zucchini chips, grated carrots and squashes, and I am looking forward to apples and pears, which make wonderful snacks.

I would recommend you try, perhaps with tomatoes, mushrooms and herbs, and then, if you enjoy the process, do start experimenting with whatever is in your garden. It is fun, and there is a world of difference between the herbs from your garden and the bottled variety.

Bon appétit!