WHEN YOU HAVE TOO MANY VEGGIES
Barbara Porsch, Permian Basin Master Gardener
There's often a time around now when the garden has been producing like crazy. This year has been extremely difficult for my garden, but I do hear of people having great production. Tomatoes have been especially prolific for those who planted early.
Unfortunately, this isn't my problem this year, but I remember when my poor countertop hasn’t seen the light of day for weeks because it is covered with squash, cucumbers, and now maybe okra, or whatever is going crazy out in the backyard garden. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH ALL THIS? And we know it is all coming to a screeching halt soon, so we need to take advantage of the abundance.
I feel you can never have too many tomatoes because they are so easy to handle. Of course, you can make sauce or relish to can, but if you really have too many tomatoes, the easiest thing to do is freeze them. Rinse them off and put them on a rimmed jelly roll pan (Or they will roll off on the floor. I speak from experience here.) and place in the freezer until frozen. Then you can store them in a zip-top freezer bag. Just take out what you need when you are making soup, stew, or chili. You can also section larger tomatoes and put them in a quart freezer bag. I find that's about the equivalent of a 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes. A friend and fellow Master Gardener we all know and love cores the smaller tomatoes (like Roma, etc.), and when he takes them out to use, the skins slip right off.
Some people like to blanch their veggies before freezing. I don’t think it is necessary, especially when I have a big amount. But it does set the vegetable's bright color. Blanching is easy but does take a little time. Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Add whole tomatoes or sliced squash and cook for just ONE minute. Then quickly put them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. That’s all there is to it.
You can also freeze zucchini or squash easily. Just remember that these frozen veggies will need to be used in baking, soups, or stews. They will never have that crisp, fresh texture, so eat as many as you can before you freeze them. My favorite salad is made with tiny raw zucchini and yellow squash, sliced extra thin, with thinly sliced red onion and beautiful fresh arugula from the garden. And maybe sliced mushrooms if I happen to have some in the fridge. Pickled squash is a real Southern delicacy also. Zucchini, especially, can be spiralized into delish stir-fry noodles. And that monster zucchini that hid from you can be stuffed and baked. Or slice it lengthwise on a mandolin and sub it for noodles in a veggie lasagna.
Okra is also very prolific in our West Texas heat. It freezes very nicely and is great to add to gumbo and Cajun dishes, and pickled okra is a culinary delight. I even slice small ones raw in a salad.
Cucumbers are abundant. Slice up a cucumber in your pitcher of ice water for a delightful, refreshing drink. Pickles are easy to make. Many companies that sell canning supplies offer seasoning packets for different flavors. Also, if you have an extra refrigerator in the garage, you can store these pickles there and skip the hot water bath.
So, you have a few herbs in your garden or landscape. That’s wonderful. A favorite is basil, and it will be gone with the first cold snap. Pesto is always a great way to use extra. Just Google basil pesto, and you will find more recipes than you want to read. Freeze your pesto in a plastic ice cube tray. When frozen, pop them out to store in a freezer bag. One cube is great to add to soups, pasta, or on top of cream cheese. Or you can make basil oil. This is great for dipping bread and will be better than what they serve at Italian restaurants. You can also freeze chives like this. Just fill up the tray with chives and cover with water. Great for adding flavor to cooking.
I hope I have given you a few ideas for handling the onslaught of too many veggies. Just remember how great a taste of the summer will be on a winter day. It is well worth the effort.
If you have questions, call the AgriLife office in Odessa at 498-4071 or in Midland at 686-4700. Additional information and our blog, including past articles, are available at westtexasgardening.org. Click on resources.
