Monday, June 17, 2013

Preserving Berries


We've been anticipating strawberry season in our house. It's an annual tradition for me to take the girls out to our local strawberry farm and pick as many strawberries as we can. We usually make at least two trips out in those few short weeks.

Saturday after I delivered a wedding order the whole family made a trip out to the farm. My hubby took the little ones to jump on the bouncy house while our oldest and I hurriedly picked as many strawberries as we could before the rain started. Soon the whole family joined in and we had over 20 lbs. to take home!


Not bad for 45 minutes worth of work. I've started a list of what I'd like to use the berries for: strawberry jam, homemade strawberry ice cream, homemade fruit roll-ups and of course I like to freeze as many as I can to use throughout the rest of the year.


I love taking advantage of fresh, seasonal produce and being able to enjoy it throughout the year. Freezing is one easy way I can do this.

All you need to do to prepare your strawberries is: thoroughly wash the berries and hull them. I then slice, quarter or leave the little ones whole and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the sheet in the freezer for at least an hour or until frozen and then transfer to freezer bags. I am using quart sized, I think for longer storage these will work better and help prevent freezer burn.

This might sound weird but I also take a straw and suck out any excess air I can't get out of the bag. I want my berries to last me through the winter.


See how easy that was? Now I have fresh local strawberries within arms reach. We will use these in smoothiesmuffins and other breakfast dishes, my homemade fruit filling for cakes and whatever else I can think of.

2 comments:

  1. Our tradition when my daughter was little was to go apple picking in the fall. Then we'd come home and I'd make apple hand pies, apple sauce with cinnamon, apple pancakes. To this day I think my daughters favorite fruit is still an apple!

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  2. Thanks for posting this, I love the little tips you give that I wouldn't think of!

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