Get your raised beds and more at the Pine River Market Square Growers' and Crafters' Market Fridays 2:30-5:30pm in Downtown Pine River. 

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I was chatting with my yoga students last week about how we preserve tomatoes. Every year is seems the process has more and easier options. Our preferred method uses a vacuum sealer and chest freezers.

This year's tomato harvest is slow to arrive due to the cooler than usual temperatures we are experiencing in Minnesota. We may have to harvest our tomatoes green and let them ripen. Once our tomatoes are ripe, either picked early green or ripe red on the vine, we will bring them indoors, wash and dry them and vacuum seal them in long bags. One of my students does this and doesn't wash them, making it even easier. 

Vacuum sealers run $20 to over $200. We purchased our Food Saver model from the local hardware store for around $99, on sale. We reuse bags when we can, washing and drying between uses. 

When we get to harvesting tomatoes I will make another blog post with an update on what we did and why. Might be fun to try something else this year. Stay tuned! 

Want to learn additional simple food preservation methods? Check out this great article at Mother Earth Living. http://www.motherearthliving.com/Cooking-Methods/food-preservation-methods-zmoz12sozmel

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When to Plant: Find your average last frost date (The Old Farmer's Almanac offers an online calculator) and count backward from the seed’s average maturity period to figure the optimum planting time, adding a week or two for weather variations."It’s hard to believe during the hottest days of summer, but autumn is on its way. And although we often think of late summer as the height of the harvest season, by planting a second-season garden you can yield crops all the way into early winter. In fact, some varieties grow best during the milder days and cooler nights of fall. 

It’s hard to believe during the hottest days of summer, but autumn is on its way. And although we often think of late summer as the height of the harvest season, by planting a second-season garden you can yield crops all the way into early winter. In fact, some varieties grow best during the milder days and cooler nights of fall. 

When to Plant: Find your average last frost date (The Old Farmer's Almanac offers an online calculator) and count backward from the seed’s average maturity period to figure the optimum planting time, adding a week or two for weather variations.

Successful Second-Season Planting

• Make room for new late-season plants by pulling out any varieties that are no longer performing well, taking care to remove stems and roots.

• Prepare the late-season garden bed by loosening any compacted soil and digging in organic matter.

• When an early frost is predicted, cover plants overnight with woven fabric to provide additional protection of 2 to 5 degrees.

• For faster gratification, choose quick-growing varieties that go from seed to table in 40 days or less, such as arugula and lettuce.

• Select fall or winter varieties of seeds when available, or look for cultivars with earlier maturing dates.

• For the quickest harvest, check your garden center for end-of-season discounts on vegetable transplants.

• Young plants can also be protected from early frosts with season-extending row covers, cold frames or straw mulch.

How Low Can You Go?

If you live in a cold climate with early frosts, you can still enjoy a late-season harvest with these extremely hardy vegetable plants:

• Beets, carrots, Swiss chard, lettuce and parsnips can all tolerate a light frost (28 to 32 degrees).

• Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, snow peas and radishes will usually handle temperatures that dip to the upper 20s.

• Collard greens and kale can survive mid-20 degree temperatures, and because the plants produce natural sugars as a defense against the cold, they often taste sweeter and more flavorful after a hard frost."

What to Plant:

Arugula

Beets

Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts

Carrots

Collard Greens

Green Onions

Kale

Kohlrabi

Lettuce

Parsnips

Winter Radishes

Snow Peas

Spinach

From Mother Earth News , Author Eliza Cross

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"Harvest handfuls. Gather herbs early in the day, after the dew has dried but before the sun bakes the plants' essential oils. If you're harvesting an herb's leaves, cut the stems at their peak, when the flowers start to form. If you like, gather the blooms of herbs when they develop fully." 

From Better Homes & Gardens

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