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Easy Ways to Save Your Garden Bounty

Vegetable Storage

There are four basic ways to save extra vegetables from your garden for later use:
Easy Ways to Save Your Garden Bounty

Canning

Many fruits and vegetables can be preserved by canning them. Pears, apples, tomatoes, pickled cucumbers, and beans are among the most popular garden produce that can be preserved this way. For home gardeners, canning involves the use of special canning jars, not cans. Tomatoes and other high acid fruits can be canned in a hot water bath. Other fruits and vegetables can be canned with a pressure canner. Properly canned fruits and vegetables are easy to store and will last up to a year. They make great gifts for holidays or for hostess gifts. What a great way to share  your surplus harvest.

Freezing

Freezing fruits, vegetables, and some herbs is even easier than canning; and, many gardeners are more comfortable with freezing than canning because freezing is almost foolproof and there’s no danger of spoilage or contacting botulism. Green beans and other vegetables should be blanched before freezing them. Simply wash the beans, cut them into 1″ to 2″ pieces if you prefer, boil them for 2 minutes, and then immediately cool them in an ice water bath. Dry the beans with paper towels and put them in freezer bags or vacuum seal them with a home vacuum sealer like Seal-A-Meal.

Here’s a handy tip from one of our Mantis Tiller owners: freeze tomato sauce or applesauce in shallow square freezer containers, then remove the frozen food from the containers and seal it in a plastic freezer bag. The plastic bags are easier to mark noting the date and contents; they’re also easier to store in the freezer and can be quickly thawed in a hot water bath.

Some herbs, like basil, can be frozen, as well. Pick and clean the herbs, place them on cookie sheets, and immediately freeze them. Store the herbs in labeled plastic bags in the freezer.
Easy Ways to Save Your Garden Bounty

Drying

Some fruits and many herbs can be dried for long term storage and later use. Cut apples or other fruits into small slices and “air dry” them on cooking sheets or in a home drying unit. Dried fruits and herbs can be stored in jars or plastic bags.

Dry Storage

Some fruits and vegetables, like pears and winter squash, can simply be stored in a dark, cool, dry space for weeks or months after harvest. Dry storage works better when the fruits have no blemishes and when they can be stored on racks in such a way that they don’t touch each other. Green tomatoes can be individually wrapped in newspaper and stored on racks in a cool basement to ripen. Dry storage can be a little tricky, and it’s important to frequently check the condition of your stored food.

Dried Flowers

The best way to preserve some flowers is to dry them. Hydrangea blooms can be dried by hanging them from a clothes line or deck railing until the blooms are totally dry. Most dried flowers will fade, of course, but many will maintain their interesting shape. Art supply stores are good sources for special spray paint that can be used to spray dried flowers for a more colorful display. Of course, you’ll want to spray them outside to avoid breathing any fumes or making a mess with any overspray.

Photography

No doubt the simplest way to “preserve” your pretty flowers is to photograph them. Then download them to a folder on your PC for easy reference. Maybe make your own garden calendar and enjoy your garden all year long!

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Border Edger Attachment
Border Edger Attachment cuts neat edges around areas where the walkways and beds meet the lawn. $49.95 value. FREE when you purchase a Mantis Tiller now! Ships FREE with Tiller.
(Border Edger offer not applicable to tiller models 3550, 3558, XP, 7234-12-43, 7250-00-03, SU or reconditioned models.)

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Free shipping does not apply to reconditioned tiller models.

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California Prop 65 Information

www.p65warnings.ca.gov

This warning pertains to the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 commonly referred to as Proposition 65 which requires warnings about chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more than thirty years this law has required businesses selling products in the State of California that may expose persons to chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm to provide special warnings. The Proposition 65 regulations have recently changed and effective August 30, 2018, new requirements apply to the content and location of certain Proposition 65 warnings. In response to these changes, Schiller Grounds Care, Inc. is providing the warning you see on the product web page you viewed prior to linking to this explanation. The company has the same warning on the product associated with that product web page. The regulatory agency in the State of California responsible for Proposition 65 has made additional information about Proposition 65 available on its web page: https://oehha.ca.gov/propostion-65.

The company is also party to a 1995 consent decree entered into together with many other manufacturers of covered products (as defined in the consent decree) and for those products the company has, in addition to the warning referred to above, also included the Proposition 65 warning mandated by the consent decree in the owner’s/operator’s manual for the covered product.

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Wishing you the best this gardening season,
The Schiller Grounds Care Team

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Free Shipping
Buy direct from Mantis and get FREE standard shipping on Mantis Tillers shipped to the US 48 states.

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Free Border Edger Attachment ($49.95 value)
Border Edger Attachment cuts neat edges around areas where the walkways and beds meet the lawn.
FREE with purchase of Mantis Tiller 7920, 7924 or 7940 models. Border Edger ships FREE with eligible tiller purchase.
(Border Edger offer not applicable to 3550, 3558 or XP models)

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