It was bound to happen sooner or later. Despite our best efforts to utilize every last leaf and portion from our CSA and patio garden, we found ourselves with an abundance of herbs and spinach. Not to fret! While nothing beats fresh herbs and produce, there is a way both 1) save the excess crop and 2) have "fresh" herbs and greens at your disposal during the winter months (when there would typically be no crop to harvest anyway).
Freezing Herbs (good for up to about 6 months post freezing): There are several methods to go about this. One involves laying out the herbs on cookie sheets and placing them into the freezer until, well, frozen, and then locking them airtight inside of freezer bags. The method we went with involves placing some of the herbs into ice cube trays 1/2 full with water, and once the water has frozen, filling the tray full with water. Then, pop out your herb cubes, and place into freezer bags. When you're ready to use some fresh herbs during the winter months, just grab a few cubes and toss into your soup or stew or sauce that you're making. The amount of water per cube is pretty low so you don't have to worry about diluting out anything you're preparing. Obviously, you can also dry the herbs, but this looses the freshness and a lot of the oils that make fresh herbs so tasty.
Freezing Greens (good for up to about 6 months post freezing): Wash your greens (spinach in our case) well in cold water. Water blanch for 2 minutes, and then plunge into an ice cold water bath. Pat dry with towels, and then pack into freezer containers/bags. Done.
It wasn't that hard (maybe took up 5 minutes of our time). We'll see come winter how it all panned out (or earlier depending on how the rest of our garden does).
Freezing Herbs (good for up to about 6 months post freezing): There are several methods to go about this. One involves laying out the herbs on cookie sheets and placing them into the freezer until, well, frozen, and then locking them airtight inside of freezer bags. The method we went with involves placing some of the herbs into ice cube trays 1/2 full with water, and once the water has frozen, filling the tray full with water. Then, pop out your herb cubes, and place into freezer bags. When you're ready to use some fresh herbs during the winter months, just grab a few cubes and toss into your soup or stew or sauce that you're making. The amount of water per cube is pretty low so you don't have to worry about diluting out anything you're preparing. Obviously, you can also dry the herbs, but this looses the freshness and a lot of the oils that make fresh herbs so tasty.
Freezing Greens (good for up to about 6 months post freezing): Wash your greens (spinach in our case) well in cold water. Water blanch for 2 minutes, and then plunge into an ice cold water bath. Pat dry with towels, and then pack into freezer containers/bags. Done.
It wasn't that hard (maybe took up 5 minutes of our time). We'll see come winter how it all panned out (or earlier depending on how the rest of our garden does).