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Adventures in Dehydrating, Part 1

Throughout my years of researching and studying food preservation methods—canning, freezing, pickling—I was always lured by dehydrating. I envisioned my pantry shelves filled with jars of efficient, shrunken vegetables just waiting to be resurrected. And seeing photos of stacked trays, all loaded with Martha-Stewart-neat rows of bright fruits and vegetables? Absolutely. And in reality? That IS the reality!

In the first of this two-part blog, I will share my experience in buying a dehydrator; in part two, I will talk about the dehydrating process.

Carrots in dehydrator
A batch of carrots is ready to be dehydrated.

The most important features to me were ease of use, size of the unit, and noise. Both price and capacity were somewhat secondary. Your prioritization of these characteristics may be completely different.

I was convinced from the start that I would buy a top-of-the-line Excalibur dehydrator. I usually buy the best tool I can afford because I don’t want a substandard tool to interfere with my ability to do a job. The more I researched, the more I realized that I probably did not need such a large dehydrator, and it turns out I was right.

Cosori dehydrator
This six-tray Cosori dehydrator meets my needs perfectly.

Before I bought one, I spent many hours researching dehydrators. I mostly read articles about what to look for in a dehydrator. I recommend you do the same to figure out what you want/prefer. For example, dehydrators come in different shapes and configurations: Basically, they are either rectangular and look kind of like a microwave with multiple shelves, or they are comprised of a stack of round trays. Most of the round ones have plastic trays but I wanted sturdy stainless-steel trays. Plus, I just didn’t like the round shape—hardly a scientific justification. Read more Adventures in Dehydrating, Part 1

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Time To Order Your Seeds!

Winter is a quiet time for most gardeners. Time to review the past year’s garden successes (and failures), and to begin planning for next year’s garden… and of course to order new seeds. Many gardeners eagerly anticipate getting the first garden seed catalogs, and by now many have arrived in my mailbox. 

Seed catalogs are much more than just pretty pictures of great fruits and vegetables or a source of garden tools and supplies. Within their pages can be found a whole host of information on each plant variety. The descriptions cover many useful topics, from disease resistance, to how to match particular vegetables to the soils of your garden, to the size of the fruit and the plant’s growth habit, and much, much more. A couple of examples from my own garden will explain what I mean.  

I love winter squash, particularly butternut squash, but for years my success with it was hit-and-miss. What I observed from years of gardening is that if powdery mildew got into my squash and pumpkins early, I would go on to have a very poor crop, whereas if the powdery mildew showed up later in the summer, I ended up with a much better crop. Looking through a Johnny’s Selected Seeds catalog, I noticed they were offering a hybrid butternut squash called Metro PMR (F1) Butternut Squash – PMR standing for Powdery Mildew Resistant. Since switching to this seed three years ago, I’ve had consistently good crops. This past growing season my pumpkins and acorn squash were hit hard by powdery mildew, but my PMR butternut squash plants growing right next to the pumpkins continued to flourish and produced a nice crop.

Carrots are also a mainstay in my garden. Gardeners with clay-ey soils like mine will have a hard time growing most carrots, but reviewing seed catalog information helped me match varieties to the particular soil type in my garden – in this case Chantenays and Nantes, which do well in heavy soils.  

If you don’t like to grow carrots because of the small seed size and the need to thin them during the summer, seed producers have made a simple innovation that you should try. Pelleted carrot seed, is covered with a clay like substance that dissolves when planted. The little round seed pellets are easier to handle and space accurately, even by children, eliminating the need to thin the carrots later. Read more Time To Order Your Seeds!

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Meet Carolyn Filippi, Master Gardener Volunteer

With a new cohort of Master Gardener Volunteers ready to begin, we’d like to introduce them (AND YOU!) to the group of MGVs who have sustained this program for the last several years. Meet Carolyn Filippi!

What was your path to gardening?

I grew up in a mid-sized city with virtually no understanding of growing plants. In my high school years my mother had a small garden with tomatoes and peppers each summer but I paid little attention except to pick the fruit. In the early ‘70s I moved from the city to the country to get “back to the land” like many others of my generation. I began farming immediately to provide as much of our food as possible. I remember standing in the garden that first spring holding Rodales’ Organic Gardening book, hoe in hand, reading about how to plant potatoes. I used that book a LOT that first season!

Carolyn preserves tomatoes

What benefits do you gain from gardening?

There are so many benefits! I love working outdoors. Gardening is great exercise, not just physically but mentally. It’s stimulating to brainstorm and plan new projects, then execute those ideas and solve all the issues that invariably arise throughout the growing season. The unique nature of each season and the sheer number of plants and living creatures in the ecosystem means there’s an endless opportunity for learning.  

Gardening also provides a time to be present and contemplative. It’s an opportunity to stop and smell the roses- and then check them for insects, new buds, adequate water, etc.! The garden brings me peace. And the icing on the cake is enjoying the increased wildlife, especially the birds and butterflies. 

Why did you want to become a Master Gardener Volunteer?

I was looking for a new way to connect with my community. By becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer I could help others learn to garden or find answers to perplexing problems and I was eager to learn from the experience of other volunteers.     Read more Meet Carolyn Filippi, Master Gardener Volunteer