Plan Your Garden for Food Preservation

In a northern climate with a short growing season, like New England, we can’t eat from our gardens and farms year-round. However, there are various food preservation methods that can greatly extend how long we can eat locally.

Sherri from Seacoast Eat Local, and Amy from Seacoast Permaculture, will discuss the many options for food preservation, their pros and cons, and how to get started or expand what you are already doing. These options include: drying, canning, freezing, lacto-fermenting, root cellaring and simply growing long-keepers. We’ll look at the equipment needed for these, take a tour of Amy’s outdoor root cellar and have some samples for you to try.

Now is the time to make your plans for the year, order your seeds, and prep equipment so you are ready to go when the produce does come in!

COST: sliding scale $10-25 per person. A nonrefundable $5 deposit will hold your place. You can use paypal here or ask us where to send a check. The rest of the fee is due at the event - please bring cash or check!

YOUR PRESENTERS:

SHERRI NIXON: In an effort to atone for a long career in retailing, Sherri began her permaculture involvement with a canning meetup in 2012. Inspired by Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, Sherri supports local farms, food producers, and has a small home garden for perennial and annual produce, all of which supply most of her food year round. Sherri is retired and lives in Exeter.

AMY ANTONUCCI: Amy began growing food in 1995 on a local organic farm and CSA. She later became a certified permaculture designer and transitioned to homesteading and teaching others. She is the main organizer for Seacoast NH Permaculture and was proud to be named NOFA-NH's Leading Gardener of 2017. She learned to can from a Ball Jar Blue Book in the '90s and hasn't missed a season since!

Cosponsored by Seacoast Eat Local and Seacoast Permactulture.