How-To

Preserving

Wondering how long to keep your frozen fruit or vegetables from the garden? Do I really have to water bath my pickles? If you have never tried preserving or need a refresher on how to preserve, you have come to the right place!

The Preserving Pantry

Summer may be short, but the flavours of it don’t have to be.

It’s possible to enjoy the seasonal bounty of summer and early fall all year long with proper preserving techniques. Turn berries into jams and jellies and apples to sauce, pickle those cucumbers and freeze all sorts of produce safely with our help.

There are lots of ways to preserve foods. It doesn’t always mean pulling out sterilized jars and a water bath. Make pickles in your fridge or freezer. We can even show you how to dry foods to enjoy them later.

We’ve divided the ways to preserve fruits and vegetables – not to mention fish – into categories. Find what you want to make and click through for safety tips, recipes and more.

  • Important Preserving Info
  • Pickles, Relish & Chutneys
  • Jams & Jellies
  • Canning Fruit
  • Canning Tomatoes
  • Canning Vegetables & Meat

Basic Canning Steps

  • 1. Gather all equipment and ingredients. 

    2. Check that jars and equipment are in good condition.  

    3. Sterilize jars for 15 minutes just before they are needed.  

    4. Prepare food that you want to can, as directed.    

    5. Fill jar with prepared ingredients  

    6. Remove air bubbles and clean jar rim. 

  • 7. Center lid on jar and screw band just until “fingertip tight”. Repeat until all your jars are full. 

    8. Lower jars into prepared canner. 

    9. Bring to a boil and start your timer. 

    10. Remove from the canner. 

    11. Cool jars for 24 hours, without touching them. 

Freezing

Have a bountiful of fruits or vegetables but don't want to can? Try freezing! With a few simple steps, fruit and vegetables are frozen to be enjoyed all winter long.

Freezing Fruit Freezing Vegetables