Most of you are familiar with the concept of stockpiling when it comes to the grocery store, buying 3-6 months worth of products your family uses when it hits the lowest price in the sales cycle. The same idea can be applied to summertime produce, stockpiling when it is fresh and inexpensive. Having a plan is important, whether that is canning, freezing, eating, dehydrating, or baking.
Of course, stocking your pantry (or linen closet or garage shelves) and freezer does require an initial investment of time, money, and equipment. I think the results are more than worth it. By drying your own fruit, you can keep it simple. Just fruit, without any added sugar or preservatives. By canning and freezing your own produce, you can control the price, quality, and quantity.
{Related: Canning for beginners}
Baking with fresh fruit is great, but I actually prefer to eat it fresh while we can and save the baking for those colder winter months. Frozen fruit can be substituted for fresh in most recipes. It is easier to chop and only slightly increases the baking time.
Kari Patterson wrote a great post for us on Tips for Freezing Fruit. If you’re looking for additional tips on foods you can freeze to prolong their shelf life, read this post here.
Here are several additional ways to use the most common u-pick produce that is in season from June to October in the Pacific Northwest. Leave your ideas in the comments section!
APPLES
APRICOTS
- Apricot Jam
- Pit, halve, and dry in a food dehydrator. Store in bags or containers in the freezer; chop and mix into Maple Cluster Granola
- Pit, halve, and freeze for milkshakes, smoothies, or baked goods
BLUEBERRIES
- Basic Fruit Muffins with Streusel – using fresh or frozen berries
- Blueberry French Toast Bake – using fresh or frozen berries
- Flash freeze for baked goods
- Fresh berries with plain yogurt and Maple Cluster Granola
BLACKBERRIES
- Basic Fruit Pie – using fresh or frozen berries
- Flash freeze for milkshakes, smoothies, or baked goods
- How to Can Blackberry Syrup
CHERRIES
- Canned Sweet Cherries
- Pit and freeze for smoothies or baked treats
- Muddle cherries, mint and fresh ginger – top with sparkling water for a refreshing summer treat!
PEACHES
- Canned Peaches
- Ginger Peach Muffins
- Peach Butter – best thing you will ever eat on a biscuit
- Peach Jam
- Peaches & Cream Chilled Dessert – a no bake summer treat
PEARS
- Canned Pears
- Core, slice, and dry in a food dehydrator. Store in bags or containers in the freezer.
- Pear Vanilla Jam – My favorite spread. It is so delicious with goat cheese & No-Knead Bread.
PLUMS/PRUNES
- Pit, halve, and dry in a food dehydrator. Store in bags or containers in the freezer.
- Pit, halve, and freeze for milkshakes, smoothies, or baked goods
- Italian Plum Tart – using fresh or frozen fruit
- Stone Fruit Tea Cake – using fresh or frozen fruit
RASPBERRIES
- Flash freeze for milkshakes, smoothies, or baked goods
- Fresh berries with plain yogurt and Maple Cluster Granola
- Raspberry Jam
STRAWBERRIES
- Basic Fruit Muffins with Streusel – using fresh or frozen berries
- Flash freeze for milkshakes, smoothies, or baked goods
- Fresh Strawberry Shortcake
- Strawberry Freezer Jam
TOMATOES
- Canned Whole Tomatoes
- Roasted Marinara Sauce
- Tomato Jam – Takes the humble BLT Sandwich (and pretty much everything else) to a whole new level.
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I own this Nesco 600-Watt Food Dehydrator. It is the best-selling dehydrator available on Amazon. While I would prefer a clear lid and a power button, it does a great job of drying evenly and I have been pleased with the results. I love being able to dry fruit, especially discounted seconds (slightly imperfect) or day-old fruit. The price on this dehydrator does drop, so if you are in the market for one be ready to grab it when it hits the $40-50 range.
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I also have that brand of dehydrator I have used it for 20 plus years I have dried almost anything you can think of. It is worth the investment to buy one. I also have the 4 plus fruit roll up sheets and I always line the sheets some kind of mesh screens it helps with food not sticking to the dehydrator trays
Is it just me or are the prices alot higher this year or is it just my location? Any suggestions on getting a better price for produce? I even found the supermarket trucked produce is cheaper then local which seems really strange to me.
I just bought this today at Bi-mart for $59.99. I did some price checking and the cheapest I found it (today that is) was $59.98, but $9.98 is a lot cheaper than 12 lbs of rotten blueberries! 🙂
Bi-Mart has the 500 watt Nesco on sale every couple of weeks for $39.99. That is the one I recently purchased and love it ! I bought one for my oldest DD and one for a GD, too.
I have been making LOTS of kale chips (that Grandkids really like) with the abundance of kale in my garden.
After going out one morning and finding the kale mowed down by rabbits (found the hole in the fence) it grew back very nicely 🙂
That’s where I got mine too. We should start to see some sales on Amazon too.
What about figs? Do you have any ideas on how to preserve them? I love eating them fresh, but I’d also like to know whether I can dehydrate them … or is it best to freeze … or neither? Thanks for any advice you can give!
I dry the Desert King figs. Sometimes I take the green skin off if I have time. I also make fig leather. A little time consuming but so good
Barb, I have a neighbor who has given me access to his fig tree, but I never knew what kind it was. From your note, I’m thinking it’s this kind and am wondering if you could share some of your preserving tips with me. Right now the only thing I do is enjoy the heck out of them while they’re fresh! (I did try drying them once, but they didn’t turn out as good as I’d hoped.)
I have really been wanting to get a dehydrator. Maybe I need to just go ahead and buy this. I need to dry this summers wonderful fruit. Anyone else have one that they love? Emily – what extras do you have? Should I buy extra racks now? With the trays that come with it about how many peaches can you do at a time and how long does one batch of peaches take? I think I would need the fruit rolls sheets for sure with two small children in my house.
I have the same one and I like it. I added 2 trays. I can’t speak to peaches because I’ve never dried them but a batch of apple chips (I like mine crispy) takes about 7-8 hours on 135 degrees. Strawberry chips took me around 4. I have one fruit roll sheet that came with the dehydrator.
This post is exactly what I needed. Thanks for the ideas Emily! One other idea is to crush your berries, freeze them, and make jam on a cold winter day rather than right now.