Green Thumb 2024 – Preserving the Harvest

Preserving food grown at home, in season, has long been a practice of food security and community. “As gardeners, farmers and homesteaders, the abundance we harvest in the summer can last us through the winter months if we have the skills, materials and space for preserving food,” Danielle said.

In a jam-packed hour, Danielle will give an overview of the history of food preservation, food safety considerations for the gardener-turned-food preserver and preservation methods, including fermentation, canning, dehydration, pickling and more. She will discuss many methods and resources that we can use, from high-tech to low-tech (even no-tech!), to preserve the fruits of our labor. Attendees will leave the class equipped with knowledge about food safety and a set of guidelines for extending nearly any fresh food item’s life span from fall through to the next harvest season.

Danielle is the Community Health Program Coordinator and Food Preservation Advisor for WSU Extension Clallam County, as well as a hobby food preservationist. As a former sauerkraut maker, she specializes in wild fermentation, but advises the community on canning, dehydration, pickling, and other types of food preservation. Danielle has been growing and preserving food for a decade, four seasons of which she has lived and farmed on the Olympic Peninsula. She found her way into food preservation through a love for gardening and an appreciation for the seasonal abundances that Olympic Peninsula gardens, farms and nature have to offer. Danielle is currently experimenting with beer, wine and mead-making in addition to making obscenely large batches of pickles to share with her friends. She takes questions about food preservation via email at danielle.carson@wsu.edu or via the WSU Clallam County Extension Website: https://extension.wsu.edu/clallam/food-and-nutrition/food-preservation-and-safety/

The Green Thumb Education Series, sponsored by the Washington State University Clallam County Master Gardeners, is held on the second and fourth Thursday of each month through October. In November, December, and January, one lecture is offered. Scheduled presentations are subject to change. Visit the WSU Extension Clallam County website calendar for the latest information on upcoming presentations. For questions, call 360-565-2678.