your questions

There were several questions from the last

post, so I thought I would answer them here

in case anyone else was wondering the same.

How do I freeze my broccoli?

After removing any leaves and woody stalk,

I soak the broccoli heads in a salt/water

brine {1 cup salt to 1 gallon water} for

about a half hour.  This gets rid of any

insects or those unpleasant little green

worms.  I then rinse the broccoli, and

cut the heads into smaller pieces.

I put them into a pot of boiling water

and scald for about 3 - 4 minutes,

then immediately immerse the broccoli in

some ice water to cool.  It's now ready

to drain and pack into your freezer containers.

This year, I laid all the broccoli pieces out in

a single layer on baking sheets which I placed in

the freezer.  As soon as the broccoi was frozen, I placed

it all in a very large freezer bag--later it

will be easy to just take out as much as I need.

I have also used my vacuum sealer in the past, and

that does do a better job preventing freezer

burn--I just didn't have the special bags on hand

this time.

Can you tell me how you freeze grated zucchini?

After washing the zucchinis {I leave the skin on}

and cutting off the ends, I grate it using

my food processor.  Then I just put it in a freezer

container or bag and freeze--super easy.

This year, I vacuum sealed mine in glass pint

canning jars.  I really like the idea of using

glass versus plastic, the jars were cheap from a

yard sale & are resusable, and the vacuum seal,

as I mentioned, will help prevent freezer burn.

Is it possible for you to share your recipe for

the refrigerator pickles?

I found the recipe here last year.  This year I

did alter it--I omitted the pickling spice {as

I wanted more of a plain dill} and I tried

cutting the sugar amount in half {they were

too sweet for us}.

Do you just know how to freeze the zucchini and blueberries or do you recommend a source of info?

I couldn't do it without my Ball Blue Book!

I'm sure there are many resources online for

home canning and freezing, but I have used

this book forever, and I love having it handy

year after year to look up whatever I need.

Yesterday, I picked blackberries and blueberries.

My next 'preserving project' is to pull out

the dehydrator and dry some blueberries.

I tried it last year for the first time

and loved them--I'll be back with more on

that later...

{Picked the first tomato yesterday!}