This September, we’ve been lucky to have fairly warm days and nights in Montana, with just a couple of hints at a killing frost that we were able to protect against temporarily. But the garden is still winding down. In the main garden, I’m finding fewer cucumbers and snap beans, with vines starting to dry and lose leaves. In the greenhouse, tomatoes and tomatillos are putting all of their energy into ripening existing fruit. It’s time to grab the last of the garden’s treats and stash it all away for winter.

This week, in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, I share some of my favorite storage techniques for a range of vegetables. The article focuses on easy ways to save individual vegetables without needing to can or ferment them or changing their base flavor into a pickle or sauce. The techniques rely on freezing, dry storing, and dehydrating and can be done quickly with minimal prep.

Learn more about winding down the season in my column.

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Twice as Tasty

I’ve written many times about winding down the season and saving the last of the garden’s bounty for winter use. In some of my previous posts, you’ll find more details about specific storage techniques and my favorite ways to save vegetables and fruit that I didn’t have space to include in this week’s column.

• Quick Saves, with more produce you can freeze, dehydrate, and box up for dry storage
• Prepare to Preserve, with the pros and cons of several preservation techniques, plus some of my favorite preserving recipes
• Quick Food Preservation, with an overview of foods you can save and tools and techniques for making preservation easy and speedy
• Prepare to Dehydrate, with tools and processing tips that make dehydration simple and effective
• Dig It, Store It, with more details on storage spaces and temperatures for root vegetables, alliums, apples, and more
• Storing Pickles, with tools and techniques that will improve your pickle storage

When it comes to freezing, one of my favorite tools is an ice cube tray. I reviewed several of options for ice and more for The Spruce Eats. I’ve also described the best canning cookbooks for that website. You can find other tools and techniques for preservation here on Twice as Tasty through the recipe index and basics pages.

Want more Twice as Tasty recipes? Get my books! Click here to order a personally signed, packaged, and shipped copy of The Complete Guide to Pickling directly from me. I also share tasty ways to use pickles in The Pickled Picnic; it’s only available here.