Dehydration - Problems, Solutions, & More

For the past two weeks I have been slicing and dicing and dehydrating - amongst other things like pressuring canning, baking & freezing, making hygiene items, and herbal stuff.  I literally got up two Saturday mornings ago and started slicing eggplant to make a "fake bacon" - note to self, add salt to the marinade.  I started using a mandolin to get the perfect slices and I'm so glad I started using this consistently!!

Since then I've dehydrated celery, red bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, frozen strawberries, and apples coated with cinnamon sugar.  Onions will be next when the rest of the apples are complete.

I've decided to start storing my dehydrated produce in the various jars that we'd normally throw away.  Of course, I'm starting to make a lot of the stuff I buy from the store from scratch so this may not last too long.  I'll be happy to buy more canning jars for storing the dehydrated stuff or vacuum sealing it all - but for now, why waste the resources I have.

I had an issue with the trays on my dehydrator.  I have a round one that is obviously not an Excaliber.  But at the same time I do like this that MrBeans got me back in January - it doesn't get too hot and there is lots of air circulation.  So far, I'm very happy with the results.  It's an Oster brand - and I've kept the trays from my previous dehydrator that finally kicked the bucket last fall.  Because that is an issue with the new Oster - not enough trays.  There is also no flexible mats to put small things on or to make fruit leather.  So I've made some.  Now I do not have to spray my trays which was causing a problem - my fruits and veggies were a bit greasy.  That's okay for short-term storage but not for long-term ... and sometimes, things get stored for a long time here if they aren't used often.  I don't want my stuff going rancid - that's worse than it rotting on the counter after having gone through all the work to slice, dehydrate, and store.

So anyway, two birds one stone, as the saying goes with this little flexible mats.

I would love to get cross-stitch plastic but the store I was in didn't have any so I settled for those little silicon-type chopping mats.  I got 2 for $1 at the Dollar Store.  They aren't quite wide enough to cover the entire round tray BUT that's okay cause it's just a little bit and I think it helps with the air flow considering I have solid sheets versus screened trays.  So far everything is coming out wonderfully and I couldn't be happier with the performance --- well, I could use some more trays, that would make me happier!! :-D

Gardening By the Week

I was just going through my book "Week by Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook" by Ron Kujawksi & Jennifer Kujawski.  I thought perhaps I'd share since I know a lot of people wonder how I manage my gardens on top of everything else.  This is pretty much how I do it.  Granted, I do have to deal with certain things like when My Honey will do some tasks but overall, this gets me through.

Now I'm in Zone 7 (whether A or B is up to the map I consult).  Technically the "last frost" for this area is slated for April 15th.  But I'll continue in the tradition of my Papa which is nothing goes in the ground before May 1st.  He has been the only one whose garden lived because he adhered to this despite his brothers-in-law planting April 16th, when a late frost swooped in and killed everything.  This year, May 1st will be tough with it being not only finals week but also Holy Week.... but I'll get it done one way or another!!

Anyway, this puts me at about 9 weeks before the average last frost.

This week I'll be attempting to get some eggplant, peppers, anise, and parsley seed sown indoors.  I don't grow summer savory, fennel, or chervil - though I should.  If you do, then get those seed started as well.

I'll be back later with the things I have already completed and still have yet to complete to be caught up.  I'm a little behind this year but I should be all caught up by the time the end of *my* spring break rolls around in a few weeks!!

A little dehydration goes a long way

So today, I chopped up some peppers from the garden and put them on the dehydrating trays.  I still had some room plus a half of an onion left from last night, so I sliced it up and put it on the trays as well.  I *still* had room so I grabbed a zucchini and sliced it up and put it on the trays.  At that point the trays were almost completely filled so I salted the zucchini and put the trays on dehydrate. :-)  I'm experimenting with dehydrating julienned slices of zucchini.  If that works as well as I hope then I'll start deyhdrating them that way.
In a few days I'll take some photos of the finished product ... for now, here is the fresh produce ...