Garden Harvest Hacks

Are you someone who loves to grow their own food but struggles to use everything up when it’s time to harvest?

We’ve put together a few ideas of how to manage and make the most of your abundance of home grown produce. There are also some links further down where you can find out more.

New Recipes

It can be boring using the same ingredient to make the same dish time and time again.

Whilst you might have a lot of the same ingredient, you could make it into many different dishes.

For example, beetroot, which is harvested in early Summer to mid-Autumn in the UK. You could use beetroot in many ways, such as grating the beetroot into a salad, using it as a main ingredient for dinner, throwing it in a chocolate cake (it makes for a beautifully moist cake), pickling it for use later or turning into a chutney.

Freezer

At this time of the year, the freezer is your best friend. However, it’s important to make sure that you prepare your ingredient properly for freezing.

With French beans and runner beans, you need to wash, trim and blanch them for 2 minutes before dipping in cold water and putting in them in a plastic bag in the freezer. Whereas with soft fruit like currants, raspberries and blackberries all you need to do is wash and freeze.

Preserves

There are many ways of preserving your garden glut, including jams and chutneys.

Within reason, anything can be made into a preserve; from courgettes and beetroot to raspberries and rhubarb.

Pickled

Pickling uses acidity to preserve food and can make ingredients last much longer.

Cucumbers, for example, can be difficult to freeze due to their high-water content. Pickling is a great option and will make them last several months if stored correctly.

Sharing

If you have been growing your produce brilliantly in the garden, don’t be afraid to share what you have grown. Not everyone has access to a space to grow fruits and vegetables so sharing them with friends, family or neighbours will help stop anything from going unused.

If this isn’t an option, you could also consider food sharing apps, community fridges or even social media groups that can help you connect with people in your local area.

Want more information?

Love Food Hate Waste have a range of online tools to help you make the most of your foods when it’s time to eat them, from a recipe finder to a portion planner. They also have an A-Z of storage for fresh foods.