Going Green: What will Become of that Excess Bounty?

By Jim Bona

Earlier in the summer I wrote about entering into the glory days of our gardens and the bounty of the harvest that was starting to come in. That was just for early stuff, like lettuce and other leafy things. Now we are in even more substantial glory days with vegetables that needed more time to grow, like: beets, carrots, peppers, corn, zucchini, cucumbers, potatoes and tomatoes.

I am sure most of us have been hit badly by the tomato blight, unfortunately. I have talked with people who have lost their whole crops of tomatoes. I have harvested a few, but no where like years past. But we still have an abundance of all sorts of vegetables on our hands. The question is: what to do with all the stuff that we can’t eat? It is a sin to let it go to waste, and there are ways to assure that it doesn’t happen.

First thing that comes to mind is probably the easiest: give it away to friends and strangers. That works for a while. Of course, there are all the various canning and freezing options. Canning works well, although it is labor and time intensive. It is also good since you don’t have to use the fridge or freezer. Freezing is always an option, if you have the space. Pickling is also great too. These are all great ways to extend the harvest into the season where your bounty from the garden has stopped, either by frost, disease, or laziness.

Another great choice is to donate some bounty to your local food pantry, senior citizen home or center or your local church. Any of these options will get some of your extra harvest to people who either don’t grow a garden or who could use some food. Whatever you decide to do is a green choice if it lets the bounty be shared instead of going to waste. You really can’t beat locally grown produce and now are glory days for that. Spread the wealth! (An aside: I show my preference for vegetables here, but a nice arrangement of home grown flowers is also a delight to share with anyone too.)

Going Green: What will Become of that Excess Bounty?

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