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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
If you eat local....
What do you eat for fruit in the winter?
I live in MN, and there is no fruit that grows in the winter. Our co-op has primarily apples, bananas, and citrus in the winter, most/all of which is not local. I think a small % of the apples might be local but not by Feb/March.
I get so sick of the same fruit all winter long. I canned applesauce and some jam, and froze some strawberiies, but not enough for all our fruit all winter long.
What do other people do?
Re: If you eat local....
Back in the days when my mom was a kid, they canned. Not just applesauce - everything. Peaches, pears, crabapples, saskatoons, raspberries, plums - if it arrived in the fall, a case or three ended up in a jar in the cellar.
If you're really devoted to eating locally, you'll need to can and freeze a greater variety and amount of fruit. My mom still cans enough fruit for her and dad to eat it for dessert 1-2 meals a day, almost every day of the year.
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I think the two posters have great suggestions. My snarky reply is, How would your grandparents get fruit in Minnesota in the winter?! However, I realize that some people really love having a variety of fresh fruit year-round.
I would buy as much locally-raised fruit as you are able and can/freeze most of it.
Same here! We also froze strawberries, corn, pumpkin, and peppers.
We are expanding our raspberry and strawberry patches this year and thinking about planting a cherry tree or 3. I would happily eat those all winter (frozen or canned) but we love them so much we eat them all up in the summer!
I am thinking that part of my issue is I don't want to go out and spend 100$ on fruit in one go in the summer to can/freeze even though over the whole year that would make more sense.
Gah. Baby steps I guess.
My Farmer's Market has had fresh apples that the farmer stores in his root cellar all winter. They're just starting to run out, hopefully they'll make it until berries are available in a few weeks. We are planning on buying lots of local fruit throughout the summer and canning or freezing it. Unfortunately we didn't get on the canning bandwagon during the 2009 apple season so we won't be able to make applesauce until September when local apples are available again.
ETA: I thought I would get sick of an apple a day for 6+ months but I haven't. I started with my favorite variety until the farmer ran out, then moved to what he had left, and so forth. First it was Honeycrisps (my favorite!) then Cameos, then Galas, and now Golden Delicious.
apples...apples...apples
I really missed summer fruit!
I've yet to buy a pressure canner-- there are a variety of ways to safely can different veggies and fruits. I've found information online and in older books at the public library.
I also collect cans year-round from thrift stores and yard sales. I oftentimes have to buy all new rings, and obviously get new tops every season, but that's relatively cheap compared to buying organic produce that's shipped 2000+ miles.
We don't freeze as much because we don't have the freezer space. Seriously, all my cans, rings, etc. fit in 2 plastic rubbermaid totes. (Don't try to carry the tote-- seriously heavy--- just keep them there for aesthetic purposes!!)
A shelf or two in a closet, on the floor in the back of a closet, in the back of cupboards where you have just a little bit of space, even in a box in the garage... that's all the storage space it takes for canned foods and canning supplies. Even if you do go spend $100 bucks on brand-new packaged cans and a pressure canner, you're still saving money and eating local. It's worth the effort, imo.