Blanch and Freeze Garden Veggies

Today I picked a good harvest of shell peas. I planted seed along the fenceline in the primary garden. I typically plant them here, so I don’t have to fuss with putting in assistances for the vines.

It’s so much simpler to have them growing up something that is already there. They can simply get onto the fence wire, and their tendrils will wind around the wire, keeping the plants upright.

I constantly look forward to gathering peas. Mind you, I harvest a few practically every time I am in the garden!

Another factor I like selecting peas is since it will mean rest time for me. It gets rather hot here in the afternoons and there is nothing better than taking a rest in the shade with a bag or more of peas to shell.

Aaah, there is nothing like a pea induced rest on the patio, I like it.

I can shell while sitting silently, rocking in my chair and looking around the lawn. I can be hectic, however not hectic if you understand what I suggest. I move on to the next part when I’m done shelling.

Given that I am going to freeze the peas, I put a big pot of water on the stove to come to a boil. As soon as boils, I add all the shelled peas and let it boil for two minutes. This blanches the vegetable enough to then have the ability to freeze it.

After the two minutes is up, I discard the pot into a colander in the sink and begin running cold water over the peas.

Once they feel cool, plug in the stopper and simply let the sink fill a bit and let the colander simply sit there. Run your fingers through to ensure cold water gets to all the peas. This will accelerate the cooling process.

When the peas are cold, I pour them out onto cookie sheets into a single layer. I dispose them right from the colander and then spread the peas out using my hands.

Then simply pop the trays in the freezer for 24 hours and bring them back out. Use a spatula to get the frozen peas off the sheet and into the freezer bag .

I like freezing them like this so the peas are frozen separately, so when I wish to have some I can just pour out the preferred amount and bring them to a boil prior to including them to our dinner plates.

We love shelled peas– I typically plant some snow peas too. This year, it’s all shell peas called Bounty. This blanching procedure works for many vegetables that you desire to freeze.

Boil the tidy vegetables for 2 minutes, then plunge into cool water to cool them off rapidly. Pop them into freezer bags and put them in the freezer. Done!