So the question that I have heard a lot of is this summer is "We just got a lot of ___________ from our CSA. We can't eat it all/we're bored sick of it/we don't know what to do with it".
Obviously, no one wants to throw food away or even compost it, feed it to the pigs/dogs/chickens etc. So here are a few long-term, easy storage tips.
First, get yourself a good food storage book. Whenever I have a question, I consult Mike and Nancy Bubel's Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits and Vegetables. It tells you the best conditions to store each type of food in, and also which varieties are the best keepers. While the focus is on root cellaring, it is important to note that you don't need an actual root cellar in order to root cellar (did that make sense?).
So here's my short-list of autumn glut CSA foods and what to do with them.
Potatoes:
Immediate use: The nice thing about potatoes is that they'll store short-term without you having to do anything other than keeping them in a dark place. In the fall, we make potato pancakes, fried potatoes, skillet frittatas, and of course mashed potatoes. If there are some good-sized ones, we make crunchy potatoes (twice baked potatoes) with lots of goodies in them.
Storage: White potatoes store well at 36-40 degrees F with 90% humidity. If you have a nook in your house that can meet those conditions, great. To increase the humidity, take any organic material (leaves, straw, shavings) or sand and soak it. Pack your potatoes lightly, as ventilation is a good thing.
I also mash potatoes and store them in quart size containers and freeze. This is a great option if you have the freezer space!
Tomatoes: Don't refrigerate them! Keep them on the counter and they'll be happy for a week or two. We bought three crates at the farmer's market this summer, and they were fine just sitting on the table until we could process them.
Immediate use: Salads, sauces, stuffed tomatoes, casseroles, pasta or rice dishes, in egg dishes. We make fajitas a lot, so I always add a couple then.
Storage: Two easy methods: Sauce them (if it's a roma or other paste tomato) and then freeze in quart size bags. Or, just throw a bunch of whole tomatoes in a gallon bag and freeze. The skins will come right off when you thaw. You could even core the tomato before freezing. You can also can. Please remember to add 2 TBSP of lemon juice to each QUART (1 TBSP to each PINT) because today's tomatoes are generally not as acidic as yesteryear's. You can use a hot water bath (no need for the canner). You can also prepare pizza sauce or salsa and then can (or freeze) those.
Winter Squash (including pumpkins):
Immediate Use: Again, these have a really long shelf-life at room temperature so there is no pressure to use them. Yay. The problem I find, is that I get sick of eating squash after about two weeks, so I put them in the baskets that hang from our rafters and forget about them. Then in January, I look into the baskets and there are a half dozen shriveled up squash specimens that probably don't contain many nutrients.
Baked squash is always easy, and it's even easier in the crock pot. You can mix mashed squash with mashed potatoes to cut the squash flavor if you're not a big fan. You can make squash bread (always a huge hit in our household). You can also stuff the squash with a meat casserole type thing and then cook it. You can also use the puréed squash as a substitute for the oil, eggs and water when baking cupcakes etc. from a mix.
Storage: So I tried canning these suckers (since I'm running out of freezer space) and I think it would work, but it's very labor intensive as you have to skin the squash without cooking it first. Then you must blanch the squash and then you need to use the pressure canner for 90 minutes, which I don't like using.
So, the easiest way to store for us (aside from hanging it in the baskets) is to cook the squash, scoop it out, and then freeze it. I'm hoping that by storing it in this manner right off the bat, I won't have any shriveled up squashes come mid-winter.
Carrots:
Immediate uses: We always have carrot sticks cut in the fridge. We find them particularly helpful if we're having an unpalatable vegetable according to Bud--he can munch on those instead. If you have a juicer, use it here. Carrot muffins are yummy (so is carrot cake). I actually use carrots in my roasting pan to support the chicken instead of using a rack. In any soup or stew you can add carrots. In fact, a mixture of carrots, celery and onion is the classic mirepoix--the base for any stock. One of my favorite salads is simply shredded carrot and shredded beet mixed with a light vinegar and some seasonings (unfortunately, my darling husband is not a beet fan).
Storage: Theoretically, these are stored at 32-40 degrees F with 90-95% humidity--very similar to potatoes. I store mine in the same place (an unplugged freezer turned on its side in the basement with shavings in it). Just layer the carrots with the organic material between them. The carrots should be close to one another, but not really touching. Store only the largest, most regularly shaped ones.
I also will blanch and freeze diced carrots to add to a mirepoix later or to a vegetable medley as a side dish.
Hardy greens (spinach, chard, kale, collards):
Immediate uses: I'm a big fan of sautéed kale, onions and pepperoni. I'm sure you can do a similar dish with spinach. In my opinion, these hardy greens are best when slightly wilted over your stovetop. They are also great in soups, stews and pasta dishes. You could also make a yummy spinach dip with some sour cream.
Storage: You can actually freeze these. You'll want to blanch them for a couple minutes beforehand.
Good luck and may there be no more glut!
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