Learn to save and enjoy a bountiful harvest safely, successfully by attending workshops
(Talk of the Town file photo by Jennifer Zartman Romano) With the bounty of your garden or item found at your local farmers market, you can enjoy a delicious harvest all year long -- if you know how to properly preserve it. The Whitley County Purdue Extention Service is offering a series of preservation workshops to show you how to do it safely and successfully.
By Cindy Barnett
Picture your garden overflowing with plump, juicy tomatoes, shiny green peppers, and crisp green beans. Imagine picking juicy peaches, pears, and apples from the local orchards or selecting fresh produce from baskets at the farmers markets.
Why not save some of this bounty to enjoy all through the year? Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or greatly slow down spoilage, loss of quality, edibility, or nutritive value caused or accelerated by micro-organisms.
Learn to preserve foods safely. The Purdue Extension Service in Whitley County will be conducting ‘Preserving Nature’s Bounty’ workshops to discuss safe home food preservation procedures and to answer the frequently asked questions on canning, freezing, and drying foods. Workshops are scheduled for:
Thursday, June 3, 6:30-8:30 p.m., South Whitley Town Hall
Monday, June 7, 1-3 p.m., Churubusco Town hall
Wednesday, July 7, 9:30–11:30 a.m., South Whitley Town Hall
Wednesday, July 28, 1-3 p.m., Whitley County Extension Office, Columbia City
Wednesday, July 28, 6:30–8:30 p.m., Churubusco Town Hall
Wednesday, August 18, 9:30–11:30 a.m., 1-3 p.m. and 6:30–8:30 p.m., Whitley County Extension Office, Columbia City
To register, call 244-7615 or 625-3313. The cost is $3 per person which is payable at the door. For more information, contact Cindy Barnett, extension educator, cbarnett@purdue.edu.