I write often of preserving: making jam, canning, dehydrating and freezing. Perhaps sometimes you might suspect that I'm someone's 70-year-old grandmother, stuck in the old ways, clinging to the past in order to maintain my usefulness in a convenience-based, modern world. Well, dear readers, it simply ain't so. I'm just a 20-something gal with a tight budget and a penchant for stretching out those tasty eats through as many seasons as possible!

It sounds like a lot of work. I'll be the first to admit that. But I'll also be the first to tell you that it's all an illusion. There's a time investment in any activity you choose, but so few carry the big long-term payoff that preserving does, and even fewer promise to save you so much money by allowing you to buy produce in season, when it's abundant and inexpensive, and save it for a few months down the road, when there isn't a local strawberry in sight.

Seventh Generation posted a great article today entitled Pickle Your Own Peck of Peppers that offers easy tips to incorporate preserving into your household.

Freezing
This is an easy suggestion from the Seventh Generation article, and anyone can do it! If you're trying to save herbs like basil, mint and chives, stick 'em in the freezer! Prepare herb pestos (like I mentioned this weekend) and freeze them in ice cube trays that create individual portions for cooking and eating. After the cubes are frozen, you can transfer them to a plastic freezer bag or box, sealed tightly to protect against freezer burn. Lots of other fruits and veggies can be frozen whole or pureed, in bags or boxes, but don't forget to label them! On a label or piece of masking tape, write what it is, where it came from (i.e. neighbor, Joe's Farm, etc) and the date it went into the freezer. This information will become essential in late January, when your freezer is full of identical containers and you have nothing but the color of the contents to go on!

Drying
I also happen to think that no home (even apartments!) should be without a dehydrator. Not only are they great for drying summer fruits and veggies to save until winter, but you can dry herbs for culinary uses and flowers for decorative uses as well. Dehydrators are sold in a wide range of styles, sizes and price ranges, but my reliable little beast () is one of the economy models and it serves me just fine.

If you live in a sunny area, Seventh Generation suggests, you can build a solar dehydrator. In the summer time, some Pacific Northwest residents use their ! However, it's October and the skies have gone gray here in Washington, so I'll be sticking with my indoor electric model, thank you.

Canning
Canning is not as difficult as it sounds either, and doesn't require a large financial investment. Sure, you could spend your life's savings on a fancy pressurized canning machine. But if you have any memories of making jam with grandma, you'll know she didn't use much more than a couple of stock pots and a few special tools, like a jar lifter and a wide mouth funnel. If you're interested in making jam or putting up vegetables for winter, you must pick up an inexpensive to help get you started.

Whatever your chosen method, preserving is an easy way to stretch your pennies as well as the sweetness of summer. Strawberries and basil pesto in January? They could be yours!