Preserving Your Summer Harvest: Canning, Freezing, Drying, and Dyeing

By late August, an ecological garden is a bit like a generous but slightly overbearing friend — showing up at your door with baskets of zucchini, armloads of tomatoes, and just one more handful of herbs. It’s the best kind of abundance, but if you don’t make a plan, you might find yourself in September with wilting cucumbers on the counter, squash rolling under the couch, and a nagging sense that you’ve wasted something precious.

In the sustainable garden, preservation is part of the cycle. It’s the bridge between the high tide of summer and the leaner months ahead. Preserving your harvest doesn’t just mean filling jars and freezers; it’s about honoring the work of your garden, reducing waste, and making your winter meals a love letter to summer.

Today, I’m sharing my favorite preservation methods — the tried-and-true pantry staples, the modern freezer hacks, and a few unexpected plant uses that might surprise you.

1. Canning: The Grandmother of Preservation

Canning is the most classic method of saving the harvest — and for good reason. A single afternoon of canning tomatoes can set you up for months of easy pasta sauces, soups, and stews. But canning can feel intimidating if you’ve never done it before.

Two main types of canning:

• Water bath canning (best for high-acid foods like tomatoes, jams, pickles, and fruit preserves). This is where I would start if I were a beginner. I only do water bath canning personally because it is simple!

• Pressure canning (needed for low-acid foods like beans, meats, broth, and some vegetables). Maybe someday I’ll get to pressure canning…winter canned soups do sound lovely

  
  

If you’re a beginner, start simple recipes: dill pickles, tomato sauce, or jam. You’ll need glass mason jars, lids and rings, a canner or large pot, and a reliable recipe (please, for safety, use a tested source like the Ball Blue Book or the USDA guide). I’m also a fan of having a funnel, a jar grabber, and a rack for inside the stockpot.

Sustainability tip: Reuse the mason jars you have around the house and their rings – but make sure you do buy the lids new. They lose their ability to seal after canning once. You can also source jarsa and rings from your local Buy Nothing groups, Facebook Marketplace, Offerup, and your local thrift stores. If you like, you can also purchase reusable canning lids like Tattler.

2. Drying: Shrinking Summer for the Shelf

Drying is magical because it turns a bulky harvest into a jar of concentrated flavor. A basket of oregano becomes a handful of leaves that can season an entire winter’s worth of soups. A pint of cherry tomatoes becomes a handful of chewy, sweet sun-dried treats.

Easy things to dry:

• Herbs: Hang them in bundles in a dry, well-ventilated place or use a dehydrator. Store them whole to preserve flavor, then crumble as needed. Making herbal tea blends is one of my favorite things to do in winter, using all of the herbs I dried in summer!

• Tomatoes: Slice and dry until leathery. Store in jars or oil.

• Fruit: Apples, pears, plums, and berries make great snacks.

  
  

If you don’t have a dehydrator, your oven set to its lowest temperature (door cracked open) works, or you can air-dry in the right climate.

Sustainability tip: Drying uses little to no energy if you air-dry or sun-dry. You can also power a dehydrator with a small solar setup — perfect for off-grid garden dreams.

3. Freezing: The Fast Lane to Preservation

Freezing is the easiest preservation method — no boiling water or timing charts required. You just need space in your freezer and a little prep.

Best things to freeze:

• Berries: Lay on a baking sheet to freeze individually, then bag.

• Blanched vegetables: Green beans, broccoli, spinach — blanching preserves color and texture.

• Pesto: Freeze in ice cube trays for single-serving bursts of flavor.

• Tomato sauce: Make a big batch, portion into containers, freeze.

  
  

Sustainability tip: Avoid disposable plastic bags. Use reusable silicone bags or glass containers (just leave headspace for expansion). Only the wide mouth mason jars are freezer safe!

4. Cold Storage: Old-School Winter Pantries

Not every crop needs to be dried, canned, or frozen. Some are naturally long keepers if stored right.

Best candidates for cold storage:

• Squash: Keep at 50–55°F in a cool, dry place.

• Potatoes: Dark, 40–50°F, high humidity. Avoid storing near onions.

• Apples: Crisp and tart varieties store longest. Keep cool and away from strong-smelling foods.

If you don’t have a root cellar, an unheated basement, garage, or even a buried cooler can work.

Sustainability tip: This method uses zero ongoing energy and is one of the most ecological preservation methods you can use.

5. Fermentation: Flavor + Probiotics

Fermenting is the preservation method that keeps on giving — you get tangy, complex flavors and beneficial bacteria. Think sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled radishes, and fermented hot sauces.

Why it’s ecological: Fermentation uses salt, time, and a jar — no electricity, no fancy gear. Plus, it connects you to an ancient tradition that predates refrigeration.

6. Beyond the Plate: Creative Uses for Garden Plants

Your summer harvest isn’t just food. Many plants can live a second life beyond the kitchen.

Natural dyes: Marigold petals create golden yellows. Onion skins give a warm amber. St. John’s Wort gives you not only light green, but can also produce mauvey shades as well! Many herbs, like lavender, impart natural color on fabric as well. So many things in the garden are great candidates for dyeing fabric, yarn, or paper.

Textiles and crafts: Corn husks become doll-making material. Dried gourds transform into bowls or birdhouses. Pressed flowers make art, cards, or bookmarks. Willow, blackberry canes, and iris leaves can all be fodder for basket weaving!

Tinctures and skincare: You can take fresh herbs and turn them into a shelf-stable tincture, or dry some plant material to make a therapeutic oil, such as calendula oil, to use during the dry, cold winter months when your skin is chapped and irritated.

Herbal smoke sticks or sachets: Lavender, rosemary, sage, and mint can be tied into fragrant bundles for burning or for tucking into drawers to keep moths away.

Sustainability tip: These uses reduce waste, turn “scraps” into beauty, and can even become thoughtful handmade gifts.

7. The Preservation Mindset

The most sustainable preservation isn’t just about the how — it’s about the when. Harvest at peak ripeness, process quickly, and store in ways that fit your lifestyle. A freezer full of soup you never eat isn’t sustainable. A few jars of pickles you crave all winter? That’s the good stuff. I know it can be overwhelming (yes, the 20 cucumbers and 30 tomatoes sitting on my kitchen table are taunting my thoughts, begging to be canned), but take it one day at a time! And if you can't get to it ALL, share the harvest and encourage others to preserve their garden abundance, too!

And remember: ecological gardening isn’t just about growing food; it’s about closing loops. That means composting scraps, saving seeds, and finding uses for every last edible (or beautiful) bit.

Final Thoughts

Preserving your summer harvest is like bottling up a little piece of August to open in February. It’s a joyful act of self-reliance, a commitment to sustainability, and a delicious insurance policy against winter’s grey monotony. Whether you’re stacking jars in a pantry, braiding onions for storage, or dyeing fabric with rose leaves, you’re participating in an ancient rhythm — the garden feeding you, and you honoring the garden in return.

So next time your zucchini plants overproduce or your herb bed turns into a small jungle, don’t panic. Get creative, get preserving, and let the summer abundance carry you through the seasons. When the world feels like too much, nature is always there to support you.

By Gina Southern-Monson

Founder of Vessel Kitchen Gardens