I love summer harvest time! We can and freeze a lot around here. We go to local farmer's markets or pick-your-own farms and stock up on fruits, berries, and veggies. Whatever we can't grow ourselves, we buy locally.
Freezing: Most fruits and berries freeze wonderfully! Wash them, slice them (for fruits), put them on cookie sheets, flash freeze them, bag them in freezer bags, and stick them in the freezer to have all year long! (Don't forget to mark the year you froze them, things can get lost in those nice chest freezers.)
Green beans and peas freeze wonderfully too. These have an added step of blanching them. That's cooking them just slightly (don't cook completely or you'll have mush) before flash freezing them.
Canning: Some day I will get a pressure cooker to can more items. For the moment we use a boiling method to can. We make our own jams, jellies, and sauces. I haven't had to buy any of those items since we started making our own. We also like to give them as gifts. (Remember my post about gifts?) You make a small investment in jars and lids and then you need pectin for stability (for jams and jellies). You can make jams and jellies from just about any fruit or berry you want. We also use our homegrown tomatoes and peppers to make salsa.
My Grandma first showed me how to can when I was little. I'd help her pick the berries from Grandpa's garden, wash, mash, strain, etc. It was wonderful! (Although I'm sure I was a messy little "helper.") She never minded, just cleaned up afterward. The best part was that she would talk me through the steps and explain the why of everything. I loved this special time with Grandma at the end of summer. I have several canning recipes from both my Grandma and my DH's Grandma which is a great treasure.
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