For the 9th Day of Christmas, instead of the ladies dancing, let's have them preserving all of that glorious produce they will be harvesting!
Like most gardeners, if yours is any kind of a farmer, they will have an overabundance of fruits and veggies come harvest time. What to do with all of that food?
Preserve it!
I only have two items for you today, but they can REALLY be nice as gifts, especially if YOU end up being on the receiving end of the final product!
These will be Amazon affiliate links, and I use both of these seemingly constantly.
#1- Garden Master Food Dehydrator- I LOVE making my own pepper flakes, fruit roll-ups, and fruit chip snacks. There are many models available, but this is the one I use. It is expandable. As needs grow, this four-tray unit can be expanded with accessory Add-A-Trays, up to 20 trays (20 square feet.) Drying pressure adjusts automatically to the number of trays. Dries in Hours, not Days.
#2- Bernardin Canning Starter Kit- Maybe your gardener is more into pickling or jam/jelly. I LOVE making homemade Pepper Jelly with my hot peppers. So, if they want to learn how to do some canning like Grandma used to make, get them a starter kit. This kit contains the essential tools needed for beginning canners or for those looking to upgrade their equipment. It includes a starter set of home canning recipes and a home canning "how-to" DVD (English/French).
Set of 12: water bath canner, canning rack, jar lifter, funnel, lid lifter, bubble remover/headspace gauge, 4 mason jars with lids, pectin, and canning DVD.
The gift of food is always useful, everybody has to eat. This gift reminds me of the story about teaching a man to fish. You can buy pepper flakes and jelly at the store, but teach them to do it themselves and they save LOTS of money!
As always I am available to answer any questions, please e-mail me at TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com or .net.
You can also follow me on FACEBOOK or check out my WEBSITE
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!
Happy Growing!
Darren