Luke Judge

It is almost time to say so long to summer and its overabundance of tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and berries. Soon, it seems, these homegrown treasures will be only a savory memory.

However, they do not have to be. You can dehydrate the summer’s surplus and fill the cupboard with your garden’s bounty for enjoyment from autumn right through winter.

Dehydrating offers a host of benefits. It is considerably cheaper than buying dried fruits and vegetables in the store. In addition, dehydrated produce, which lasts for months, takes less storage space than canned or frozen food. Best of all, it keeps most of its flavor and nutritional value.

The finished product is only as good as the original food, so start with the freshest produce available. Wash it thoroughly and cut away bruised or damaged portions. For quicker dehydration, peel the produce. Unpeeled, it can take up to twice as long to dry. Cut the produce into thin slices, generally about 1/8 to 1/4 inches thick.

The next step depends on the type of produce you are drying. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, and peaches, need to be treated to prevent discoloration. After slicing, immediately soak in a bowl of lemon, pineapple, or orange juice for five minutes. Or, soak them in a mixture of one-quart water and one-teaspoon ascorbic acid, an antioxidant used in canning.

Fruits with a natural protective wax coating, such as grapes, blueberries, and cranberries, should

be dipped into boiling water for a couple of minutes before dehydrating to crack their coating and facilitate evaporation.

Most vegetables need to be steamed or blanched for a short time before drying to seal in their flavor and nutrients.

Spread slices evenly in a single layer on the tray, leaving a little space between them to promote air circulation. Fruits are typically dried at 115 degrees F and vegetables at 120 degrees F.

Drying times depend on the type of produce, thickness of the slices, and moisture content of the food, air temperature, and humidity level. Experiment and note the drying times that work best for you.

Once your produce is completely dehydrated, package it immediately so it does not reabsorb moisture. Store the food in airtight, moisture proof containers such as glass jars with tight-fitting lids or freezer bags (regular plastic storage bags do not provide adequate protection). It is best to package food in serving-size quantities because it loses freshness each time the package is opened.

To track the freshness of your dried produce, it is a good idea to label storage containers with the name of the food and the date it was dried. Then place the containers in a cool, dry, dark place. If moisture beads appear inside the containers, return the food to the dehydrator immediately or the produce will spoil. If stored properly, fruits will keep for up to a year and vegetables about six months, extending your harvest through the long, cold days of winter.

Red Bluff Garden Club is affiliated with Cascade District Garden Clubs; California Garden Clubs, Inc. Pacific Region Garden Clubs; and National Garden Clubs.

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Probably the most important aspect of a kitchen remodel is choosing the floor plan. When deciding on how to lay out your kitchen, you should really take the time to think about how your family uses the space and pick a plan that will be most functional for you.

The floor plan in a kitchen consists mainly of the cabinets and island and perhaps a separate eat in area. There’s basically 5 different “shapes” in which you can configure your cabinets.

Cabinets Along One Wall

In the simplest of kitchen you might find cabinets along one wall only. This could be practical if you have a long narrow kitchen. This is the least functional type of kitchen. If you have to have this type of plan, make sure the sink is in the center with the oven and fridge close by so the cook can easily prepare the food. Also make sure you have enough counter space between appliances – a common mistake is to put only 8″ to a foot between appliances and there is not much you can do with that little space. This type of layout is not conducive to family gatherings in the kitchen unless you have a larger area where you can put a table and chairs – even then, your back will be to everyone as you are preparing the food.

This style of kitchen is often seen in apartments and smaller homes and consists of a somewhat narrow kitchen with cabinets along 2 opposing walls. While this plan is efficient on space it can be difficult to work in as the traffic pattern is right in the middle of where you are trying to prepare food. The configuration makes it a little easier to prepare food in than the “once wall” configuration, but it does not leave any room for family or friends to join in the fun. The typical galley kitchen is narrow with walls on either side. In this style kitchen, it is best to place the sink and stove on one side of the galley and the fridge on the other.

An L shaped cabinet arrangement can make good use of space and be a lot easier to work in. Try to locate the appliances close to the middle of the L, but leave plenty of counter space in between each appliance so the cook has space to work on. If one end of the L is open to another room, you can add bar stools and make it a counter – this type of kitchen is great for having family and friends gather while you are preparing the food.

A U shaped kitchen requires plenty of space – 8 feet by 8 feet at the bare minimum. This type of layout maximizes storage but can be difficult for more than one cook. Putting a table at the opening to the U can add seating for family to gather. Another option is to open up one side of the U and put bar stools on the other side of the counter. In a U shaped kitchen, the major appliances (sink, fridge, stove) should each be placed each on one leg of the U.

Islands are great additions to any style kitchen as long as you have the room. An island can be incorporated into any of the kitchen floor plans above and can add to the ease of cooking in kitchens that are rather large as you can locate a sink or stove on the island and have it near the other appliances for ease of use in cooking and preparing food. In order to incorporate an island into our kitchen you need to have 42″ of aisle space on all sides. If your kitchen is too small to allow for this, try a portable island that you can move in and out as needed. Islands are great places to have an extra appliance or add an eating counter.

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When it comes to food safety, there are many different aspects that need to be considered in order to provide a safe and healthy environment for food service of any kind. Understanding the EDI food safety principles is essential to the success of your business as much as anything else. EDI refers to the estimated daily intake, which is used in relation to food packaging. Plastic, namely, is the focus of this concern, with the ideal EDI for consumers being below 1.5 micrograms per person, per day, which is a safe level at which plastics can be used and recycled without over contamination or exposing consumers to chemicals that they shouldn’t be exposed to.

The FDA regulates the EDI food safety principles and is responsible for monitoring the manufacturing of all food containers and recycled food storage and packaging materials that could be affected by this rule. The process is constantly growing and changing to evolve into better, healthier uses of recycled plastic in food service to keep contaminants and other problems as low or nonexistent as possible. For example, the idea has been proposed to find a way to separate non-food plastics and recycle them separately from food plastics that are recycled so that household chemicals, soaps, motor oil, and other non-food and potentially dangerous chemicals aren’t present in recycled plastics that are used for food storage, packaging and service.

This, however, would call for a complete redesign of the recycling process with the added step of separation of plastic types added in. While it might seem like a complicated change and one that is very time consuming, it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. The FDA provides guidelines for what is acceptable for EDI food safety, and is doing their best to ensure that numbers stay below that level throughout the recycling process. It helps that the items being recycled are heated to melting points, killing a great majority of any chemicals and/or bacteria in the plastic, and also that they are sanitized and cleaned thoroughly.

Nonetheless, the ideal situation to enhance EDI food safety in the future would be a complete redesign of the system as it stands, so that non-food plastics and food plastics are kept separated throughout the process. This would lower the numbers substantially and make everyone enjoy recycled plastic a little bit more, knowing that it is much safer than it might have been before.

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