Alaska Wilderness Mom

As I look out my office window at a wintery, snowy wonderland, it is hard to believe six weeks ago we were enjoying a garden produce harvest extravaganza. The ground is frozen and what remains of the weeds and kale are covered over in an eight inch blanket of crystalized water. Another Alaskan summer come and gone and another gardening season completed.

We had lots of cloudy, cool weather in the McGrath area this summer. Some crops did well such as broccoli, cabbages, lettuces and kale. Kale always does well no matter what. It is comparative to a cockroach in the bug world….it seems to thrive no matter what happens with the environmental conditions. Some would say kale tastes better than cockroach, but others would say no. I have not tried cockroach so I can’t say one way or the other. Loved by some and despised by others, the fact remains kale is one dark leafy green that’s super healthy and good for you whether you like it or not.

Our tomato crop failed with the cool temps-many days averaging in the 50’s. The carrot cropped looked like a failure by early July. They were unusually small and about a month behind in growth. Somehow though, come the end of August, they had lengthened and expanded in girth and we harvested a crop of about 70 lbs. We grow that many in one row that is about 30 feet long and we plant two columns in the one mounded row. This quantity of carrots gave a sweet harvest of carrot juice-my favorite way to enjoy carrots.

Here’s how we “put up” our carrot crop:

1. We refrigerate two gallons in a baggie which lasts us through the late fall.
2. We slice 3 gallons and freeze them in quart bags which lasts through the winter. We use these in stir fry’s and soups.
3. We usually pressure can a batch of sliced carrots in quart or pint jars. We didn’t do this this year because they get mushy and the kids don’t like the texture. Also, I had room in the freezer for option #2 above, and they taste way better used this way.
4. Juice them and freeze the juice in quart jars. This is my favorite way to enjoy our sweet and juicy carrots throughout the winter.

First, we pull the carrots, spray them down with the hose and cut the green tops off. Then we run them through a juicer, give the pulp to the chickens (kids like to play with the pulp too- the super fun and squishy texture makes a neat, new substance for most of them. Warning: do this outside or your kitchen will be a carrot pulp bomb nightmare.)

Next, we place gallon bags inside quart wide mouth jars. I’ve had quart jars crack on me in the freezer, even when allowing a lot of head space, so now my new technique is to put the bags inside the jars and pour the juice into them. I’ve never had one crack since, but even if they did, I’d have uncontaminated juice that is glass-shard free.

I like using quart jars for structure and storage in the freezer. We have several freezers including one upright freezer that stores the jars very nicely on the door. Any freezer safe container will work, just allow room for expansion while freezing or sugary ooze will get all over your freezer-making a big ol’ mess.

Now we are all set to enjoy yummy, sweet carrot juice during the long, dark winter!