How to dehydrate your surplus produce: Kem Ormond’s vegetable garden

Too much produce? Kem Ormond has an answer for that.

Kem Ormond is a features writer for NZME community newspapers and The Country. She’s also a keen gardener. This week, she’s giving ideas on drying surplus produce from your garden.

OPINION

Come summer, when your garden is flourishing and you have been keeping your family and neighbours in fresh fruit and vegetables, but you still have a surplus - what do you do?

You need to start squirrelling it away for the winter when your vegetable garden is not quite so abundant.

Have you thought of purchasing a dehydrator and drying some of your surplus produce?

There’s almost no easier way to preserve food than dehydrating.

Used for thousands of years to help food last without refrigeration, drying is one of the fastest and least expensive ways to save your harvest.

Where to start

When my children were young, I used to dehydrate fruit when we were travelling in the car.

It was so good not to have that banana squashed into the back of the seat or that juicy plum on the floor.

There was far less wastage with dehydrated fruit.

Can you imagine giving your toddlers a fresh piece of watermelon in their car seat, no way, but giving them a dehydrated piece of watermelon means no mess.

Yes, you can dehydrate watermelon!

I have since tried my hand at drying herbs and vegetables, as well as fruit.

There are various ways to dry food.

There is air drying, sun drying, solar, oven and electric.

I use an electric food dehydrator, and these little powerhouses come equipped with fans and elements to dry your food quickly and efficiently, meaning virtually no spoilage and a tasty result.

Yes, you can dehydrate watermelon. Photo / Unsplash

It is such a clean way to preserve food.

If drying bananas, apples, feijoas, or pears, it pays to dip them in lemon juice beforehand to avoid oxidisation.

Most electric dehydrators also come with a temperature gauge and adjustment dial.

This helps to speed or slow drying time depending on what you’re processing.

If your food dehydrator does have a fan, consider using it in your garage or another area where noise won’t matter.

This advice also applies to using your food dehydrator in summer, and don’t want to heat your living space.

I do most of my drying overnight when in bed and asleep.

What can be dehydrated?

You'd be surprised what you can dehydrate.

You can dehydrate almost any fresh food, but some dehydrate better than others.

Here are some of my favourites.

Fruits (apples, bananas, apricots, peaches, pears, cherries, blueberries, plums) for eating as snacks or dried as purees for fruit leather.

Vegetables (carrots, mushrooms, onions, peas, beans, tomatoes) for adding to soups and stews.

Herbs (oregano, parsley, dill, fennel, mint, lemon balm,) for later use in teas, baking, and cooking.

Storing dried food

Most home-dehydrated food, when prepared and stored correctly, can last for months and up to a year but a lot depends on the storage method and environment.

Store your dried food in dry glass jars with clip or screw lids.

Drying your excess fruit and vegetables is a cost-saving exercise, not only handy to have over the winter months but also a much healthier snack than processed options.