Backyard Farming: Home Harvesting: Canning and Curing, Pickling and Preserving Vegetables, Fruits and Meats

by Kim Pezza

Make the most of your homestead’s produce with this beginner’s guide to preparing and preserving your hard-earned harvest—all year long!

Want to extend the benefits of your backyard bounty? Look no further! This beginner-friendly guide outlines essential preservation techniques and yummy recipes—all from expert farmers. Inside you’ll find information
 
• Various methods of preserving (canning, smoking, freezing, drying, pickling, etc.)
• Selecting the right preservation method for your crop
• Knowing when to preserve—and why
• Farmer-approved techniques and preserving set-ups, with illustrations
• And much more!
 
Whether you raise livestock or grow crops, there’s a method here that will allow you to enjoy the fruits of your labor year-round! No farmer wants to throw away their hard work, and Backyard Home Harvesting is the perfect guide to ensuring no part of your harvest is wasted.

Genres: Food, Gardening, Nonfiction, Cookbooks

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Loren · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of useless jabber only to find out it doesnt even cover pressure canning. How can this be a book on canning then?

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very insightful for those (like myself) rolling into preserving goods from scratch for themselves. A great overview of the possibilities one has to pick what hits your lifestyle. After reading this I have a better understanding of what I want to focus on learning first.

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an introduction to preserving. The history of different methods was interesting but the book has only a handful of recipes and as a result disappointing.

[Dara]

DNF. There is so much yapping in this book it feels like stalling. This could have been ten pages long

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am grateful to Hatherleigh Press in sending me Backyard Farming: Home Harvesting by Kim Pezza in exchange for a review on goodreads and on my blog, www.differentkindofliving.wordpress.com. Home Harvesting is one book in her Backyard Farming series. Others include Raising Chickens, Raising Goats, and Keeping Honey Bees, all of which I am eager to one day read as well. Pezza begins Home Harvesting by giving the history of food preservation. Fermentation and drying were some of the first methods used during ancient times. Now, in more recent times, people continue to preserve foods through those mentioned above and also others such as canning, freezing, curing, and smoking. Pezza then proceeds to help the reader determine which methods of preservation would be best for them to try based upon their resources, equipment, and what they want to preserve. She does into great detail for each method, including supplies needed, instructions of preserving, and how to and how long to store the preserved food afterwards. The last section of the book includes helpful recipes for various preservation methods.
I was surprised to learn about how certain preservation techniques came about. Who knew that Napoleon Bonaparte had an influence in the development of canning? I certainly did not! Apart from the history of certain preservation methods, I pretty much knew everything that was mentioned in Home Harvesting, having already preserved homegrown and store bought food via canning, freezing, fermenting, or dehydrating. Pezza herself said that this book is for beginners, and therefore is the perfect book for someone who is just getting started on a garden or someone who wants to preserve food in many ways (as opposed to just storing it in the freezer).

[Maryjo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I am very glad I read this book! It gave me so many ideas that I am excited to try out!! Unfortunately, I read this book in the middle of winter (January) and now I have to wait until spring to start my garden. However, some techniques are useful year-round such as freezing. I also want to look into getting a dehydrator. Fun! Fun! Fun! The only downside to this book is that it is a very basic introduction and for each method you will need to do further reading before beginning.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book through the First Reads giveaway program on Goodreads.

I entered this giveaway for my brother and his wife. They were hoping to do a bunch of canning and all that fun stuff. I hoped this book would help them. So far, he hasn't said anything overly negative about the book, so we will go with 3 stars.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book for free in a Goodreads giveaway.

It is a good beginner's primer on home harvesting, canning, preserving, etc. I think the use of color pictures would have helped, as I'm still not convinced that the black & white picture of "pumpkin puree" on page 15 isn't shaved ice. Overall a good primer, if a little boring.

[Tamara]

More of a "how-to". Almost no recipes.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed for all compost lovers.

[OvercommuniKate · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is very short and doesn't have enough information for even as short as it is; e.g. what temperature to dehydrate, what are pickling spices, etc.