Learn to Preserve the Harvest
Late summer is a season of abundance. Fresh, local fruits and vegetables are in their prime. Make this delicious bounty last all year round with simple preserving techniques.
Preserving food can be intimidating. It is a science and requires the correct ingredients and recipe to ensure harmful bacteria don’t form on your food. That’s why it is important to reference trusted materials when you are new to these techniques. With reliable resources, you, too, can master preserving!
Try your hand at canning, drying, pickling, and more. These books will walk you through the basics of preserving and provide simple recipes to get you started.
Books & Resources on Preserving
In a pickle about preserving your harvest? Relish these recommended reads!
Ball Canning Back to Basics
Ball is a classic for a reason. This company has stood the test of time for their reliable products and recipes. Check out this book for an overview of canning basics for beginners. It is an excellent reference for canning safety.
Borrow Ball Canning Back to Basics
Batch: Over 200 Recipes, Tips & Techniques for a Well Preserved Kitchen
This book is a feast for the eyes and stomach. Batch takes a deep dive into seven preserving techniques—waterbath canning, pressure canning, dehydrating, fermenting, cellaring, salting & smoking, and infusing. For time-pressed cooks, true to its title, the book explains how to efficiently batch your recipes to make two preserves at once and also offers options for scaling your recipes from simple to sumptuous.
Borrow Batch by Joel MacCharles & Dana Harrison
Beginner's Guide to Pickling
Whether you're an absolute beginner or already have a few seasons of pickling experience, Beginner's Guide to Pickling is a go-to reference for everyone. Along with step-by-step instructions and troubleshooting tips, you'll find fresh, fermented, and fruit pickle recipes from around the world, including chutneys, salsas, relishes, kimchi, sauerkraut, and tsukemono.
Borrow Beginner's Guide to Pickling by Katherine Green
The Canning Kitchen: 101 Simple Small Batch Recipes
Start small! When we think of preserving, we often conjure images of long days toiling over a hot stove. Canning in small batches is a great way to try new flavour combinations and get comfortable with new skills. The Canning Kitchen offers some delicious recipes for just that!
Borrow The Canning Kitchen by Amy Bronee
Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning
Learn a variety of trusted food preservation methods from a collective of farmers and gardeners in rural France. These low-tech, back-to-basics recipes require minimal equipment and use traditional techniques such as drying, cold storage, lactic fermentation, oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, and alcohol. This book isn’t flashy, but it does the trick!
Borrow Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning by the Gardeners & Farmers of Terre Vivante
Seed to Table
For those enjoying a harvest from their BPL Seed Library garden, here's the book for you! Geared to smaller kitchen gardens and container gardens, Seed to Table offers an in-depth guide on preserving foods, as well as growing techniques, seed-starting methods, and sustainable gardening practices to make cultivating homegrown food easy and economical.
And if, you're collecting seeds for next year's crop, think about donating seeds to the library's collection. Register to join us on Sunday, September 15 at our Saving Seeds From Your Garden workshop!
Borrow Seed to Table by Luay Ghafari
Time to Get Cooking!
Whether you’re just starting out with preserving or looking to level up your skills, a great book can both educate and inspire. Flip through pages of beautiful photos and dream about all the delectable ways you can preserve the harvest. Then try out one or two new recipes!
Find more fantastic books on preserving of all types in our catalogue: Preserve the Harvest (Because You Can!) and Reads to Relish.
