Foods from your garden or local farmers market are the freshest, tastiest and most nutritious. But the access to those foods only last for a few weeks or months every year.

The key to extend summer’s bounty of local fresh foods throughout the year is food preservation. While there are several ways to preserve, drying is an outstanding method to maintain the flavor and nutrients.

Although an electric food dehydrator works fine, it does use electricity, makes constant noises and occupies countertop space. A solar food dryer, on the other hand, is quiet and uses free energy from the sun.

If you get two days of sunshine in a row, a solar dryer will work for you. It dries large batches of food in one or two days. It conserves energy and saves you money.

Dried foods are compact and easy to store. They are great to eat straight or to cook with.

You can build an efficient solar dryer easily. The book “The Solar Food Dryer” by Eben Fodor provides information on many designs and building plans for solar dehydrators. Or read his article here.

Locally grown food is picked ripe at its best in flavor and nutrition. It also requires less fuel to transport.

Whether you are a gardener or just someone who loves to buy products at the local farmer’s market, there are ways to extend the season that you can eat locally produced food.

One important step to achieve the goal is to preserve summer produce for winter.

1. Canning. It is good for many veggies and fruits, such as tomatoes, pickles, green beans, beets, etc. Canned veggies are excellent in stew, soup, spaghetti sauce and chili.

2. Fermaenting and Pickling. Cucumbers are great for pickling and cabbages can be made into sauerkraut. They add variety to your winter diet.

3. Freezing. Compared to canning, freezing is usually faster and preserves veggie texture better, although it does require a big enough freezer and power to keep food frozen. Many veggies are good freezing: tomatoes, green beans, squashes, carrots, berries, etc.

4. Dehydrating. Dried foods have a concentrated flavor. They also require less storage space. Tomatoes, fruits, beans, etc, are all good drying.

5. Storing in basement or root cellar. Many produces keep good for a long time if stored in a cool basement, such as potatoes, beets, winter squashes, onions, etc.

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