As you are harvesting your fruits and vegetables from your garden, or buying from fruit and vegetable stands in your neighborhood – it’s a good idea to cut and freeze some of the hardier types for eating later. Not all vegetables can be frozen – for example, the following vegetables typically become limp and soggy after thawing them and you should avoid freezing:

• celery
• cucumbers
• lettuce
• parsley
• radishes
• cabbage

For fruits and vegetables that hold up well to freezing, you can expect your frozen fruits to maintain a high quality flavor and consistency for up to 12 months in the freezer. Your vegetables will likely maintain quality for 12 to 18 months at zero degrees or lower, but it’s best to use them before your next summer garden harvest. There are no food safety concerns about freezing and eating foods longer than these time frames, but the taste and consistency of the items will deteriorate the longer they are frozen.

Freezer Containers

You will want to select a quality freezer container to maintain the freshness of the products you freeze. You need both moisture and vapor protection in order to keep the fruit or vegetables’ natural moisture in and the freezer’s air out. It’s good to wrap your products in saran wrap, heavyweight aluminum foil or plastic coated freezer paper tightly if what you are freezing is suitable for this type of wrap; otherwise you’ll want to use plastic bags or freezer containers.
When you’ve properly prepared your fruits and vegetables for freezing, be sure to keep your freezer’s temperature at 0°F or lower, since foods lose their quality faster when stored at higher temperatures.

If you need to purchase a stand-alone freezer, you should consult the Consumer Reports for the best energy efficient appliance.

Save Money by Freezing Your Summer Vegetables and Fruits for Winter Months was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

What Type of Plants Should You Grow?

The best food to grow in your garden is probably tomatoes. These are easily maintained, and produce a lot of fruit. Tomatoes are also somewhat expensive in the markets now, because of rising gas prices. Growing your own tomatoes means you can have them whenever you want, in a higher quantity, without paying anything extra. If you are looking to save money by growing fruits and vegetables, you should avoid strawberry plants. While homegrown strawberries are delicious, their plants tend to produce very little fruit in relation to the cost of the plant. You would be better off buying a full package of strawberries from the market.

Growing your own food, when done correctly, can be a great way to save at least a small amount of money during these hard times. Even if only ten dollars is saved, it’s ten dollars more than you would have had. It is also a great way to keep you and your family safe from dangerous pesticides that are sometimes used in supermarket fruits and vegetables. Don’t try to grow all of your vegetables in your garden, but if you select a few that you use a lot during the week and try growing them, you may save yourself a good amount of money. Grow wisely, and you’ll be amazed how much it pays off.

Grow In This Economy was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Do You Eat It?

The best products by far to buy in their organic form would have to be edible products. This is especially true for different types of produce, such as tomatoes and lettuce. Because these items are certified as organic, it usually means that only organic pesticides have been used on them. This means that they are probably safer to eat, and more worthy of the higher cost. You still need to be careful buying organic produce. Some of it may not actually be certified as organic, which means it may not be organic at all. Be sure to ask your grocer if it is certified organic.

Food Rip-offs

While produce is good to buy in organic, other foods may just be a rip-off.  Check your cans of organic soda for aspartame, especially if they are diet. Aspartame is a dangerous chemical, and just because something is organic, it doesn’t mean that it is safer in spite of the aspartame. Also, carbonation damages bones, so no amount of “organic” ingredients will make this safer for you. If you like the taste, continue buying it, but if you’re buying it specifically for the organic label, beware. Also, any soy product is more dangerous than good. Because soy damages the thyroid, eating high quantities of soy products can actually hurt you instead of helping you.

Beauty Products

Some organic mineral products can actually damage your skin if you are not careful. People with sensitive skin may have trouble with organic foundation, because it has such a high mineral content. Minerals are considered good, but in high quantities they can damage skin instead of repairing it. Always test these products on a small patch first, and beware if you have sensitive skin.

Organic products can be healthier for you, but beware of where you buy them from, and exactly what ingredients are in them. Soy is especially dangerous, so be careful. If you shop with caution, you can eat healthier foods, use healthier products, and still not break the bank.

Buying Organic – Is it Worth the Cost? was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

If you have been to the local garden center during the spring, you will find some great flowers. However, not all of them will be a great bargain. A hanging flower basket with one or two flower varieties may cost $15.00 and more for a medium size arrangement. A small tray of petunias or one tomato plant you end up spending $2.00 or more on one single plant and sometimes the arrangements aren’t even what you really want.

Try something new this year. Instead of waiting until after the frost clears, get a jump on spring and save money in the process. Go to the garden center and pick out the seeds you are interested in growing. Buy both annual (blooms once) and perennial (blooms every year) and choose the flowers and the colors you like. Pick up a few peat pots or use small plastic containers cut from milk cartons or bottles at home. Buy a decent sized bag of potting soil so you will not run out. You can never have too much soil and can store it easily. About 6 weeks before the warm weather begins to hang around, clear a space on the kitchen table and gather the family. In addition to your supplies, you also need some waterproof medical tape, a permanent marker, a jug of water, and plant food if you have some.

Follow the individual seed directions on each packet to determine planting depth and such and get to work. As you plant each seed packet, write the name of the flower on the tape and stick it to the cup or plant tray. You need waterproof tape because your new plants will need to stay very wet. Keep the seed packet intact and save in a sandwich bag for later reference. Once all the seeds have been planted and labeled, water appropriately and find a sunny location in your home. Keep soil moist at all times and soon enough you will have little seedlings sprouting up all over. As the temperatures during the day begin to warm, you need to acclimate the indoor plants to the outside world before planting time by leaving them outside for a little time each day.

While there is a wide variety of gardening supply choices, you don’t have to spend a ton of money to have a beautiful home grown garden. Discount and dollar stores sell nice-looking pots and garden decorations for low prices, especially seeds which are often 10 packets for a dollar. Whether a part of a garden or a flower pot arrangement, bright flowers or hearty vegetables add some cheer to your property and will also save you some summertime grocery money.

SPRING SAVINGS – The Do It Yourself Garden was created by and is property of American Consumer News.