LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — Since I have two freezers, one chest and one upright, in the basement, I have plenty of room to freeze the vegetables I raise in the garden.

I thought I would try something new this year. Instead of blanching the vegetables (ones that need blanching before freezing), I decided to try microwaving them.

I tried zucchini first. I washed them real well, sliced them with the peeling on, and placed them on a microwave plate covered with a paper towel to soak up any moisture. I set the microwave for a minute. After the zucchini was blanched, I put them in the freezer part of my side by side upstairs. After the zucchini was real cool, I put them in freezer bags. This process is so much faster than boiling the zucchini and having to get all of the water out.

A real trick is to blanch corn on the cob in the husks. Just put one ear in the microwave for 2 minutes, take it out, let it cool enough to be handled. While that ear is cooling, put another husk into the microwave. Keep on repeating these steps. When the first ear has cooled down, but still very warm, open the top of the ear carefully, gathering all the corn silks and pull down, removing all the husks. The corn silks will come off with the husks, thus eliminating the need to remove each one, which is a tedious process. Put the corn in the freezer until it gets cold and then bag it up. This process is so much faster than boiling the corn and having to get all of the water out, just like the zucchini.

I’m going to freeze my okra the same way as the zucchini. Since this is my first year of microwave freezing, I don’t know how long the vegetables will keep, but this is a very fast and simple way to freeze a garden.

I have already used some of the zucchini, corn, and okra in my homemade vegetable beef soup. Here is the recipe: In a large pot combine 14.5 ounces of tomatoes, 1 small can (5.5 ounces)  of tomato juice, 10 or 12 parboiled baby carrots cut up, 1 cup corn, 1/4 medium onion diced, 1/3 small cabbage shredded, 1 cup okra, 3/4 cup zucchini, 1 celery stalk thinly cut up, two medium potatoes cut up in small pieces, few dashes of poultry seasoning, 2 basil leaves, 1 level teaspoon of sugar, and salt to taste.

For the beef part of this recipe: Flour, salt and pepper a large chuck roast and then sear. Put it in a roasting pan with a can of beef broth, cover, and bake 90 minutes on each side at 325 degrees. Cut half of roast into small pieces and add to soup mixture when soup is almost done.



cmills@sentinel-echo.com