Food preservation techniques are ways to stop or greatly slow down spoilage while keeping flavor, texture and nutritional value as much as possible. If you don't preserve your food somehow, it will start to spoil soon after it is harvested. The most common ways to preserve food that will keep food safe are canning, freezing and drying.

Other methods that both help preserve food (and also add flavor) include pickling, salting, preserving in syrup or alcohol, and sugar crystalization.

Canning

When thinking about preserving food, most people think of canning. Canning is done by preparing foods, sealing them in sterile cans or jars, and boiling the containers to kill or weaken any remaining bacteria and create a vacuum seal. The two main types of canners are boiling water canners and pressure canners. Each method is best used with particular foods. Pickling and the creation of jams, preserves, and jellies also use canning techniques.

Drying

One of the oldest and most reliable methods for preserving food is drying. Since ancient times people have dried foods to store them for later use. Drying reduces water activity and delays or prevents bacterial growth. Many fruits can be dried; drying is often used to preserve apples, bananas, mangos, papaya, pears, and others. Currants, raisins and sultanas are all types of dried grapes, for example. Drying is also the usual method for preserving cereal grains. Tomatoes are also commonly dried.

Freezing

Another very old method to preserve food is freezing. Many Arctic communities preserved food in holes dug into the ice. Scandinavians preserved fish (especially herrings) this way. Freezing provides long-term storage for strategic food stocks held in case of national emergency in many countries. Some foods, including many raw vegetables, do not freeze well.

This newsletter is not big enough to provide specific information on preserving specific foods - we can only provide an overview of possible techniques. However, there is a lot of online information on the subject. We would recommend checking out the National Center for Home Food Preservation which has specific information on canning (click here), drying (click here) and freezing (click here), as well as other methods such as pickling, fermenting and making jams and jellies (see the menu to the left at any of the previous links).

Q: What is West Nile virus?
A. West Nile Virus is a flavivirus commonly found in Africa, West Asia, and the Middle East. It is closely related to the St. Louis encephalitis virus, which is also found in the United States. The virus can infect humans, birds, mosquitoes, horses and some other mammals.

Q. What are West Nile encephalitis, West Nile meningitis and “neuroinvasive disease” and West Nile fever?
A. The most severe type of disease due to a person's being infected with West Nile virus is sometimes called “neuroinvasive disease” because it affects a person’s nervous system. Specific types of neuroinvasive disease include: West Nile encephalitis, West Nile meningitis or West Nile meningoencephalitis. Encephalitis refers to an inflammation of the brain, meningitis is an inflammation of the membrane around the brain and the spinal cord, and meningoencephalitis refers to inflammation of the brain and the membrane surrounding it. West Nile Fever is another type of illness that can occur in people who become infected with the virus. It is characterized by fever, headache, tiredness, aches and sometimes rash. Although the illness can be as short as a few days, even healthy people have been sick for several weeks.

For more information and some excellent articles on mosquitoes and the control of mosquitoes, please visit our website at
www.almadenvalleynursery.com and click Garden Advice and Articles.

AND THE DAY WE OPENED WAS . . . April 12th, 1975.

We had no one who guessed the exact date. But congratulations go to Margie Heldt, who receives a $100 Gift Certificate for her April 15th entry, which came closest to selecting the day we opened.

Chrysanthemums are a mainstay of the fall garden. Pots of these colorful perennials really brighten up a porch, patio, or entryway.

They can also be used to decorate indoors — the fall colors are beautiful for holiday table settings. Mums come in a variety of types including daisy (single layer of petals), button mums (tiny spheres made up of dozens of petals), and spider mums (long arching petals with tips curved upwards). Yellow, rust, gold, bronze, and maroon, as well as pink, white, red, and lavender, are just some of the many exciting fall chrysanthemum colors.

SJ (Sarah Jane) Phillips

SJ was born and raised in South Africa, where she quickly developed a love of nature and a sense of adventure. On a dare from a friend, she once climbed into the hippo pen at the Pretoria Zoo and spanked a hippo's backside.

She loves to travel and once was picked up by a crazy watermelon vendor while hitchhiking in Turkey. She has had her share of mishaps, with her car breaking down in the middle of a wild game preserve in South Africa and being stung by a scorpion.

She combined her talent for theft with her passion for wildlife by stealing turtles from poachers and releasing them back into to ocean with friends. Her favorite camping moment was eating fresh crab with a pair of pliers on the coast of Mozambique.

SJ enjoys the outdoors and, when not traveling to exotic places, enjoys hiking, tasting different foods, driving on back roads and getting lost with her hubby Graham.