Practical Homesteading

Month: August 2026

  • How to Blanch and Freeze Broccoli and Other Garden Vegetables

    How to Blanch and Freeze Broccoli and Other Garden Vegetables

    This post is the second in my garden freezing series, where I’m sharing three simple ways to preserve the harvest:

    In this post, I’m covering the next step — the simple process of blanching and freezing garden produce.

    Want all three freezer methods in one printable guide?

    Get it here for $5.

    Why I Freeze Broccoli

    I love harvesting vegetables from the garden and putting them up for later. There’s something satisfying about knowing summer’s work will carry us through the colder months. One of my favorite ways to preserve vegetables is by blanching and freezing them, and broccoli is one of the easiest places to start.

    I usually plant far more broccoli than our family can eat during the summer, which makes it a perfect candidate for the freezer. The same method also works well for other garden vegetables like green beans, cauliflower, and carrots, depending on the vegetable and how it holds up to blanching.

    How to Blanch Broccoli

    I start by harvesting broccoli heads when they are ready, then cut them into bite-size pieces with some stem attached and soak them in cold water. While the broccoli is soaking, I bring a large kettle of water to a boil.

    Select good heads of broccoli that have not flowered and are full

    Once the water is boiling, I add the broccoli and blanch it for 2.5 minutes. Then I remove it immediately and plunge it into icy water to stop the cooking process. This helps preserve the broccoli’s color, flavor, and texture for long-term storage by slowing the enzymes that can cause spoilage and off-flavors.

    Before blanching
    After blanching

    How to Freeze Broccoli

    After the broccoli has cooled completely, I spread it out on a cookie sheet and place it in the freezer overnight. This step keeps the pieces from freezing into one big clump, so I can easily grab just what I need later. Once frozen, I transfer the broccoli into quart- or gallon-size freezer bags and store it in the freezer until I’m ready to use it.

    I spread the broccoli onto a cookie sheet and place it in the freezer overnight so I can pull out as much as I need.
    Don’t forget to properly label the bags! Here, I kept it simple: food, and month/year of harvest.

    Frozen broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables to pull out in the middle of winter. I use it in dressed-up ramen, soups, stir-fries, and as a simple side dish with dinner. It never seems to last until the next harvest season. Even with my best efforts, we usually run out by February, right around the time I’m planting broccoli again from seed.

    Other Vegetables to Blanch and Freeze

    The same basic blanch-and-freeze method works well for other vegetables from the garden too. Green beans are a freezer favorite, and I also like to preserve cauliflower and carrots when we have extra. If you grow a garden, freezing vegetables this way is one of the easiest ways to avoid waste and enjoy your harvest later in the year.

    Blanching Guide for Garden Vegetables

    If you like having a quick reference, here’s a simple blanching guide for a few common garden vegetables, along with the kinds of dishes they work best in after freezing.

    VegetableBlanch TimeFreezer LifeBest For
    Broccoli2.5 minutes8–12 monthsRoasting, soups, stir-fries, side dishes
    Green beans3 minutes8–12 monthsSide dishes, casseroles, sautés
    Cauliflower3 minutes8–12 monthsRoasting, soups, mash, casseroles
    Carrots2–3 minutes10–12 monthsSoups, stews, roasting, glazing
    Brussels sprouts3–5 minutes8–12 monthsRoasting, skillet dishes, side dishes

    Blanch times can vary a little depending on the size and freshness of the vegetable, so use this as a starting point. When I freeze vegetables, I usually label the bag with the date so I can keep track of what needs to be used first.

    More Garden Freezer Ideas

    In my next post, I’ll cover how to freeze garden vegetables that you fully cook first, such as sweet corn, beets, and squash.

    Do you preserve vegetables from your garden? What are your favorites to freeze? Share your favorites in the comments.

    If this post was helpful, please like and share it with a friend who loves preserving garden produce.

    Read More Here: Zone 4B July Garden Tour: Our 2026 Garden Updates

  • How to Freeze Peppers, Tomatoes, Zucchini, and Berries for Later

    How to Freeze Peppers, Tomatoes, Zucchini, and Berries for Later

    This post is part of my garden freezing series, where I’m sharing three simple ways to preserve the harvest:

    In this post, I’m covering the easy stuff — the garden produce you can prep and freeze without blanching.

    Want all three freezer methods in one printable guide?

    Get the Garden Freezer Guide here for $5.

    I love putting up garden produce for later in the year, especially when the freezer starts to feel like a quiet little backup pantry. Some vegetables need to be blanched before freezing, but a few summer favorites are even easier: just prep them, freeze them, and stash them away for winter.

    Peppers

    Peppers are one of the easiest things to freeze. I wash them, remove the stems and seeds, and slice or chop them depending on how I plan to use them later. Sometimes I leave them whole for stuffed peppers. Then I spread the pieces on a tray or place them directly into freezer bags. Frozen peppers are great for soups, omelets, stir-fries, casseroles, and stuffed peppers.

    Tomatoes

    Tomatoes are another simple freezer food. I usually core them, then place them whole into a gallon freezer bag. This is especially helpful in August when I’m overwhelmed with produce and don’t have time to process everything right away. In winter, when I have more time, I take them out of the freezer. Once they thaw, the skins slip off easily, which makes them especially handy for sauces, soups, and stews.

    If I have a bumper crop, freezing tomatoes is one of the fastest ways to deal with them before they start to soften on the counter.

    Zucchini

    Zucchini is a little more flexible. I usually shred it before freezing, since that works well for muffins, breads, and casseroles. If I want to use it in soups or skillet dishes, I may slice it instead. Zucchini has a high water content, so it won’t always hold its texture perfectly after thawing, but it is still worth freezing when the garden is overflowing. I’ve found that it helps to prep the veggie the way I expect to use it later, because that makes it much more likely I’ll actually use it.

    Berries

    Berries are one of my favorite easy freezer foods. After washing and drying them well, I spread them on a tray and freeze them before bagging. This keeps them from clumping together so I can grab just what I need for smoothies, muffins, pancakes, or cobblers. Frozen berries are one of those things that make winter breakfasts feel a little brighter.

    If you like having a quick reference, here’s a simple guide for these easy freezer foods:

    FoodGeneral MethodHow Long It Keeps in the FreezerBest Use After Thawing
    PeppersWash, remove stems and seeds, slice or chop, then freeze on a tray or in bags8–12 monthsSoups, omelets, stir-fries, casseroles, stuffed peppers
    TomatoesCore and freeze whole in freezer bags6–12 monthsSauces, soups, stews
    ZucchiniShred or slice, then freeze in portions8–12 monthsMuffins, breads, casseroles, soups
    BerriesWash, dry well, tray-freeze, then bag8–12 monthsSmoothies, muffins, pancakes, cobblers

    The nice thing about these foods is that they don’t require a lot of extra steps. If you’re short on time, they’re a great way to preserve a harvest quickly and keep food from going to waste.

    What easy freezer foods do you like to put away from the garden? Share your favorites in the comments.

    If this post was helpful, please like and share it with a friend who loves preserving garden produce.

    Read More Here: Zone 4B Vegetable Garden Ideas: What We Planted in 2026

  • Our Simple, Budget‑Friendly Camping Setup for Family Road Trips

    Our Simple, Budget‑Friendly Camping Setup for Family Road Trips

    Camping was a big part of how we kept our 5‑day family road trip under $1,000, but we also wanted everyone to be comfortable enough to sleep. If you’re looking for a simple, budget‑friendly family camping gear list for road trips, here’s the camping setup and gear that worked for us—as well as what we’d change next time.

    This post is part of our 5‑Day Family Road Trip Series.
    We took our family of four (kids ages 2.5 and 6) on an 800‑mile road trip from southeastern Wisconsin to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, camping most nights and keeping our total cost under $1,000. If you’d like to see the whole picture, check out the other posts in this series:

    You’re currently reading: Our Simple Camping Setup for Family Road Trips (On a Budget).

    Our Tent and Sleeping Setup

    We used a 4‑person tent with a tarp underneath to protect the floor. Inside, our layering strategy looked like this:

    Here’s our setup!
    • A puzzle‑piece mat covering the floor (36 pieces, each 1′×1′). Our kids loved assembling and disassembling it each day; it became part of the bedtime routine.
    • Four foldable sleeping mats on top of the puzzle mat to cushion and insulate.
    • A base blanket, then our main comforter on top.

    Temperatures at night were around 55°F. The kids were comfortable temperature‑wise, and we stayed warm, though my husband and I did wake up a bit stiff in the morning. This setup worked well for summer nights; for colder trips, we’d add more insulation.

    We also had headlamps for when it got dark, plenty of bug spray, and sunscreen, which made bedtime routines and late‑night bathroom trips much easier.

    Cooking at Camp

    We kept dinners simple and hearty:

    • Rotisserie chicken and potato wedges one night (easy grocery‑store meal).
    • Chorizo, black beans, and rice tacos with all the fixings.
    • Potato hash with chorizo, onions, and peppers from our garden.
    • A dehydrated jambalaya mix “boosted” with hot dogs.
    Jambalaya, I prepared the rice mixture earlier and dehydrated it, then we sliced and fried the hot dogs before we rehydrated the rice in a Dutch oven.

    Pre‑Dehydrated Meals

    For two of those dinners—the black beans and rice tacos and the jambalaya—I did most of the work ahead of time. I cooked the dishes in my Instant Pot at home, then used my dehydrator to dry them. At camp, we simply rehydrated them in our Dutch oven. The food was delicious, and I’d recommend this approach to anyone looking for easier camping cooking with limited gear. It also helped reduce what we needed to keep cold in the cooler.

    Breakfasts included:

    • One failed experiment with overnight oats (we ate a few bites and tossed the rest).
    • Leftover tacos repurposed as breakfast tacos (a win).
    • Classic bacon and eggs on the other mornings.

    S’mores were a nightly ritual, and the kids were happily sticky by the end of each evening.

    We didn’t rely on elaborate gear—just basic cooking equipment suitable for a campfire or simple stove. We had a Dutch oven, a coffee percolator, tongs, a spoon and spatula, a camping set of metal plates, bowls, and cups, plus a cutting board and a knife.

    We stored our coolers on the back rack of the car, which freed up interior space and made food access easier at camp. For water, we hauled it in a repurposed 1‑gallon plastic jug (not from milk) and refilled as needed from campground spigots.

    The “Oh No” Box

    My husband prepared an “oh no” box to cover basic car troubles:

    • Essential tools like wrenches, pliers, a hammer, and screwdrivers.
    • Tow straps.
    • A basic code reader.

    To make it less tempting for theft, he tucked the toolbox inside an old cooler and strapped it shut in the car. We didn’t end up needing it, but knowing it was there made us more comfortable camping and driving in unfamiliar areas.

    Our “Oh No” box, which we hid in a cooler on the back rack of the car to deter potential marauders.

    Managing Limited Space

    We were tight on space in our 2018 Subaru Crosstrek. Every morning, my husband essentially played car Tetris to fit everything:

    • Camping gear
    • Food and cooking supplies
    • Clothes and personal items

    We used a back rack for coolers and realized that a roof “bubble” would have made packing easier; that’s on our list for future trips. If you’re in a small SUV or crossover, this kind of packing puzzle will probably feel familiar.

    What We’d Keep and What We’d Change

    We’d keep:

    • The puzzle mat, which doubled as a comfort upgrade and a kid activity.
    • Simple, filling meals that didn’t require fancy equipment, especially the pre‑dehydrated Instant Pot meals we could easily rehydrate at camp and that saved cooler space.
    • The “oh no” box for peace of mind.

    We might change:

    • Add a few more comfort touches for adult sleep—slightly thicker mats or compact pillows.
    • Invest in that roof carrier to ease packing and unloading.

    If you’re assembling your own camping setup for a family road trip, you don’t need to buy everything new or go ultra‑technical. Focus on warmth, cushioning, and simplicity—and on what will make your particular family feel safe and at ease.

    Want help pulling all the trip details together?

    My printable Family Road Trip Planner & Budget Pack includes a camping-friendly packing checklist, budget tracker, itinerary planner, and meal planner.

    Get it here for $5.

    What’s one piece of camping gear or one meal that’s become a must have for your family on the road? Share your favorites—or what you’d add to this setup—in the comments, and send this post to a friend planning a camping road trip.

    Read More Here: Mixtapes, Meltdowns, and Magic: A Family Road Trip to Remember