Put Up Your Cukes: $10 Self-Paced Food Preservation Course

Q-Tip

By Lynda Wheatley | May 9, 2020

Michigan’s garden centers have been allowed to reopen, and here in northwest lower Michigan — that’s Zone 5, for all you green gardeners out there — planting season starts … now. If you’re giving a food garden a go this year, consider going big (or just bigger) to help fight COVID-19. You’ll increase your intake of healthy veggies, bolster your immune system (studies show that playing in dirt relieves stress and supports your gut’s microbiome), and reduce your usual number of grocery store visits through summer and fall. And if you want to go really big, you can keep eating what you’ve reaped right on into winter, too. How? The good people at Michigan State University Extension will show you. They’re offering a self-paced food preservation course, available online for just $10, that’ll teach you the basics of preservation, with focuses on jams and jellies, pickling, techniques for preserving high- and low-acid foods, blanching and freezing, and dehydrating. Interested in joining this pioneering movement? Search “Online Food Preservation” at www.canr.msu.edu.