Preserving raspberries in 3 ways

Berries in the desert are hard to come by. There are a few berry farms here that have boysenberries and blackberries, but their crops are unpredictable; there are a few spots for wild berries high up in the mountains but you have to know just where they are. So when we went to Costco to buy some bulk goods and I saw they had organic raspberries I got three half-flats. The little homesteader in me wanted to buy six or more, but that would have been more than I could have dealt with before they started to go bad.

I processed these berries in three ways: jam, freezing, and drying. For the raspberry jam I used the low sugar recipe from the Pomona's Universal Pectin box. We don't like very sweet jams so making this batch with 1/2 cup of honey was perfect. As one flat only made 5 half pints, I may have to go back and get more if they still have them; or maybe I'll wait to see if I can find some local blackberries....or peach season....

Freezing the raspberries was easy: I just washed them, removed leaves and stems, and then placed them on a large baking sheet lined with wax paper. I then let them air dry a bit under a fan so as not crush any berries by drying them with a towel. After that I placed them in the freezer and allowed to freeze for 24 hours; finally, I placed them into a freezer-safe bag and marked the date. They should be good for 6 months to a year.

Dehydrating is also very easy. After washing and removing foliage I placed them on my dehydrator trays in single layers and set the machine recommended temperature. It took about 10 hours to dry. You can also use a stove by setting it on its lowest setting, and then putting the berries on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and allowing then to dry out for a similar amount of time.

The months for produce bounty are coming and I can't wait to get preserving!