Have squash growing out the ears? Library workshops help gardeners learn how to preserve their harvests.

Smiling through the overwhelm of the huge late-season harvest, gardeners often deploy the genial phrase, “dealing with abundance.” Although mounds of produce is a gift like no other, it comes with a lot of chores.

Here to help you with planning those chores is Courage to Grow Farms with two Spokane Public Library workshops on how to preserve your harvest, held at Shadle Park Library.

On Saturday, join to learn how to make your fresh fruits and vegetables last long into the winter with classic preservation methods like making jams and fruit leathers.

“At this event, we’ll be focusing on fruits and vegetables that are abundant at the end of the season–things like apples, plums, berries, zucchini and tomatoes,” said Shaneese Dunigan, a regenerative farm consultant at Courage to Grow Farms and former Bellevue-based chef.

Dunigan’s expertise and passion for food is a crucial element of the farm’s outreach, helping the farm’s Community Supported Agriculture members and the local community expand their knowledge and enthusiasm for the full potential of produce.

“We want families to feel capable of making the most of what they grow, buy, or receive from neighbors,” Dunigan said.

On Oct. 11, the next workshop will teach attendees how to use a trending ingredient: tallow. Tallow is rendered animal fat and can be used in culinary applications, as well as household items like soap and candles.

Both workshops are from 1-2 p.m.

“I am inspired by the desire of seeing nothing go to waste, especially the goodness that gardeners have spent all summer laboring over,” said Juan Juan Moses, community educator at Spokane Public Library.

“We actually do a lot of preservation classes every year on different areas, sometimes a series on fermentation,” Moses added. “Next year we’ll do a whole series on hot chili sauces around the world. The purpose of all these is to eliminate waste, make good food for good health, and introduce fun and helpful ideas to our patrons.”

Although Courage to Grow Farms focuses on vegetables, melons and berries, they partner with several local farms to expand the diversity of available ingredients available, such as Bar Seven Beef, a regenerative cattle operation, Pandora Valley Farms, a pasture-raised pork farm, and Guerrero Farms, an organic fruit grower. With larger variety comes greater opportunities for creative produce uses.

“I love making fruit leather. It feels a little magical to turn ripe fruit into something that kids and adults are excited to eat. It’s simple, healthy, portable and a great way to use fruit that might not otherwise last another day. But my very favorite would probably be fermented salsa,” Dunigan said.

With the many methods of preservation and all the small things that can go wrong, it can take a bit of practice and guidance to get started.

“I was once overwhelmed by the sheer volume of food that comes in all at once. Early on I lost a lot of produce simply because I didn’t know what to do with it quickly enough. Over time, through trial, error, and a lot of late nights with canning jars, I learned that the abundance is a gift, not a burden, if you have the right tools and knowledge,” Dunigan said.

To learn more about these events, visit spokanelibrary.org. And if you’re eager to get started, here are a few popular preservation methods and recipes to try.

Sauerkraut

Before refrigeration became accessible, fermentation kept families fed year -round and especially through the cold season. Making it at home not only means you get a funkier and more delicious fermentation, but you can also experiment with your own blend of flavorings. It’s great to do as the weather cools down because it slows the fermentation process and makes it easier to monitor for your preferred level of funk.

For a base sauerkraut recipe, use around 3 tablespoons of salt for every 5 pounds of cabbage. Add salt, thinly sliced cabbage and your desired flavorings, such as carrot, caraway seed, garlic, or jalapeño, to a large bowl and mash with your hands to help release liquid. This extraction of liquid is what helps the sauerkraut achieve a crunchy texture.

Add your mixture to a jar and top it off with excess cabbage leaves, a plastic bag filled with water or a fermentation weight to ensure everything remains submerged. Cover the jar with a cloth or fermentation lid to ensure gas is able to escape during fermentation. Leave the jar out at room temperature and sample every few days to check the flavor. Once it reaches your desired level of ferment, seal the jar and move to the refrigerator.

Infused vinegars

As vinegar is already a fermented product, most of the hard work is done for you. It provides you with a base to which you can add other ingredients for infusing it with additional flavor or scent.

Late season fruit is a great candidate for vinegars due to its abundance of sugar. It can be a fun addition to vinegar for culinary uses, particularly in salad dressings. Wash your containers and fruits thoroughly, then add the fruit in a jar with a vinegar of your choice. Seal and keep in the fridge for two weeks.

You can also infuse the vinegar with garden herbs ahead of a coming frost for culinary uses, or even scented cleaning solutions. Lavender and rosemary are classic choices for cleaning solutions, and you can combine them with citrus for an extra kick. Pine also makes a great choice for vinegar cleaning solutions, which is a great hack for getting a second use from Christmas tree branches after the holidays. If sealing with a metal lid, keep the vinegar level lower than the lid to avoid any undesired reactions.

Crushing the fruits and herbs prior to infusion can boost flavor extraction. Once you’ve reached the desired level of infusion, strain through cheesecloth or fine mesh and store in the refrigerator.

Compound butter

When it comes to butter, it’s hard to go wrong. If you have any dill, garlic, lemon, parsley, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, you name it, that is starting to look a bit sad, chop it finely and combine with soft butter and salt, if desired.

Once combined, form into a log with parchment paper or plastic wrap and freeze. For single serving portions, melt the butter and pour into an ice tray or freezer mold. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer-safe container.

Feel free to get creative with adding custom combinations of seasonings like paprika, chili powder, cumin, cayenne or any of your favorite spice blends.