Here, as promised, is a post about putting food by. I froze 4 pints of collards from my garden, and made a pot of beans-and-greens soup for now.
Collards, washed, trimmed, and cut up.
Put a big pot of water on to boil.
Have ready a big bowl of cold water with some ice in it, and an array of clean freezer containers.
When the water is boiling, dump the greens into it, stir them around, and bring back to a boil. If you're doing more tender greens, like Swiss chard, heat just until they turn bright green. Then transfer the greens via a slotted spoon to the ice water.
Again via slotted spoon, pack the greens into the freezer containers.
Containers nicely labeled, ready to put into the freezer.
Beans-and-greens soup: Put a 4-6 ounce chunk of smoked turkey wing, 1 cup chopped onion or leek, and a couple of crushed garlic cloves into 2 quarts water (or half water, half chicken stock) and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Add 4 cups chopped collards, a medium carrot diced, and about the same amount of diced turnip, a bay leaf, 10 peppercorns, an allspice berry or two, and if you like, some thyme or sage. Simmer for another 30-45 minutes, until veggies are soft. Add one can drained and rinsed white beans, bring back to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. I like to top a bowl of soup with a spoonful of yogurt and have a piece of toasted, buttered whole wheat or pumpernickel bread with it. Note: I didn't add salt to this because the smoked turkey and canned beans have enough salt for me.
