You nailed the growing part. The counter's covered in more tomatoes, peppers, and blueberries than you know what to do with, and the clock is ticking.
Meagan Lloyd, a gardening educator in Charlotte, North Carolina, learned to preserve food from her own family, starting with a jar of strawberry jam she canned with her great-aunt around age 11. She now teaches people how to freeze, dehydrate, pickle, ferment, and can their way through a harvest, confidently and without fear.
In this episode, she breaks it down method by method, including the fact that canning makes up only about 20 percent of what preservation actually covers. With a background in cellular and molecular biology, she explains what's really happening inside the jar, which makes botulism a lot less intimidating.
If you've ever wondered why grocery store blueberries taste like nothing, this one's for you.
Key Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Introduction
[00:04:56] Preservation: the missing piece of gardening
[00:06:23] Megan's garden as a mental health anchor
[00:07:21] The overwhelming first harvest
[00:10:41] Preserving for peak flavor & nutrition
[00:12:20] A tradition of preservation
[00:18:57] How food spoils, & why microbes matter
[00:25:31] Freezing: the easiest method, done right
[00:29:15] Dehydrating herbs, fruits, & vegetables
[00:33:07] Pickling without canning
[00:39:55] Spotting spoiled food before you eat it
[00:48:24] Curing, smoking, & freeze drying
[00:54:12] Using every last bit of the harvest
[01:01:04] How preserving changed Megan's relationship with food waste
[01:06:15] Gifting preserved food as a love language
Memorable Quotes:
"When you harvest things right from your backyard, the food itself feels alive." [01:03:09] – Meagan Lloyd
"With preserving, it's so important to really educate yourself and really learn this science of how food spoils and how you can prevent that." [01:05:15] – Meagan Lloyd
And if Meagan's got you thinking about what your own hands could learn to do next, the Not Your Average Garden Club Summit takes that same energy further, free for 72 hours: https://www.ecoversity.org/garden-club-summit?utm_source=spotify_for_creators&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=nyagc_podcast&utm_content=ep007_preserves
Connect with Meagan Lloyd:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meggrowsplants/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Meagan-Lloyd-100072315193204/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@meggrowsplants
Connect with us:
Website: https://www.ecoversity.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecoversity
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EcoversityOrg/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ecoversityorg
Produced by Evolved Podcasting: www.evolvedpodcasting.com
