Fall Harvest Recipes

New ways to use herbs and garden produceΒ 

By Mariel Roehr, Manitoba Urban Agriculture Coordinator (Summer 2024)

Sept 5, 2024

In August, I had the chance to attend the Take Root Festival, held on a family’s property between Gull Lake and Greenwald, MB. The festival featured over 20 workshops on topics ranging from herbs and butchery to cob building, medicinal herbs, and cooking.

Out of the 20 workshops, I chose to attend the herb processing/cooking class and a fermenting workshop. It was inspiring to see all the ways you can incorporate garden ingredients into meals, desserts, and drinksβ€”especially in ways that preserve food without refrigeration and with minimal effort. The instructor of the herb workshop outlined various ways to incorporate fresh and dried herbs into salt, fat, acid, heat, and sugar. I loved this approach! Here are some of the examples she gave for each category:

Salt
This one was straightforwardβ€”just about any dried herb can be added to salt for immediate use! Our instructor made several flavoured salts for us to try, and my favourite was the sumac salt. Its sour and salty taste was unique, almost citrusy. I’m excited to try this with our summer savoury from St. Margaret’s soon!

Fat
Examples of fats to incorporate herbs into include oils, cheese, and buttermilk. I was surprised to learn that infusing oils with herbs doesn’t have to be complicatedβ€”simply add the herb to the oil and let it sit for a while. What a great way to enhance oils for everyday cooking!

Acid
Similarly, you can infuse vinegars or pair herbs with citrus and ferments. Our instructor made a delicious salad dressing that we all got to sample later in the class.

Heat
We mainly discussed using heat with teas by steeping herbs in hot water. We talked about the benefits and challenges of using fresh versus dried herbs in teas. This was especially interesting to me since Hillary and I had harvested and dried herbs to make tea earlier this summer, and we’ve been working on ways to share our tea with others.

Chocolate decorated with garden herbs

Sugar
One of the instructor’s favourite ways to incorporate herbs into sweets was by adding them to honey, but we also discussed making syrups and mixing dried herbs with sugars. All the examples were delicious and surprisingly simple to make!

By adding herbs to each ingredient, every meal becomes more layered, healthy, and diverse. I learned that this diversity supports a healthy microbiome and gut. We can achieve this by fully utilizing our gardens and wild plant life, and knowing how to use these resources after harvesting. This theme of gut health continued in the next workshop I attended.

When I decided to attend the fermenting workshop, I expected it to focus on what is considered the β€œusual” household ferments like sourdough and kombucha. However, the workshop was much broader than that. We discussed the fermenting processes common to all fermented foods, focusing on oxygen levels, heat, and time. We also covered how to store fermented goods, how to recognize when they’ve gone bad, and the importance of experimenting and documenting what you try. The highlight of the class was chopping and measuring ingredients to make our own fermented salsa and relish. This really opened my eyes to the wide world of fermented foods, far beyond what I had imagined. Making these foods together eased any nerves I had as a first-timer. I’ve included the recipes here and hope you’ll give them a tryβ€”they’re beginner-friendly and delicious.

Herbs from Just Growing Gardens

Sassy Salsa

IngredientsΒ 

To make 1 pint/500ml

  • 350 grams tomatoes
  • 100 grams onions
  • 100 grams peppers
  • Cilantro (optional)
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 25 grams of salt

Directions

  • Chop and seed tomatoes
  • Chop peppers and onionsΒ 
  • Mince Garlic and CilantroΒ 
  • Combine in a bowl with salt and lime juice
  • Fill and wipe jar and secure the lid, label the jar with the name, ingredients and date.
  • Leave on the counter for 2-3 days, put in fridge.

Leave for approx 6 months, use within a month of opening.Β 

Dilly Relish

Ingredients

To make 1 pint/500ml

  • 500 grams fresh cucumbers
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 tbsp fresh dill
  • 1 tsp dried dill seed
  • 25 grams salt
  • Optional pinch of powdered mustard or whole mustard seed

Directions

  • Dice Cucumbers
  • Mince Garlic
  • Combine in a bowl with salt and flairs. Stir to combine and let sit for 5 min
  • Fill and wipe jar and secure the lid, label the jar with the name, ingredients and date.
  • Leave on the counter for 2-3 days, put in fridge.

Leave for approx 6 months, use within a month of opening.Β 

Photos: Zoe Matties and Mariel Roehr

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