If you haven’t tried it before, freezing fruits and vegetables is a wonderful way to enjoy summer and fall produce in the cold winter months. Freezing produce preserves freshness and nutrients. Follow these tips and your food will stay fresh up to six months in the freezer as well as keep its original color, texture and flavor.

• Rigid Plastic Containers: Works for any type of freezing, and ideal for produce packed in liquid. Covers should fit tightly or the seal should be reinforced with freezer tape.
• Flexible Bags or Wrappings: Especially convenient for dry packed produce, packaging includes plastic freezer bags, heavyweight aluminum foil, plastic wrap or waxed freezer paper

• Before freezing, most vegetables need to be blanched (plunged into boiling water for a couple of minutes, then plunged into ice water to stop the cooking)
• Many fruits require sugar or sugar syrup for freezing
• Fruits such as gooseberries, currants, cranberries, blueberries and rhubarb can be packed unsweetened
• Fruits that typically get brown when cut and exposed to air — such as peaches, apples and pears — will need an anti-browning agent like ascorbic acid added to them
• Pack prepared produce tightly in freezer containers or bags, leaving as little air as possible in the package. Seal and freeze.
• Label each package with the name of the fruit or vegetable, any added ingredients, the packaging date and the number of servings