Freezing greens?

[Caroline Sullivan]

I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, our winters seem long and I want to provide my torts with wild greens all year. I am planting some to have fresh but can you freeze leaves? Anyone had good results? Or would dehydrating them be a better option, to sprinkle on store greens? Thanks in advance!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, our winters seem long and I want to provide my torts with wild greens all year. I am planting some to have fresh but can you freeze leaves? Anyone had good results? Or would dehydrating them be a better option, to sprinkle on store greens? Thanks in advance!

It's either sprinkle or move to AZ !

 

[wellington]

I believe freezing will just turn them to a slimy mush. Drying would be better. I dried grass last summer along with leaves just let them air dry and then stored in the large leaf bags. Fed them whole, not crumbled, and they were well received.

 

[Caroline Sullivan]

Thank you!

 

[Meganolvt]

I also love in Michigan (lower peninsula) and I tried freezing greens (I tried dandelion greens and romain)- they did turn into mush when thawed. I haven't tried some of the less delicate ones (maybe kale or turnip greens), but might try.

 

[Caroline Sullivan]

I also love in Michigan (lower peninsula) and I tried freezing greens (I tried dandelion greens and romain)- they did turn into mush when thawed. I haven't tried some of the less delicate ones (maybe kale or turnip greens), but might try.

I have a dehydrator and do it for myself with fruits ( not for tortoise) but never did weeds so I might try it

 

[MPRC]

Grape leaves freeze and defrost well for me. I freeze them on a cookie sheet 2-3 leaves deep and then stack them into vacuum bags and they come out of the freezer dried out so I crumble them on top of grocery greens in the winter.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Grape leaves freeze and defrost well for me. I freeze them on a cookie sheet 2-3 leaves deep and then stack them into vacuum bags and they come out of the freezer dried out so I crumble them on top of grocery greens in the winter.

I freeze grass leaves too and also use paper bags and they dry out in the freezer also !

 

[Loohan]

I freeze greens when i have an excess, for personal consumption late in the year when nothing grows. It tastes just fine 6-7 months later.
THIS ONLY WORKS WITH VERY FRESH GREENS, i presume. For COOKING. I'm not sure how turtles would respond. They don't get mushy but they do become a limp mass when thawed.
No need to blanch. If you have a decent freezer, not overloaded, nothing new added recently, just throw it in to freeze so fast it deactivates the enzymes that cause deterioration.
What i do is take a ziplock freezer bag, write the date and contents. Kale, chard, nettles, lamb's quarters, etc. Also set down a large cutting board and knife.
Have ready a small stiff pillow a bit bigger than the bag; a bath towel folded over several times is ideal.
Run out to the garden and grab the greens. Dash back and throw them on the cutting board. Slice them up some, like you would want them to be to cook. Stuff into freezer bag. Set bag on counter, zipped almost shut. Leave an inch or 2 open. Keep greens back from the zipper. Press down on it with the pillow to eject all the air you can (unless you have a vacuum sealer). Seal. Immediately freeze.
I have about a dozen such bags stashed away.