Learn how to make the most of your garden’s bounty and learn how to extend the life of your produce from an expert.

Join Danielle Carson, Washington State University Community Health Program Coordinator and Food Preservation Advisor, for the Green Thumb Education Series presentation, “Preserving the Harvest,” set for noon-1 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 510 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles.

The presentation is also held on Zoom; visit wsu.zoom.us/j/93629898830 (meeting ID 936 2989 8830, passcode 676224). Or, join by phone at 253-215-8782.

Preserving food grown at home, in season, has long been a practice of food security and community.

“As gardeners, farmers and homesteaders, the abundance we harvest in the summer can last us through the winter months if we have the skills, materials and space for preserving food,” Carson said.

She will give an overview of the history of food preservation, food safety considerations for the gardener-turned-food preserver and preservation methods, including fermentation, canning, dehydration, pickling and more.

She will discuss several methods and resources that we can use, from high-tech to low-tech (even no-tech!), to preserve the fruits of our labor.

Attendees will learn about food safety and a have set of guidelines for extending nearly any fresh food item’s life span from fall through to the next harvest season.

A hobby food preservationist and a former sauerkraut maker, Carson specializes in wild fermentation, but advises the community on canning, dehydration, pickling and other types of food preservation. She has been growing and preserving food for a decade, four seasons of which she has lived and farmed on the Olympic Peninsula.

She is currently experimenting with beer, wine and mead-making in addition to making obscenely large batches of pickles to share with her friends.

Carson takes questions about food preservation via email at danielle.carson@wsu.edu or via the WSU Clallam County Extension website: extension.wsu.edu/clallam/food-and-nutrition/food-preservation-and-safety.

Sponsored by the Washington State University Clallam County Master Gardeners, the Green Thumb Education Series is held on the second and fourth Thursday of each month through October; in November, December, and January, one lecture is offered.

Scheduled presentations are subject to change.

Visit the WSU Extension Clallam County website calendar (extension.wsu.edu/clallam/master-gardener-calendar) for the latest information on upcoming presentations.

For more information, call 360-565-2678.