Thankfully, there are lots of great ways that you can preserve your harvest without having to invest in a big water bath pot, pressure canner, and countless jars and lids. Here's a look at four great methods of preserving nature's goodness.

Freezing

At the top of the list is freezing as it's just so simple and effective. You may need to use electricity, but it's pretty safe and easy. Wrapping up your food tightly is essential for keeping pesky freezer burn at bay; many people use food savers to help keep the air out of the packaging.

Some vegetables are best when blanched prior to freezing, such as peas, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and asparagus. Fruit is also easy to freeze – simply clean it, pat dry, lay on a tray to freeze and then pop into freezer bags once solid.

It's a good idea to freeze your produce with its future use in mind. If you tend to serve it as a side, freeze it in family-sized portions, for example. If the only way you'll ever touch a pepper is in a fajita, why not freeze a mix of peppers and onions in homemade "fajita packets" that you can thaw as needed? It's also helpful to label everything with the contents and date.