Dehydration

Have you ever thought about dehydrating your own foods for storage or cooking?  I have to admit that, other than herbs and onions, I hadn't really.  However, the thought has been rolling around in my head for sometime down the road when my debt elimination snowball has snowballed me out of harm's way.  Today, I was on everydayfoodstorage and they have a nice small dehydrator for about $300.  I'm going to research some more about dehydration, storage time for home dehydrated foods, and more recipes, of course!  I'll post about the things I discover.  Maybe you'll want to save toward one, too. 

I can see it would save a lot of money to dehydrate fruits and vegetables in the summer, when they are either plentiful or self-grown.  This gives me this year to see how well I do with a garden in east Tennessee.  I've only grown one in the desert, and it's bound to be different.  For one thing, I won't be planting peas in late February here to get them off the vines before the sun bakes them.  (smile)  My backyard is a hill, too.  The man next door didn't terrace last year, but I may need to.  Things to think about before planting.  What I can dehydrate would determine what I plant, too.  Can you dehydrate zucchini?  I'm not sure!  I'll let you know.