The most serious stocking-up period doesn't start until later in the summer, but now is definitely not too early to start planning and making preparations. Asparagus season won't last that much longer, if you want asparagus in your freezer later in the year. And we're only a few weeks away from strawberry season - which only lasts a few weeks itself. So: if you don't have a chest freezer yet, and you have room somewhere to cram one in, start looking into it!
Chest freezers come in an array of sizes, from as small as 5 cubic feet to 28 cubic feet or more. Ours is 10 cubic feet, and it's not huge. We have it stuck back in a corner of our mudroom. But it has kept us going all winter and now I have shifted to actually trying to use stuff up before I am ready to start putting new stuff in. Chest freezers are not all that expensive, either.
If you're going to invest in a freezer, I do strongly recommend a chest freezer over an upright freezer. Not only is it more efficient storage space, it's also a LOT more energy efficient. Every time you open the door of an upright, the cold air starts falling out. Whereas with a chest freezer, you open the top and the cold air mostly stays put. Because of this efficiency, and the fact that you are unlikely to be in an out of it all the time, chest freezers cost surprisingly little to run. I believe the quoted yearly cost to run ours was around $36.
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We just bought a freezer, an upright though - oops! I'll remember to open it strategically. The first farmer's market in our area starts this weekend so I'm hoping to stock up on some goodies to christen it :)
This post could not have come at a better time. Our little freezer just can't handle all the summer produce we throw at it -- it might just be time for a chest freezer. Thanks for the tips.
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