Andy McIntosh: McIntosh Woods

By Kasey Jones

What he now does as a hobby, Andy McIntosh used to do to survive. McIntosh has been gardening for as long as he can remember, growing up on a small farm in South Unicoi County where he and his family would raise their own food and preserve as much as possible to eat through the winter. McIntosh says, “No matter what I’ve done as a career, I’ve always kept a garden and preserved food.”

After growing up on the family farm in Unicoi, McIntosh enlisted in the Army and served for three years during the early years of the Vietnam war. Upon his return, he got his teaching degree from ETSU and began teaching high school mathematics at Unicoi County High School.

After 10 years of teaching, McIntosh began a second career in industry with Nuclear Fuel Services, where he worked for 28 years. He retired approximately four years ago, settling into gardening, which he loves to do.

McIntosh has over an acre of land that he dedicates to gardening. He grows a little bit of everything that is typically found in a garden, as well as peach and apple trees.

“I’ve got some fruit trees,” he says, “I’ve got about six peach trees and some apple trees. I grow quite a few potatoes, a lot of tomatoes, a lot of beans and a mixture of everything else.”

Much of what McIntosh grows in his garden are the same foods that he and his family raised when he was growing up. McIntosh also uses the many of the same preservation methods that he and his family used on their farm.

“We always preserved a lot of foods when I was young,” McIntosh says. “We primarily canned foods, then freezers came along and we started freezing a lot of fresh fruit. So I continue to do that; I’ll can about anything!”

McIntosh also dries fruits and vegetables from his garden, though this is limited to a select few fruits and vegetables. The drying leaves the dried fruit or vegetable with more concentrated flavor than it would have were it eaten fresh. And dried produce must be reconstituted with water and then cooked.

“I dry some beans,” he says. “I have dried some fruit, but mostly beans. Not a lot of people do that anymore. They’re commonly called shuck beans or leather britches, they’re a green bean dried.”

While McIntosh enjoys much of his produce himself, he also sells a portion of it at the farmers market in Jonesborough, as well as at his farm, McIntosh Woods. McIntosh has been with the Jonesborough Farmers Market for about four years. While he and his family used to sell their produce at the farmers market in Asheville, N.C. during the late 1950s and early 1960s, this is the first farmers market that he has done during this stage of his life.

“This one [Jonesborough] is different in that everything here is locally grown,” he says. “The one in Asheville had produce from everywhere, more like the one in Johnson City, now. Produce might be coming out of Carolina, out of state somewhere, from Virginia, but I think if it’s a local market, it should be locally grown.”

McIntosh intends to garden as long as he can, enjoying both the food and the work.

“I just hope more people start gardening,” say McIntosh. “It’s great food.”

Freezing Vegetables (from EatingWell.com)

The best vegetables to freeze are fresh from the garden or farmers’ market and at their peak ripeness. Start by trimming and washing your vegetables under cold water. Remove any stems and wash under cold water. Peel if necessary. Cut to desired size, if necessary, according to their intended use (for example, carrots can be left whole or dice them for an easy soup addition). It is very important to blanch vegetables before freezing them. It stops the enzymes that keep vegetables ripening, helps get rid of dirt and bacteria, brightens color, slows vitamin and mineral loss, and wilts and softens the vegetables so they are easier to pack. To blanch vegetables, bring a large pot of water to a boil (use at least 1 gallon of water per pound of vegetables). Add the vegetables to the water. Once the water returns to a boil, cook the vegetables 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and transfer them immediately to a bowl of ice water until they are completely chilled. Drain the vegetables well. Tomatoes do not need to be blanched before freezing. Just wash, peel (if desired) and remove the core.  

Choosing Containers

Frozen food can develop rancid flavors as a result of contact with air. Prevent this by choosing containers that are moisture- and vapor-proof. Opt for glass jars, metal containers, freezer bags or other plastic containers that are designed for storing frozen foods. If using plastic bags, be sure to remove as much air as possible before sealing. A vacuum sealer is also useful for removing air and preserving quality.

Packing

There are two kinds of packing: solid-pack and loose-pack. To solid-pack produce, place prepared food in the desired container and freeze. Solid-packing conserves space and is useful when planning to use large batches of frozen vegetables or fruit at one time. To loose-pack, freeze one layer of fruit or vegetables on a cookie sheet. Once the produce is frozen, transfer it to the storage container. Loose-packing takes up more space, but it is easier to remove just the amount desired, such as a handful of peas or a cup of raspberries. Be sure to leave head space (open space at the top of the freezer container) when solid packing produce, as foods expand as they freeze. When loose-packing frozen foods, headspace is not necessary as the foods are already frozen. Moisture or food on the sealing edges of the container will prevent proper sealing, so wipe all edges clean before sealing. Label each container with the name and date packaged. Most frozen produce will keep for 8 to 12 months.