July and August can feel like a lot.

Markets and gardens are teeming with vegetables. Your farm share seems bigger than before. Maybe you're traveling or your kids are away at camp. Sometimes you look at your fridge and all you can think is: What am I going to do with all this food?

We hear you. We've felt it too. These are the months we want to let you know that your freezer is your friend. That local produce keeps a really long time in the refrigerator (just make sure it's dry and that your fridge temperature is properly set). And that quick pickling is an easy way to extend the life of your veggies. (You can quick pickle cucumbers, yes, but also carrots, green beans, onions, and cabbage, too!)

A few easy tips to eating more vegetables:

• Prep them when you have time. Keep a container of carrot sticks and cucumber slices ready to eat in the fridge at all times. When you want to reach for chips, eat some veggie sticks instead!
• If you can't stand the thought of one more squash, tomato, whatever, prep it and freeze it. You can core a tomato and freeze it whole in no time at all. It'll be ready for you in the winter when you want to make chili!
• Or make a bigger batch of a soup or sauce or casserole and freeze that for later.  Putting up food doesn't have to be an all-day affair. Roast some tomatoes and onions, then puree them into a sauce that you can add to sandwiches or stir into pasta. Or turn your herbs into pesto and freeze that. No hot water bath required!
• Sometimes an attitude adjustment is what's needed more than anything. Yes, there are a lot of vegetables coming at you right now. Think of it like a blockbuster sale at the grocery store. It won't last forever. This is when to stock up, to eat up -- and maybe even invite the neighbors over for dinner.