Most vegetables can be frozen for approximately a year and still retain their freshness, if they are properly handled. The vegetable must be blanched, which requires submersing the vegetable in a mesh bag, or with a wire basket, into rapidly boiling water for specific lengths of time, and then cooling the vegetable in ice water until chilled. Vegetables must then be packed and frozen in a single layer. Once they are thoroughly frozen, the packages may be stacked.