I was gifted 4 bags of organic windfalls lat night, I cleaned up many, cut out much and have now got 20 small pots of frozen puree, perfect for winter. I preserve my own grown apples by storing in my wooden apple store, not yet this year as it is year one, will start next year. Prep will start this winter by using grease bands to try and prevent codling moth, every stake and trunk and keeping any vegetation cut back so it does not touch the trees. Thinning also helps a lot especially apples that are touching, earwigs do a lot of damage and hide in these dark spaces. All the apples that I put into my wooden store are hand plucked and get picked over and handled very carefully. They can and do last to feb/march. The many slatted drawers were full with just 3 M26 trees
I could have preserved more but ran out of enthusiasm, I would have bottled some puree but instead, the hotbins are well fed. He will be bringing plums soon, I will be bottling some. One of my best bottling projects in the past, was bottled plum puree, it was gorgeous over winter
I used to do rumtopf to preserve berries but gave that large pot away. It needs lots of strong alcohol
I am going to rescue more outdoor tomatoes today, this is blight weather, humid and warm. The ones I have wrapped indoors are ripening nicely and I am feasting on lush red tomatoes. Latest method was a large egg box filled with egg sized tomatoes, lid on and in the kitchen, ripening is happening and these are destined to freeze whole
The green beans are only producing enough for daily use now, which suits me as I have ample stored in the freezer for winter, no blanching btw. There are flower buds, and the plants look healthy, I expect beans for quite a while yet