Preserving what we produce

Also during lockdown I have become a dab hand at making soup, boiling up chicken carcass and vegetables from the garden And then freezing.

Further tip: if you have lots of produce get a second freezer

I was going to check to see if any veg are ready for picking but it's just throwing it down out there!
That should help them grow.

In the middle of making red currant jelly, then I will do white currant jelly if the birds don’t nick them first.

Loads of fruit in the freezer and I will be making more pear, plum, and marrow chutneys when ready.

I chop up my mint and freeze it. Then in the winter just put a couple of spoonfuls in a container, add a pinch of sugar and a little boiling water to dissolve the sugar. Top up with cider vinegar or any vinegar of choice.

If you have loads of gooseberries try making gooseberry gin - it is delicious.

Our leeks haven't been planted out yet as they'll probably go where the summer veg is now.

craftyone DD has a dryer which she uses a lot and when we were staying with them last year we dried different herbs I then crumbled them between sheets of kitchen roll and put them into little jars. I've only just finished using the dried parsley I brought home.
My parsley this year is hopeless, I should have bought fresh seed.

Much of our fruit is in the freezer ready for when I feel like doing something with it.
I wish I'd kept my Rumtopf which went to the charity shop but a friend said she's using a Kilner jar. Less is more with fruit preserved like that!

I moved 14 months ago, to a new build so my fruit trees and bushes are all babies. Preservation will be much more intense from next year

Actual preservaion so far:

flat parsley frozen

charlotte potatoes blanched 3-5 minutes and frozen,
charlotte potatoes also stored in an earthernware crock for a few weeks

shallots drying shortly to be preserved in an eartherware crock. I will freeze if I don`t get through them

leeks frozen

blackcurrants frozen

blueberries frozen

gooseberries frozen
gooseberries bottled

rhubarb bottled

I will add as and when I do more preserving, needless to say I do eat much of my veg very small, just picked and in season
I have a sauerkraut crock
I gave away my large excalibur dehydrator because I really did not like dried veg
I have a beautiful beech apple store with many slatted drawers, ready and waiting
I make jam but not from my fruit this year