My dreams of having a larder full of home-grown produce has vanished. It’s just one of the problems with growing in containers, there just isn’t enough, especially if half the wildlife in the area feel the same entitlement and you are also prone to nibble every time you go into the garden. I am fortunate to live in a place where some people are willing to share what they have. I’m happy to share my plants and seeds and for those with bigger growing areas, there is a chance they will share their produce with you so it widens our horizons a bit.
I received a bag of apples from someone’s garden, they taste a bit like Cox’s Pippins, sweet with an edge to it. I had intended making crab apple jelly but I didn’t get any crab apples. I could have made it with the Cox’s but decided instead, to stew some of them but still having a lot left, I made apple juice out of them as I had run out of time to make the jelly. I managed to get some organic beetroot so that is now in sweet pickle vinegar. I don’t think I’ll be making any more tomato chutney this year, I have plenty in store.
My thoughts go back to my parent’s and grandparent’s houses that had pantries, preserving was a way of life. There were no refrigerators but seasonal foods could be kept in the pantry for a surprisingly long time and soft fruits, which didn’t keep, were made into jams. The shelves were laden with colourful jars. I decided to try my own preserving, but being a learner when it comes to new methods, I prefer trying out something first on supermarket produce rather than waste home-grown to another failed experiment. This time, I decided to try lacto-fermentation. It looked easy but although it preserves produce longer, I have no idea what the produce will taste like but I have a feeling it won’t be too long I have to wait.
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