[New shoot]

I read an article by Chrisopher Lloyd on veg gardening when he said he refused to feel oppressed by his harvest.  Daft I thought - who gets oppressed by a harvest.  Me that's who 

The freezer is crammed to busting with frozen soft fruit and tomato pasta sauce.  This is the store cupboard so far.......



and this is the result of the last 2 days of frantic squirrelling away



I didn't grow the mushrooms but they were a bargain so I shoved them in the dehydrator.  It's drying the 2nd batch now with more dried tomato slices.

And it's only August so plenty more to come yet     

[sunshineband]

I know what you mean --- wish I was as cute as Felicity was though 

[scabs]

You are. 

 

I know what you mean New Shoot, I have two full cupboards (and I mean jars stacked on jars) of jam, chutney and pickled beetroot!

[tesni]

sorry to hijack this one but you mention a dehydrator - what do you find most successful in it?  Is it really useful?

[Mosslane]

Really do feel a bit like that. We already have a cupboard full of jams,pickles, chutney. Just making an early batch of Rosehip syrup. We have a gallon of nettle wine waiting to be bottled. The damson trees are bursting with fruit and there is about 20lb of blackberries waiting to be picked. That is without the veg in the freezer and the pies I have frozen.

[New shoot]

sorry to hijack this one but you mention a dehydrator - what do you find most successful in it?  Is it really useful?

I must admit I only got it because it was offered cheap. It's an expensive bit of kit unless you are going to make the most of it.  My faves are tomato slices and apple slices which are so different from shop bought and which I make loads of now. 

It also does herbs really well and mushrooms (OH brings home wild ones from camping trips) and shop bought ones as standby ingredients for winter.  I've done raspberries which turn out like the ones in Country Crisp, chillies and various veg for a home made dried veg mix.  It is very handy for when you have filled every available freezer drawer and preserving jar.  OH takes dried veg and fruit on camping trips and half his camping buddies have now bought themselves dehydrators they were so impressed.

I got an American book from Amazon which I use as my bible - Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook ISBN 0-688-13024-0 She has instructions for drying everything and anything so maybe invest in that first and see what you think 

[Livinhope]

In our house if it looks edible it's getting jammed or chutneyed at the moment.  Cupboards bursting and begging jars from anyone who will listen.

[mumofstig]

Had to turn down the offer of an overgrown courgette/marrow yesterday, I already have 'stuff to do' piled high in the kitchen
Now got rellies visiting at the weekend so must get it sorted tomorrow  

[Livinhope]

Daughter came home with 11 lb of greengages today.  No housework tomorrow.  Yippee

[Trillium]

I have a whole basement cool room devoted to preserved things...shelves from floor to ceiling chock full of items. Preserved peaches, pears, plums, cherries, pickled beets, various tom sauces, kraut, jams, jellies, pickles, applesauce, etc.
Soon any empty spaces will be filled with crates of potatoes, onions and carrots. And there's still the apple harvest to deal with soon - usually 3 bushels worth to get us through until next fall 

If I can bottle it, then it gets bottled because there's just not enough room in my 2 freezers for everything. Just finished boning and freezing 25 lbs of chicken breasts I got for $2/lb (not sure what current UK equivalent is) which is under half price. Friday I'm bringing home 10 dozen organic cobs of corn to slice off for the freezer. And I still have a big batch of courgette relish to make with the 'baseball bats' my friend has given me, and then I need somewhere to pile the 20+ jumbo red kuris squash ripening up. Methinks we won't starve 

[Livinhope]

I have a whole basement cool room devoted to preserved things...shelves from floor to ceiling chock full of items. Preserved peaches, pears, plums, cherries, pickled beets, various tom sauces, kraut, jams, jellies, pickles, applesauce, etc.
Soon any empty spaces will be filled with crates of potatoes, onions and carrots. And there's still the apple harvest to deal with soon - usually 3 bushels worth to get us through until next fall 

If I can bottle it, then it gets bottled because there's just not enough room in my 2 freezers for everything. Just finished boning and freezing 25 lbs of chicken breasts I got for $2/lb (not sure what current UK equivalent is) which is under half price. Friday I'm bringing home 10 dozen organic cobs of corn to slice off for the freezer. And I still have a big batch of courgette relish to make with the 'baseball bats' my friend has given me, and then I need somewhere to pile the 20+ jumbo red kuris squash ripening up. Methinks we won't starve 

I don't usually covet other peoples possessions but how I envy your cellar/basement.  If there was one thing I would wish for in a house it would be a cellar, and you obviously put yours to good use.

[Mosslane]

That was one thing I envied in Bulgaria. Many of the village houses have cellars and  they are usually full of goodies.

[Livinhope]

I wonder why we don't do it in this country, it's wasted space, I can't see that it would be too expensive and it would provide extra rooms instead of having to extend and use up more land.

[New shoot]

I've got cellar envy as well now    Trillium you are definately not going to starve 

Did anyone see the programme about the Armish teenagers who came to the UK.  When they showed shots of the pantries they had in their homes - that's how I picture Trillium's basement 

[Livinhope]

I saw that and went a violent shade of green.

My cupboards are fast becoming full and I still want to make blackberry and apple when it stops raining and the berries are ripe.

My neighbour, (85, bless) has a strange daughter-in-law.  When neighbour asked her to get some beetroot so that she could pickle them d-i-l said, 'What do you want to waste time doing that for when you can buy it?'  So sad.

I gave her some of our beetroot.