Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Eating and Drinking => Cooking, Storing and Preserving => Topic started by: LotuSeed on November 14, 2014, 10:01
-
What have you "put up" from this year's (or years past) growing season? Include pics if you can, pun intended lol.
What has been your favorite? Your least favorite? How do you use your preserved items? How do you organize and store them? Anyone care to share?
-
Most of the produce from the allotment this year is sitting in my 3 freezers.
I haven't bothered to do any more pickled peaches or pears this year as I still have several jars from last year.
I haven't even made much jam for the house as we are eating our way through the left over jams and marmalade from the business that didn't fill a full jar.
I have made about 20 jars of piccalilli and I have jars of pickled gherkins and bread and butter pickle all over the house. At one point I was running out of places to put them.
I have done lots of preserves for winter festival presents. Loads of onion chutney, Damson and port and lemon jam, apple and cider chutney, chilli jam, orange, cinnamon, whisky and chocolate marmalade, spiced tomato and chilli chutney.
Chutneys and pickles are used with toasted sandwiches for lunch, pickled peaches and pears with cheese.
I better stop as I could just go on and on.
Oh yes, bottled brandy peaches in trifles.
-
The other pictures didn't load for some reason
-
The other pictures didn't load for some reason
That's better that worked. I have bottles like this all over the house and am fast running out of space.
-
That's quite an extensive lot Mrs. Bee. Do you do all of it by yourself?
Here's some of what I've done this far
Applesauce, plain and peach
Tomato sauce
Pizza sauce
Salsa
Salsa Verde
French beans
Sweet corn
Potatoes
Strawberry jam
Red gooseberry jam
Raspberry jam
Cherry jam
Blackberry jam (notice a pattern? lol)
I still have strawberries, gold, red and black raspberries, blueberries, peaches, tomatoes and tomatillos in the freezer.
-
Cherry, strawberry, red gooseberry and peaches...
-
Sweetcorn, blackberry syrup, two of my shelving units. Not pictures is an old china cabinet full of more jams. There are also now boxes of filled jars on the floor! Plenty more space to use, but I need to build shelving units that can hold the immense weight and anchor them to the wall. The thing I can't get over is the amount of jars I've gone through and I still need more :ohmy: :wacko: LOL
-
Sweetcorn, blackberry syrup, two of my shelving units. Not pictures is an old china cabinet full of more jams. There are also now boxes of filled jars on the floor! Plenty more space to use, but I need to build shelving units that can hold the immense weight and anchor them to the wall. The thing I can't get over is the amount of jars I've gone through and I still need more :ohmy: :wacko: LOL
Will you eat all of that before you harvest next years crops?
-
We will certainly try :). The potatoes are disappearing from the shelves quickly so those will probably be gone before then. I'll inevitably use a bunch up as the holidays get closer. Some of the jams will be given as gifts. I'll keep things longer than a year though, so if it doesn't all get eaten, I'll carry it over to next year and just make sure that it stays at the front if the rotation.
-
It seems an awful lot of work even if you enjoy it. Would some of the produce not store fresh in your cellar?
-
The onions and garlic are fairing well down there. The potatoes might have had I not bottled them, but it's much more convenient to be able to just pop open a jar and heat them up. I tried storing apples, wrapped in newspaper, but that didn't work out too well. Might have had more to do with the varieties than the cellar environment. There's an unknown variety of squash and a few small pumpkins that are keeping well, but I hate squash and pumpkins so they're really just for decorative purposes. :tongue2:
And yes it is a ton of work. From picking to processing I do it all myself. Although this year my husband helped when I got the potatoes and picked 13 pounds of blueberries :)
-
Masses of tomatoes, plum, chunks of beefsteak, cherry, pickled cherry, sauce, lutinitsa (toms, aubergine and peppers) peaches, pears, plums. Pickled onion, cucumbers and beets. The neighbour has given me pickled peppers and mixed veg, huge jars we will probably never use. and beans which we will definitely not use.
I make masses of chutney and jam from whatever is needing using, but most is sold at car boot sales. We have had some honey this year but as it was the first year of having bees it didn't last long.
The freezer is bursting with what I didn't bottle, but I think a lot of that will end up in the chickens, I grew far too much of things that don't freeze well, like green beans and courgettes.
Most of the bottles are in the cellar and I don't want to go down there at this moment to take a pic, but will try later though the shelves are shrouded in curtain to keep the light out.
And we have about twenty butternut squash, they grew like weeds and no visitor is allowed to leave without some, we have given away about thirty! Some for pigs.
-
Hi Lotus. Yep I do it. all myself. I have several hundreds jars in the selling cupboard.
And lots in the cupboard for us and for presents.
I just like trying out lots of different recipes and techniques. Well into hot and cold smoking at the moment.
I start off the seeds and Mr Bee tends the allotment. We don't garden well together, so I stick to the back garden and processing and cooking the produce, and send him off to the allotment.
Do you have a large piece of land? You have sooo much produce there.
Really impressed with the canning. It is not something we tend to go for over here.
-
This year I have cooked up and bottled a whole range of 'cook-in' curry and herb sauces -- balti style, dopiazza, hot and sour etc, using our own tomatoes, chillies, onions, garlic and herbs. I did some last year and it was a great time saver as well as making good use of produce I had no freezer space for, so this year I grew more tomatoes to use for these , and jolly good they are too :D So far I have donee28 jars but we have been eating them and I need to do another couple of batches with the remains of the tomatoes in the outside fridge while they are still useable :nowink:
I have also done red chilli jelly and green chilli & coriander leaf jelly, pickled shallots (red cabbage to come next week), grape & rosemary jelly, apple & mint jelly, picallili, jostaberry jam, blackberry & apple jam, raspberry jam, bramble jelly, raspberry jelly and blackcurrant jelly: onion marmalade to come. I also have quite a lot of dried produce this year: apple rings, pear slices, peppered courgette crisps, banana slices (not home grown :lol: ) and plenty of dried beans in jars.
Some of these will be in the seasonal baskets and gifts for friends, some to feed family and the rest for us. Amazingly, I shall have little left by the time preserving season comes around again :lol:
Here is the red chilli jelly. This has been so popular I shall make some more next week, plus some chilli & tomato chutney. I also do Winter chutney every year, but this is made with bought in dried fruit.
-
that chilli jelly looks gorgeous, Sunny.
-
Tosca that's a lot of stuff! I'd love to see pictures when you have the chance. I hate all that work has to be kept hidden away in a dark room. I know some people will go as far as wrapping their jars in newspaper to keep the light out. Sometimes it's nice to be able to just admire all the work you've done!
Mrs Bee we do live on a fairly large lot however only a small portion of it is used for my garden. I have 8 raised beds, numerous large pots on the patio and blueberry bushes, raspberries and blackberries along the fence line. I could, in theory cover most of the property in raised beds, but my dog needs room to run lol.
I supplement what I grow with produce I can get at the farmers market and I get a lot of my produce from a pick your own farm. I love going by myself and picking in silence. I find it really peaceful. The PYO farm is great too because I can pick large quantities at once so I'll have enough to bottle. Most of the produce I grow comes in little by little, not enough to can at once, so it gets frozen until I have enough to can a batch.
Next year I'm adding a traditional in-ground bed and was considering planted a cherry tree or two. We'll see.
Sunny that chili jam looks gorgeous!
-
Sunshineband, I like your idea of cooking up and bottling a whole range of 'cook-in' curry and herb sauces. Do you make up your own recipes or is there a book with them in?
-
Sunny, that chilli jelly looks amazing - would it be very cheeky to ask for the recipe? There are one or two menfolk in my family that would really enjoy that!
-
Sunny, that chilli jelly looks amazing - would it be very cheeky to ask for the recipe? There are one or two menfolk in my family that would really enjoy that!
Sorry - silly me!!!! I've just found your recipe. I won't hurt you, honestly, I wish I could say I'm having a bad day, but I'm like this all the time lately.
-
Well, I've taken a few pictures of what is left. I have used about ten bottles of plum tomatoes for a chutney order recently so they are a little depleted. The top shelf has bottled apricots, pears and plums, and some jam from last year. Second shelf is chutney, the pears I did last week, jam and tomatoes various, third More tomatoes including cherry toms and sauce, and lutinitsa. Bottom shelf is the hoard of pickled veg from the neighbour.
(http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv100/tosca100-dog/preserves003_zps73297c03.jpg) (http://s673.photobucket.com/user/tosca100-dog/media/preserves003_zps73297c03.jpg.html)
(http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv100/tosca100-dog/preserves004_zps43f51944.jpg) (http://s673.photobucket.com/user/tosca100-dog/media/preserves004_zps43f51944.jpg.html)
Butternut squash, about half the crop. They were rampant!
(http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv100/tosca100-dog/preserves008_zps4e99c6dc.jpg) (http://s673.photobucket.com/user/tosca100-dog/media/preserves008_zps4e99c6dc.jpg.html)
Some that haven't made it to the cellar yet, and some in use. Chilli jelly, mincemeat (I include that as I have used some of our own dried fruit and nuts), dried garlic and onions, pickles various
(http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv100/tosca100-dog/preserves007_zps1421ee3b.jpg) (http://s673.photobucket.com/user/tosca100-dog/media/preserves007_zps1421ee3b.jpg.html)
Beans, borlotti, black cobra (french bean), and the local white bean
(http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv100/tosca100-dog/preserves009_zpsa346eb7c.jpg) (http://s673.photobucket.com/user/tosca100-dog/media/preserves009_zpsa346eb7c.jpg.html)
And there are about sixty assorted jams, chutneys and jellies upstairs ready for sale next year.
Everything needs sorting again, it doesn't matter how many times I tell OH which shelf they are supposed to be on, they go where there is a space if he takes them down (at least he takes them though) so I end up not really knowing what I have. I'm as bad, I bung things in cupboards as I hate the cellar!
In the freezer as well as fruit and veg, I have a large stash of walnuts and eggs for those lean months.
-
Tosca, Thanks so much for taking the time to share the pictures! I love seeing how other people organize/store their fruit and veg (and it reminds me that I should think about putting up a curtain over some of my shelves). The jars that your neighbor gave you have so many different things in them, from okra to cherry tomatoes oh my!
Where/how/when do you sell your chutneys and things?
That is a lot of butternut squash!
-
I sell the preserves at the two monthly car boot sales locally, but only use what I have in the garden, so a lot have a tomato base in summer, fruit base in autumn. It just about pays for the seed, compost and plants for the garden. Also sell hand made cards, any excess veg or eggs I haven't used and a few cakes. OH sells paintings. We don't make a lot but it is a social thing really and once the sales finish for winter I do bespoke cards and if anyone wants a big load of preserves and I have the ingredients I will do that for them. As I said, I used ten bottles for the last lot of chutney someone asked for
The squash surprised us. We only put half a dozen plants in, thinking we might get about 15 squash as we would in the UK, but they grow like triffids! Neighbours have had some (they don't grow the smoothe ones, just the huge curly ones) and a friend took the overgrown ones for their pigs and some for soup, and we sold a few at the sales. We love them, but you can only eat so many so anyone that comes is not allowed to leave without a couple at least!
The mixed veg are what they do here at the 'end of season' clear up of the garden and the tiny currant tomatoes are grown to pretty up the bottles. That's why there could be anything in the bottles, including any green tomatoes and small cabbage which are usually made into barrels of sauerkraut. I just make it in small bottles as OH doesn't like the smell.
-
It's just Mom and I here now, so we don't put up much like we did when homesteading off grid and all the family living at home. Used to put up 100+ jars of each thing but now we just do what we will mostly eat, which isn't a large variety when you live like bachelorettes. :lol:
About 40-50 jars of sweet corn(not pressure canned, boiling water bath method), 30 jars of salsa, 40 pints of hot pepper butter(that will last me a couple of years, thank goodness), small batches of slumgullion and spaghetti sauce. About 25 qts of chicken and broth, and we still have some from last year. About the same for deer and deer broth, though much of the deer was given away to family here and there.
We just store it on shelves in a "cold" room on the back of the house. We no longer have a cellar house and that's a pity.
Here's a few picks of prep work, produce and canned items....
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/c/cd/900x900px-LL-cd67e941_100_1969.jpeg)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/9/90/900x900px-LL-90002c33_100_1977.jpeg)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/b/b1/900x900px-LL-b1773aa9_100_1290.jpeg)
-
Love your jars Beekissed, we have used all second hand from the attics and from neighbours, many with use-once clamp lids, though we did find a crate of good German Weck bottles which need new seals and clamps before we can use them. meanwhile I use them for dry storage.
Canning meat is very popular here too. We have half a dozen given by the neighbours but are not excited as we could be as experience has shown us that there is usually a large lump of gristle in the middle, they don't waste a thing. And I am a veggie. All their veg is bottled, sauced or pickled, not much fresh in winter in the villages.
We have gone through the tomatoes and sauce, we have only five bottles of toms and a few of sauce, all the pickles, used most of the dried beans and are getting through the dehydrated garlic and jellies. Hopefully we won't have much left at the beginning of next season......except pickles. We might use those during summer.
-
We have gone through the tomatoes and sauce, we have only five bottles of toms and a few of sauce, all the pickles, used most of the dried beans and are getting through the dehydrated garlic and jellies. Hopefully we won't have much left at the beginning of next season......except pickles. We might use those during summer.
A couple more bean stews and we'll be all out too. I need to grow A LOT more next season!
-
I told OH we could cut down on the tomatoes this year....now I'm not so sure. Ooops, how to tell him. Will also need more borlotti. So much to learn, once we know I bet we'll have to leave and move into a terrace with yard!
-
Beekissed, I'm impressed not only by what you do, but also by that picture of a most fabulously, hideously, ugly tomato! :ohmy: :lol:
-
:lol: That tomato had two stems and, at first, I thought it was just two maters grown together but it was one whole tomato that was the size of three large ones. I was impressed, as neither my 80 yr old mama nor I had ever seen one quite so big....or ugly! :lol:
-
Do you live in the States, Beekissed?
-
Yes, I do.
-
Thought you might - the cellar reference seemed to fit better :D
Feel free to pop your general location into your forum profile so that we remember ;)
-
:lol: What do you call them over there?
-
Oh we call them cellars too, it's just that very few houses have them :D
-
Or if they're old houses they will be coal cellars :D
-
Oh we call them cellars too, it's just that very few houses have them :D
The house next door to my grandmother's place had a traditional cellar that was entered through metal double doors attached to the house at an angle. Kinda like the one in the Wizard of Oz. I think they're more common in older houses in the Midwestern United States.
-
Those are called storm cellars because they do double duty. When I was young we lived in houses that had those. Cellars are more and more becoming extinct here also. I think people have forgotten how very useful they are.
Same with outhouses/privies....when the power goes out, those with outhouses still are barely inconvenienced. Those without have some real issues. :nowink:
-
Those are called storm cellars because they do double duty. When I was young we lived in houses that had those. Cellars are more and more becoming extinct here also. I think people have forgotten how very useful they are.
Same with outhouses/privies....when the power goes out, those with outhouses still are barely inconvenienced. Those without have some real issues. :nowink:
Growing up we always had tornado drills in school, it was a common thing and bc of that everyone knew what to do in case of one. Same is not true for here. One day a tornado ripped through the university campus and people were just standing around watching. They didn't know to head for a basement. Tornadoes aren't a common occurrence in these parts and I'd assume storm cellars are more common in areas where they are. My Grandmother who grew up in Iowa had a root cellar where they stored food.
-
I grew up in a house with a cellar and always wanted to live in a house with one when when I grew up. :D Sadly they are just not that common as has been said and our house doesn't have one. Not really a surprise given I live on a flood plain and it would probably be an indoor swimming pool half the year! Interestingly our neighbours have a cellar but don't use it much due to all the frogs in it!
I have put up pickled squash, courgettes and cucumbers, beans, piccalilli, jalapeños, apple sauce, duck confit, duck stock, raspberry vodka and cordial, cherry vodka (last year we had about 40kgs and had cherry jam, cordial, bottled and pickled cherries, cherry vodka, cherry brandy... thought we would never get through it all. This year the birds ate most of them :(). Pickled turnips (much nicer than they sound like they should be), tomatoes and tomato sauce, red cabbage and pears. Also made a load of pickled walnuts and vin de noix as some of my neighbours have walnut trees and will be definitely be making both of them again having never tried either of them before. :D
-
Preserving Garden Produce.
My comment is somewhat philosophical. This is when I began preserving in earnest. In 2014 I have about 500 litres of pressure canned produce, much consumed by now.
Utilizing the bounty of Summer for off season use is the aim. People preserve produce and the product is only desirable for short periods. I know a lady who has a basement with many jars of preserves that never get used. They preserve (keep) but are palatable in small amounts. For example, How much sauerkraut, dill pickles, salsa, etc. can your eat and is it sufficient?
After musing about this issue for some time I decided to experiment with juicing and pressure canning. I find the end product to be desirable and it is probably nutritional. I add nothing to the produce except water. Preparation time is minimal, since I basically take the produce as is and process. This year (2011)I have about 150 litres of wholesome food and ingest about a litre or more per day.
-
15 October 2014 Cranberry Juice http://www.durgan.org/2014/October%202014/15%20October%202014%20Cranberry%20Juice/HTML/
About 25 pounds of cranberries was ordered from Johnstone’s Cranberries in Bala, Ontario. Cost was $60.00 plus $30.00 shipping. This was made into 25 liters of juice. Each liter has about a liter of berries or about one pound. Cranberries have almost no juice so each cooking pot had 12 liters of water added to create juice. Method: A liter of water per pound added,cooked for about 20 minutes until soft, beat into a slurry with the hand blender, strained in 2mm screen food mill, placed in liter jars and pressure cooked at 15 PSI for 15 minutes for storage at room temperature. Pictures depict the process.
(http://www.durgan.org/URL/?DPDMY)
-
How many jars of pickles and bread and butter pickles can one person eat? in our case one hell of a lot.
My nickname as a child was sour belly because of my love for pickles. And Mr Bee will eat my bread and butter pickle by the jar full if allowed.
We prefer to freeze the fruit and some of the veg but like to eat mainly what is in season and fresh or stored in the garage.
We are still eating kale, parsnips, leeks and carrots fresh from the allotment as well as the winter squash stored in the garage.
-
I thought I had run out of chutney until I found 2 jars at the back of the larder - from 2012 :D
It's still very nice :)
-
I thought I had run out of chutney until I found 2 jars at the back of the larder - from 2012 :D
It's still very nice :)
Id rather eat 3 year old stuff I bottled myself as opposed to 3 year old store-bought canned food 😊
That's a nice little find there Mum !
Mrs Bee I loooovvee pickles, but only a certain "brand" (weird) Maybe I'll experiment and do a jar or two myself next season.
Durgan where do you source most of the produce you can? Those cranberries look gorgeous. I was thinking about a steam juicer this year so I can do my own juice.
-
In the thick of canning...or bottling, as you folks call it. Have already canned the peppers, half of the amount of corn we like to put up but will be doing that amount again next week. Finishing up tomatoes this week and will finally use the last of those still coming ripe in the garden by juicing them, most likely...hope to be done with that next week also.
Items bottled so far are sweet corn, hot pepper butter, salsa, stewed tomatoes, tomato juice, a few qt. of spaghetti sauce, chicken, green beans, a medley of veggies we like to call slumgulleon, peaches. Next week, more corn and more tomatoes.
Things to come: Apple sauce and butter, chicken and, hopefully, deer meat.
A few pics of this year's canning....
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/6/60/900x900px-LL-606f6a84_100_3452.jpeg)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/3/39/900x900px-LL-3983b0f8_100_3451.jpeg)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/7/7e/900x900px-LL-7ea1f163_100_3445.jpeg)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/3/33/900x900px-LL-3329e545_100_3439.jpeg)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/5/5d/900x900px-LL-5d9aeb9f_100_3437.jpeg)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/a/a2/900x900px-LL-a24cd5dd_100_3426.jpeg)
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/17594769/width/900/height/900/flags/LL)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/4/4f/900x900px-LL-4f2c0689_100_3441.jpeg)
-
I've not really got enough tomatoes to start yet, the season is soooooo late this year :(
I wish I had a larder full like you :)
-
No one had a good tomato year over here in regular gardens....way too much rain and very little sun all season until just a few weeks ago. We had to buy tomatoes to augment our own this year due to that. I haven't had to buy tomatoes for 15 yrs now, so that tells you how bad a year it was. :(
This year I was determined to put up more than last year....I just feel like it's going to be a hard winter in more ways than one. Getting in extra food and extra firewood. Even laying in a little extra food for the chickens and dog, which I never do...usually just have one large trash can of layer mash and one large tote of dog feed on hand but think I'll buy extra this next month, just because. Got a hunch things are going to get a little crazy this winter so I'm not letting anything go to waste, nor am I going to let anything languish in the freezer....everything in a jar this year for safe keeping.
-
Funny how we get these 'feelings' - when I have done my monthly delivery, I've been getting in extra dry goods, flour, yeast, rice, dried pulses for stews - that kind of thing :blush:
-
That's funny! :) I've gotten to the age where I trust my gut on things...didn't used to, though. I'm not one for "prepping" and such, just the usual putting things away for winter use as we've always done, but this year seems different for some reason. Feel the need for a little extra cushion, I guess.
Glad I'm not the only one! :lol: Means I'm on the right track....
-
Weeellll....we have had the opposite problem this year. Last year we had similar to you Beekissed and many people lost their lives in floods. This year we have drought and blistering temperatures for a couple of months and set to be in the mid thirties till september when they will drop to the mid twenties. They keep promising thunderstorms but they rarely happen and it's too dry for them to do any good now.
Early on I bottled a lot of tomatoes, mostly whole to make up meals as I see fit but a few sauces too. For a while now the large Chocolate Stripes have been literally 'cooking' on the vine, they look OK if a little pale but are juicy and fragile when touched. I was relying on these to keep me going in fresh well into autumn. The plants are dying. The San Marzano are suffering from BER but hopefully I have enough bottled. The Rio Grande and local variety and a yellow have given up. All thet is producing are the three cherry varieties so they are what I am semi drying and freezing....got a dozen mixed bottled too. So we are OK for tomatoes.
However, the early peas and broad beans didn't do well, poatoes are OK, sweet potatoes might produc some but it's been a bit too dry for them Carrots are a bit dry but I am going to pickle some this week as we are unable to put the autumn ones in due to the dryness, same with beets, We have black, white and redcurrants bottled, plenty of jam and chutney, pears, quince and apples to come but the figs failed due to last year's awful weather. Cordials are also made for a vitamin hit. There is a good amount of chard and kale frozen, leeks to come (but they aren't growing!)Whatever the winter throws at us, we will survive...but might look a bit like tomatoes come spring. Oh yes, we also have plenty of honey, good bees, and milk from the goat frozen for winter cheese. If we lose the electricity it will be a disaster, we really will look like toms then!
Everyone is predicting a severe winter. I hope it will be as short as it's supposed to be here in Bulgaria.
-
So far the year's total is 138 qts and 52 pints of food...should be more to come when apples ripen, the flock is culled and deer season arrives. God has been so good to us with all this food bounty!!! :)
-
So, a busy day - 8 jam size jars of Giardiniera, 5 of pickled cucumbers, 8 of tomato and courgette pasta sauce and a larger jar of peppers for Antipasti ::)
I'll have to beg, steal or borrow jars before I can do any more :nowink:
-
That's a good, productive day :)
I'll have to beg, steal or borrow jars before I can do any more :nowink:
I caved in and bought a few more the other day. Not that there is anywhere to put them once they are full, but they were pretty and very cheap (and I have no willpower when it comes to such things) :blush: :lol: