[Mrs Bee]

Add my name to the list! - 7 jars of pasta sauce cooked and bottled today

I can't remember the last time the kitchen looked really tidy 

Oh, my kitchen is tidy, it is the rest of the house is a tip

Dining room is covered in jelly bags dripping, onions and gherkins brining, bags of onions and squash, mushroom boxes stacked with tomatoes and the sideboard and table covered in full bottles and jars looking for a home 'cos the cupboards are all full. 

Can't get anything else in the utility and garage either.  the garden is tidier than the house.

[Beetroot Queen]

I was doing well today, i rehomed a huge bag of runners. Smugly i thought that will save me doing more chutney. And the very kind lady from freecycle appeared with an equally big bag of bramley apples for me as a thank you
  chutney or crumble anyone 

[Mrs Bee]

definitely crumble

[surbie100]

Please can I apply to be a fledgling member? I have a tiny flat, so not much space for preserves, but I do have a shelf in the cupboard dedicated to jams and jellies. Chutneys and sauces are a bit beyond me so far - there are only so many hours in the day - but I am aspiring to marmalade this year! 

[rachelmoneybags]

Wow you lot put me to shame! Untidy house and only jam making lol.

 Thank you Trillium I need more uniform sized jars I think, plus need to concentrate on why the jam is thick enough to tar the M25! Lovely though :-)

[surbie100]

Wow you lot put me to shame! Untidy house and only jam making lol.

 Thank you Trillium I need more uniform sized jars I think, plus need to concentrate on why the jam is thick enough to tar the M25! Lovely though :-)

I don't think that you need to worry too much about that - I've a rag-tag collection of different sizes, because I know I love strawberry&lavender jam so it can go in a bigger jar, with a teeny one to mop up anything that is left.

[Trillium]

Surbie, if you're short of space, start stashing things under beds, perhaps on sheets of cardboard so you can pull them out easily. That space is mostly dust collectors for most people and usually doesn't get warm. Any dust-laden socks can get kicked out     Also, keep a running list tacked somewhere of what's under the bed so you know what you have and where it is. I know of people who store spare water in 55 gallon barrels under their beds as bed supports. The mattresses are a tad high, for sure, but water shortages aren't a problem for them. 

Rachael, too thick jams/jellies can be due to either too much pectin or too long a boiling time where the jam reaches more of a soft candy temperature. For beginners, I feel uniform jar sizes are easier until you're more proficient with the process and can judge times, etc for mis-sized jars. Many of us have been at it for decades and can easily adjust whatever is needed.

[Fairy Plotmother]

  ooooh! It sounds as though I had better register here as I think I'm going down with this particular bug.

And....erm........add to the list .....soups. My freezer is full of them.

[LilacSandy]

Think I need to join, I have six demijohns of fruit wine bubbling.  I just brought a new upright freezer and the bottom two draws are full of french, runner and broad beans, PSB and cabbage.  Next two draws are full of soft fruit and plums.  Top two draws are full of batches of pasta sauce made with onions, tomatoes, peppers, garlic and basil.  Got loads of apples on the old tree at the bottom of the garden which are not cookers but not sweet either, so I am looking to dry them as I have heard that this makes them sweeter.

Out the back I have 8 strings of onions and 6 plats of garlic,  I am drying all the herbs I can lay my hands on, and saving as much seed as I can.  I think I need a rest. 

[sunshineband]

This week's recipes will include quinces as my friend has said I can pick them from her tree. Going to do Rosy Bottled Quinces first.


And piccalilli is on my list for the week too. Have to start in the morning. Bought some posh jars for it today as they will make nice Winterval presents 

You have been a busy little squirrel there, Sandy 

[New shoot]

I've resisted making preserves today, as my preserve and pickle cupboard is full and I still have quinces on the tree to deal with at some point.

However, I did have to have a session of squirreling, as my days off are incomplete without it at this time of year 

Oregano flower oil is strained and bottled, soup made for the freezer with squash and the last of the dehydrated veg from last year, plus tomato sauce made from the last but one batch of tomatoes ripening on the windowsill. 

Its very satisfying all this squirreling isn't it 

[LilacSandy]

I think every year that this will be the year that I am self sufficient in veg but as fast as I freeze it we eat it...thought I had the onions cracked this year as I had put in double the amount but I will run out by January as I have used so much in the pasta sauce  .  Runners were late this year so will not have enough to last even though I am freezing almost daily.  Since my daughter has had the baby I have had both of them and my dad round for Sunday dinner and seven people can eat a surprising amount of veg. 

I will be having Summer for two days a week when her mum goes back to work so I need to have enough fruit and veg next year so she will be eating healthily.  Have seen some lovely little wellies for her and I am looking for a play pen to put in the Polly tunnel for her to play in.

[sunshineband]

Oregano flower oil sounds luscious and summery New Shoot 

I have picked all my tomatoes now, as blight was sneaking up on them, and so have masses of small green ones (They are Sungolds) I have found a recipe for dhal with green tomatoes, which, if I use a bag of loganberries for loganberry and apple jam, I could fit in the freezer in meal size portions. I have plenty of apples from my daughter last weekend

And an unusual cake recipe with chopped green tomatoes in it too, which of course will not last long at all, but it will use some up.

The rest I shall hang up in their trusses, and they will slowly ripen 

[Madame Cholet]

Surbie, if you're short of space, start stashing things under beds, perhaps on sheets of cardboard so you can pull them out easily. That space is mostly dust collectors for most people and usually doesn't get warm. Any dust-laden socks can get kicked out     Also, keep a running list tacked somewhere of what's under the bed so you know what you have and where it is. I know of people who store spare water in 55 gallon barrels under their beds as bed supports. The mattresses are a tad high, for sure, but water shortages aren't a problem for them.  .

Both my beds are already used for storage clothes in baskets, weights, caravan awning, bedding, mini green house cover ect ect

[Jackypam]

I have jammed, jellied, pickled and chutneyed for weeks.s. Have now run out of jars.  Trouble is that the printer wasn't working for the labels, and I was sure I would remember what was in all the jars...