Kitchen Garden Forum

I love plums Westi so am quite jealous although a glut of plums to add to the apricots might not go down well at the moment! Plum jam and gin does sound good! Last winter I planted a gage (Jefferson's Gage) so have that to look forward to, but not for a few years yet. Plenty of time to look up some recipes!

I received the book called Pam the Jam for Christmas so I’m busy making lists of some things I need to start. Things like a jam thermometer, jam funnel, micro plane zester (I’d never heard of one of those I must admit!). So, going to have a go at making some jam this year with things like blackcurrants, raspberries etc. Toffee apple curd sounds tempting, lemon & honey curd does too. Does anyone else make these sorts of things to preserve your harvests?

Wonderful presents Adrienne! I look forward to making gooseberry jam every year - always a family favourite!

I received the book by Pam the Jam called The Book of Preserves for Christmas, so I’m busy making lists of some things I need to start. Things like a jam thermometer, jam funnel, micro plane zester (I’d never heard of one of those I must admit!). So, going to have a go at making some jam this year with things like blackcurrants, raspberries etc. Toffee apple curd sounds tempting, lemon & honey curd does too. Does anyone else make these sorts of things to preserve your harvests?

I’m only any good at growing the stuff….

I do preserve things but quite often forget things finding them at the back cupboard when I do the annual date check & clear up which I actually did today. Found an unopened beetroot, some Chilli jam & Piccalilli. All of these would generally be fine to keep as unopened but the piccalilli & beetroot lids showed rust so I opened the beetroot & the plastic lining was also patchy. They were both new kilner jars bought last year, as I wanted smaller ones than what I had. The chilli jam was in a washed out small bottle of something else that was sterilised & was fine.

If you find another brand during your searching AdrienneRobinson can you post on here as well as anyone else? I don't mind using bottles collected but worry that once opened & middle taper button is popped up it doesn't always go down again even when heated, so don't know if sealed tightly enough.

My wife makes masses of preserves, taught by her grandmother so probably been doing it for nearly 70 years. A small amount of bottled fruit, plum family mainly and occasional pears. Jams from soft fruit; we grow strawberries, red and black currants, loganberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries and raspberries (Summer and Autumn). Lots of different pickles and chutneys, runner bean chutney is probably the most popular. Lots of friends get Christmas boxes of preserves and usually a bunch of dried flowers.
You don't need lots of fancy kit for jam, just a decent jam pan and a handy fridge to check the set.
"Customers" are trained to return jars and add their own recycles so we usually have more than we need. We buy replacement lids from The Jam Jar Shop.

Thanks for the tip about getting replacement lids from The Jam Jar shop Geoff - I’ll check that out.

I had a dabble in fermenting during lockdown and made some sourkraut, kimchi and a very nice celeriac, ginger and chilli ferment. Surprisingly easy to do once you figure out the correct salt ratio.

Our neighbour at the time let us try their carrot pickle, nearly blew my head off, but didn’t deter me so went and made some of my own.

Looking forward to preserving some stuff this year. Especially courgettes if they grow as well as they usually do.