Preserving, pickling and storing

The effort and hard work that goes into growing our own food is worth it on so many levels. We can be confident that no harmful chemicals, including pesticides and fungicides, were used, we know that the work we put into maintaining good quality soil will reap benefits in relation to plant disease and infestation resistance and, that the final produce is full of micro-nutrients and bursting with flavour.

Typically, we often have a glut of produce at certain times of the year. Whether it be a beetroot, courgettes, soft fruit or root crops, we can always find a way of preserving this valuable resource for use later in the year.

Our main methods of preservation are  pickling, making jams and chutneys, dehydrating, freezing, vacuum storage, air-drying, bain marie and cool storage.

This year we have pickled chili peppers and green walnuts. We will pickle figs and beetroot later in the season.

Our freezer contents include diced root vegetables, soft fruit not yet made into jams, beaten eggs, cooked aubergine, tomatoes, blanched vegetables, various vegetable soups, sliced peppers, various herbs and peas.

We have dehydrated pears, piesco (wild peach), apple, beetroot and figs. These are then vacuum packed and used as energy foods for when we are out walking or trekking.

Chutney and pickle features high on our menus as it is a really useful way of using fresh vegetables. So far we have made Piccalilli, Pear Chutney and Tango Pickle.

Jams either made or to make are piesco, raspberry, fig, orange and mixed fruit. We will also be making membrillo (quince jelly) from fruit given to us by Luis' sister.

We are increasing the number of vegetables we preserve using a bain marie method and so far we have had success with leeks, green beans and peppers. We would love to try more so any suggestions please drop us a line in the comments.

Air-drying includes herbs, nuts, beans and chili.

Our cool storage includes potatoes, squash, marrow, apples and onions. We find that is there is a efficient, dry circulation of air, these crops will last form many months into spring and beyond next year.

We are lucky in so much that we have plenty of storage space and we are able to grow vegetables and some salad crops all year round which reduces the need to preserve foods, never-the-less it is great to be able to scan our storage shelves for ingredients and enjoy the fruits of our labour throughout the year.

Those of you who are involved in your own food production will know only too well the amount of time and effort it takes, many hours spent not only in the vegetable garden but also in the kitchen preparing and processing, but it really is worth it and you can taste the difference when freshness is preserved. A few years ago we wrote about experiences for living a simpler life and how we prepare our own food etc. It has proved to be one of the most viewed and read pieces on our blog with over 800 views. If you want to read it you can find it here:  Downsizing: less is more

What do you preserve, pickle or store? Any tips?

Vegetables, salad and soft fruit crops we are growing: 2014-15

We thought it might be useful to make a list of the vegetables we are growing in 2014 through to Spring 2015. It will be useful for us to document it and also give our readers some idea of the range of food that can be grown in a temperate climate that has all year round growing conditions.

We use a crop rotation system that makes the best use of companion planting in the two large and two smaller raised beds situated past the orchard at the bottom of the garden.

Product	Cropping
Celeriac	Feb 2015
Carrots	October 14
Beetroot	Since April through to February 2015
Tomatoes, Spring onions	Current
Leeks	September onwards
Cauliflower, Broccoli, Flower Sprouts	November onwards
Turnip, Swede and Chard	November onwards
Aubergine, Peppers, Butternut Squash	September onwards
Beans (various)	Current
Basil, Parsley, Coriander	September onwards
Lemon Grass and various herbs	Current
Fennel	Ongoing until early Spring
Marrows, Cucumber and Kohl Rabi	Ongoing until September
Chili Peppers	Current
Raspberries and Blackberries	Current
Red and Black Currants	Cropped and frozen
Peas, Onions and Potatoes	Cropped and stored
Winter Lettuce	November onwards
Gooseberries	Crop Failure 2014
Horse Radish	November

No doubt we will be challenged with black fly, aphids, opportunistic intruders, mildew, watering, wild animals and birds but with careful management, pest control and natural defences such as companion planting, we should be able to provide more than enough fresh vegetables, salad crops and soft fruit to see us through the year for eating, processing into jams and pickles and, for preserving in the dehydrator or freezer. The excess we will distribute amongst friends or compost and return the goodness to the soil.

In addition to the vegetables we also grow a range of fruit including peaches, oranges, apples, pears, plums, greengage, rhubarb and physalis as well as a range of plants we will use in hand-creams, soaps and herbal teas: lemon verbena, lemon balm, mint, calendula, lavender, comfrey, sage and so on...

Lemon Verbena - harvested for drying

There is little doubt that growing your own food is hard work and never ending but the rewards are worth the effort. In our experience, it tastes so much better and we can be confident that no harmful chemicals have been used in its production. Friends often say that they wish they had the space to grow food, our reply is always the same: a window box, tub or series of plant pots can produce quite a bit of food. If you've thought about growing your own but never got around to it, it is not too late, have a go and let us know how you get on.

Geraldine the Hedgehog - slug control...

Winter food stores

As the evening mist settles in the lower fields and the sun sets behind the mountain, there is something quite comforting about checking the stores and seeing them well-stocked and knowing that you'll have food on the table and a fire to keep you warm.

Over past year we have made a few jams: fig and vanilla; fig; red berries; rhubarb; raspberry. We are yet to make orange jam.

We have produced: mustard seed and gooseberry pickle; green tomato chutney; ginger, chili and marrow chutney; piccalilli; pickled figs; pickled walnuts; pickled peppers; and pickled chillies. We are yet to make date and apple chutney. We have jars of tomato frito and pisto from Luis' sister but fewer than usual due to her crop being wiped out by a hail storm earlier in the year.

We tend to buy in bulk where possible so having somewhere dry and cool to store things is important for us. We have a dedicated area for food storage which houses a freezer and the dehydrator, a series of shelves and racks. We also use a cool floor area to store crates of apple and squash.

Luis has just returned from the Matanza and as usual loaded up with supplies of eggs, apples, pulses, potatoes, onions and oranges. The oranges (14kg) are particularly welcome as they are from a farm in the south of Spain which do not use dye or wax to improve the appearance of the fruit unlike many commercial oranges. We have ordered 10 kilos of Kiwis from a local organic kiwi farm which will last us through until spring if kept cool.

Our dried herbs and infusions are now ready for processing and will hopefully last us through until the fresh plants are available along with the other dehydrated produce such as figs and apples.

With plenty of fresh vegetables in the garden we are set for winter and look forward to making nourishing food fit for a king on a winter's day. We will cook, sometimes in bulk, more hearty soups, casseroles and stews and use dried herbs and spices, our home-made stock cubes and home produced balsamic vinegar to flavour and enhance.

It is times like these you really do see the fruits of your labours and welcome the storage space...oh and a warm cosy fire.

Dehydrating apples

We love apples all year round. They are always present in the fruit bowl or protected in the store-room ready for ripening and eating. This year, our own trees didn't produce well at all and we had very little viable fruit that grew to harvest. Fortunately our neighbours in the village who are very generous have dropped off a couple of crates of small apples for us to enjoy.

The apples are sweet and very edible despite their diminutive appearance. We have made apple compote with some of them, eaten many and decided to try dehydrating a few to use as a snack for when we go out walking.

The apples were washed, cored and sliced into 1/4 inch slices, dipped in lemon and water (to prevent oxidisation), popped into the dehydrator for 10 hours then vacuum packed. We don't peel ours as we like the texture of the skin. This time I used powdered cinnamon on one tray of apple as an experiment. So far so good, a few bags of dehydrated apple slices we can enjoy later in the year. Early quality control measures indicate: sweet and fruity, a great texture with a bit of a bite and a touch of acidity - perfect.