That's it for this year

[Marmalady]

due to lack of time after picking -i have elderberries & rosehips in the freezer along with blackberry, rowan & apple juice. I've also got some wild raspberries and a few black & redcurrants waiting to be made into a mixed fruit jam.
Still want to go back for more apples to make more apple jelly as the tree of wild apples i have found makes the most wonderfully flavoured & clear jelly :)

remember - if you should run out of your own home-made preserves, rather than the supermarket gloop you can get great jams chutmeys & marmalades at farmers markets or even online -- i sell my wares this way :)

[Millymollymandy]

Ooh blimey you have been busy - must be all that rain that's what I'm planning to do this week/end as the forecast is dire.....

I've done

Strawberry jam
Cherry jam (OH made it actually!)
Damson jam - but overset
Bramble jelly
Blackcurrant and apple jelly

Elderflower cordial
Redcurrant and elderberry cordial

Red onion marmalade
Curried tomato chutney
Green tomato chutney
Delia's spicy pickled French-not-Runner beans
Pickled beetroot
Pesto
Lots of tomato sauce/juice either bottled or frozen

(edits in red - things I've made since this post )

and still have jams/jellies/chutneys and cordials to make and more things to do with tomatoes - plenty of red ones here.

It's jolly hard work at times and I get sick of the sight of preserving pans (let alone washing the damn things), muslin and huge bowls all of which are too big for the sink but agree, when done it is great to be able to sit back and enjoy..... winter.

[Odsox]

Wow, you both put my paltry efforts to shame.
I've only made gooseberry jam, lemon marmalade and mixed fruit jam (raspberry & blackberry)
Oh, I've also made some tomato relish and a big jar of pickled onions.

OH has been a bit busier and made several jars of pickled red cabbage and bottled gooseberries & blackcurrants, as well as umpteen bottles and jars of blackcurrant juice and even more jars of tomato purée

I do still have butternut squash and ginger jam to make, but there's no rush for that just yet.

[Green Aura]

Those are fantastic lists - well done all of you!

I do have a question though - how do you get through that much jam?

The chutneys and sauces I understand - we get through loads, especially my ma's picallili (must get the recipe of her while she can still remember it )

But we're still eating grape and plum conserve from 1996! And rowan jelly from last year. We did finish last years rhubarb jam quite quickly, but I only made two jars.

So what do you do with it all - we don't really have anyone to give it to so what we make we need to eat.

And have you got any suggestions for non-jam type fruit preserves - hopefully our fruit growing quotient will rise exponentially next year if our gardening plans come right.

[Jerseymum]

I get through most of my jams when baking birthday cakes over the winter months! This year has been a bit low on preserves as we only moved in March/April.
We have still managed to put away (in the cupboard, not our bellies...yet):
strawberry jam
lemon marmalade
plum jam
blackberry and apple jam
beetroot chutney
spicy tomato chutney
raspberry and redcurrant jam
spiced bilberry jam
peach jam

I've also got some cherry brandy, damson gin and a Rumtopf on the go. Next year we'll have more cos we'll have had a chance to grow more, I'm sure.
Sarah

[Green Aura]

cherry brandy, damson gin and a Rumtopf

Now those I could get through! Except rhubarb vodka, which we made last year and is - far too sweet and not enough fruit.

[meestasmeeth]

Ooops, just posted a query, or so I thought but it hasn't appeared. Anyway, I'll try again, seeing as how knowledable and expert you all seem, perhaps you can advise me with something. I tried my hand at making some apple and sage jelly, followed the recipe and method to the letter but the jelly has set to something like mastic. My query is, can you reboil the jelly and perhaps water it down slightly, or will I just have to chalk this one up to experience. By the way, you have all posted some brilliant lists of produce, here's hoping I'll have something to post next year.

[Odsox]

I've also got some cherry brandy, damson gin

Oh yeah I forgot that, I have a 1lb jam jar of cherry brandy
It was the first year for the morello cherry tree and I picked about 20 cherries, just enough for a jam jar !

Believe it or not, I still have some 10 year old sloe gin, along with some 5 YO and some 2 YO, so not making any this year .. even though there are sloes galore for the picking.
I can highly recommend 10 year old sloe gin, it's very smooth and caramelly, but I bet not many people wait that long .. this bottle got lost in the back of the larder.

[Odsox]

I do have a question though - how do you get through that much jam?

That's the easy part Maggie.

Apart from the normal way on toast, I have a couple of desert spoonfuls stirred into my porridge every morning (when the time comes for my winter breakfasts and the woodburner is warm)
I also have some stirred into rice puddings ... and then there's jam roly poly, marmalade puddings, jam tarts, castle pudding, bakewell tart, ... a dollop of jam mixed with apples in a pie is rather yummy too.

Not a lot of problem using it up, that's for sure.

[Millymollymandy]

I give most of our jam away as presents but we eat most of the chutney and pickles ourselves. I love jam but don't eat breakfast so it's only occasionally used, either on baguette left over from dinner as pud (though we don't buy baguettes very often) or stirred into rice/tapioca pud. What I do like is a nice selection of different jams so I have about 8 opened in the fridge at any one time and eat what takes my fancy. I also do swapsies with a neighbour if we have different jams from each other.

I'm going to be trying pumpkin and rosemary jam later Tony.

[Millymollymandy]

Apart from the normal way on toast, I have a couple of desert spoonfuls stirred into my porridge every morning (when the time comes for my winter breakfasts and the woodburner is warm)
I also have some stirred into rice puddings ... and then there's jam roly poly, marmalade puddings, jam tarts, castle pudding, bakewell tart, ... a dollop of jam mixed with apples in a pie is rather yummy too.

Not a lot of problem using it up, that's for sure.

Back to heart attack food I see.

[Millymollymandy]

Ooops, just posted a query, or so I thought but it hasn't appeared. Anyway, I'll try again, seeing as how knowledable and expert you all seem, perhaps you can advise me with something. I tried my hand at making some apple and sage jelly, followed the recipe and method to the letter but the jelly has set to something like mastic. My query is, can you reboil the jelly and perhaps water it down slightly, or will I just have to chalk this one up to experience.

I honestly don't know the answer to that one. Perhaps it's worth a try if it is so bad that the jelly is inedible.

[crowsashes]

i just managed to make blackberry!

anybody know how to stop the inside of your jam thermometer steaming up ? - some numpty put it in the sink instead of wiping it off!! now every time i go to use it the inside gets fogged up and unreadable. its completely sealed bar two smallish holes by the way.

[Odsox]

Apart from the normal way on toast, I have a couple of desert spoonfuls stirred into my porridge every morning (when the time comes for my winter breakfasts and the woodburner is warm)
I also have some stirred into rice puddings ... and then there's jam roly poly, marmalade puddings, jam tarts, castle pudding, bakewell tart, ... a dollop of jam mixed with apples in a pie is rather yummy too.

Not a lot of problem using it up, that's for sure.

Back to heart attack food I see.

Yes there does seem to be a recurring theme doesn't there.
Ah well, you can't live forever.

[snapdragon]

I'm such a spoilsport
I freeze the fruits. Jams and chutneys use my fuel to make, and I'd have to buy sugar