The food preserving gene is kicking in strongly now that August has rolled around and the croft produce is starting to come in.
I neither have freezer nor room to store jars of produce yet, but the inner ancestor is urging me to start putting up food for winter.
I am trying my best to resist. Even though there is little more satisfying on a cool, cloudy summers day than preserving jars of loveliness to enjoy over the winter.
This week with my veg bag I scored a punnet of local blackcurrants. I am growing these in the fruit bed on the croft, but the bushes are still only inches tall and too young to produce anything yet.
As they’re as tart as they come without the addition of something sweet they’re best cooked. So I weakened, and made a simple blackcurrant coulis, filling a couple of small jars with it. I reassure myself that surely we have room for these…
These will live in the fridge and be used drizzled on pancakes, porridge, meringues or venison over the coming month or so. They won’t last as long as a jam, but that’s OK because we will use them more widely and often than we would a jam anyway.
I also grew a few rows of beetroot which are starting to reach maturity. A mixture of Touchstone Gold and Pablo. I picked a few earlier this week to make into a jar of pickled beetroot, or maybe a roast beetroot relish.
Note to self: must grow more beetroot next year.
I love the process of making something delicious from things you started from seed some months ago. So satisfying. Growing is wonderful..
Ravencroft Skye 