I'm interested if other HP'ers preserve food and what methods they use. I'm particularly interested in methods that use as little energy as possible.
So far we:
- Make chutney
- Make Jams
- Freeze veggies
- Dry chillies
I've be very interested to hear about the experiences of anybody who has bottled and canned?
Many thanks,
Myarka.
I tried my hand at canning last year for the first time in a long while. I got to it a bit late so all I made were green tomato pickles, but the results were nice. Hopefully I'll have more tomatoes this year (they refused to ripen last summer) and I can put up some salsa and tomato preserves. I'm going to try cucumbers in the garden this year too, so hopefully I'll have gherkins!
Generally I found it to be pretty sweaty work bending over the massive boiling kettle but I managed fine on my own, and it's actually rather fun. The biggest problem I found is getting the supplies. In the US most grocery stores stock self-sealing mason jars and equipment but I've never seen them here except in specialist online shops. I see the kilner-style jars but they're not what I want for the kind of canning I do. With all the gardens here I can't believe that no one cans, is there just another style in the UK?
In terms of home food preservation I'm not sure how energy-efficient it is; you need a high flame on the cooker to keep the kettle boiling but once it's done, it's done. Freezing is definitely a simpler method for foods like vegetables.
I use the USDA guide for reference, it's in 'American' but there's a lot of detail in there. 🙂
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html
I think eat fresh food is more eco.
Pickling onions and garlic doesn't require any energy use.
For onions, first take your onions and put them in a large bowl: fill the bowl with warm water and add a couple of tablespoons of salt, stir in well.
Now when you peel them the skin will come off easily.
Of course, leave the root on till the very last minute!
Put the onions in sterilised jars and cover with pickling vinegar. Put a plastic seal thingy on top (such as you find in jam lid packets - if you do jam you know what I mean) and screw the lid on tight. Store in a dark place: edible after about 3 weeks (or earlier if you're my husband).
I think eat fresh food is more eco.
It is more eco to grow your own food, but it's not possible you have fresh food for 52 weeks of the year unless you want to eat the same thing every day.
If you grow your own food then you will have a surplus some by design and some to ensure enough is grown, it's also good soil husbandary to grow in sections, i.e. by type because it enables rotation and prevents the build up of pests and deseases.
So given there is a surplus, it needs to be preserved or composted. If you compost the surplus, then at times when you have no crops, you will need to buy in food. If it's local, then you've got the minimum of transport polution, but local food will have the same seasons as home grown. Therefore, it's likely to use imported food with its high food miles, irradiation and reduced nutritional value.
Therefore, preserving suplus homegrown food is by far the more ecological. However, the method, i.e. bottling, canning, drying or freezing is a valid debate.
BTW, we reuse the jars with the press button on the lid, because the lids reseal. If they don't reseal then the button won't stay down. I think we get a least 3 reuses out of every jar.
Myarka.