Harvesting Crops It is well worthwhile harvesting your produce daily to ensure you eat the freshest possible produce whilst at its tenderest and nutritionally most beneficial. Don't wait until vegetables are fully mature to start enjoying them, young legumes, salad plants, peppers, courgettes, spinach and many others can be used young and will encourage further growth.  Vegetables harvested for storage should be thoroughly cleaned. Potatoes, sweet potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes are best left in the soil until required. Onions and garlic can be tied in bunches and hung in a dry airy position. Many legumes can be left to dry on the plant and the beans podded for storage when completely dry. Marrows, pumpkins and melons should be stored on shelving under cover in a dry and airy position. You will without fail have gluts of particular crops and these can be preserved in a number of ways: by drying, freezing, bottling or by turning them into chutneys, pickles, jams or by using some of the ideas below. Index of Preservation and Storage Recipes and Techniques Apple Pectin recipe Bottling fruit in syrup Chutney Making Cider Making Drying Produce Freezing Jam and Jelly Making Juicing Nut storage Olives - Green and black olive preparation and olive oil Pickles Rose Water - Recipe Sauce Making Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds - Preparation and storage Vinegar Making Wine Making Apple Pectin  Some of your apple crop can be used to make your own pectin which is needed when making some fruit jams or jellies. Take about 1.5kg of slightly under-ripe green apples, any variety will do - we use a native Cypriot apple, and wash. Slice apples, with the core and pips, and place in a litre of water with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and boil until it reduces by half. Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth, re-boil for about 20 minutes and then pour into a sterilised jar. Once cooled store in a cool and dark place and your pectin will keep for about three months or freeze for later use. The amount of home made pectin to use when jam or jelly making will depend on the fruit or fruits used, if you mixture is not setting add more. Bottling Fruit in Syrup  Bottling is a useful way of preserving fruit gluts for use in the winter. Fruit selected for bottling must be fresh, firm and free from signs of disease. Hard fruits should be washed thoroughly and left to dry before preparation. Soft fruits should be soaked in a salt solution for five minutes to remove any insects or grubs and then left to dry before preparation. Bottling is best done using glass jars, such as the Kilner jars in the picture, which have airtight tops.. Prepare hard fruits for bottling in syrup as follows:- Apples and pears should be peeled, cored and quartered. Apricots, plums, nectarines and peaches should have stalks removed and bottled whole or halved and the stones removed. Figs should be top and tailed and washed Prepare soft fruits for bottling in syrup as follows:- Strawberries should be hulled and carefully washed Blackcurrants, blueberries, cherries, raspberries and redcurrants should be de-stalked, washed carefully and any fruit showing maggot damage discarded. Prepare a syrup for packing fruit by using 250g of sugar for every 600ml of water. Dissolve the sugar, over a low heat, in 300ml of water and once dissolved add the other 300ml of water. Pack the fruit tightly into pre-sterilised preserving jars and pour over the syrup. Tap the bottles to remove any air bubbles before sealing. Store in a cool, dry and dark area. Chutney Making To make chutney it's worth investing in a stainless steel preserving pan which unlike iron, brass or copper will not react with vinegar. The investment is well worth it as the pan can also be used for jam and pickle making. The basic method for all chutney recipes is to wash, peel and dice your fruit and vegetables and place them into the pan with the vinegar, sugar, dried fruit and spices. Stir until the sugar dissolves and simmer gently, without boiling, whilst continuing to stir occasionally until the ingredients are soft which takes about 2-3 hours. Pour into clean jars which have been warmed in a low oven and put on the lids immediately. Once cooled, label and store in a cool and dark place. Chutneys should be allowed to mature for three months before use but will improve with age and can be stored for at least two years. Try making your own Tomato and Apple chutney - go to Preserve Recipes. Cider Making Making cider is an easy way of preserving your apple harvest. Any type of apple can be used to make cider but combining sweet and sour apples produces a better flavour. As a rough guide about 5-7Kg of apples will produce 4.5 litres of cider. Harvest your fully ripe, undamaged apples which are not too bruised. Store the apples, in a cool place, for two weeks to allow the skins to soften and after two weeks wash thoroughly before crushing. Crushing can be done using a purchased fruit crusher or, if you are only making a small amount of cider, by smashing the apples with a wooden mallet after wrapping them in a cheesecloth. The next step is to press the pulped apples to extract the juice. For large amounts you may wish to purchase a press, build one (plans are available if you google home made cider press) or for smaller quantities use a kitchen juicer or food processor attachment. Natural yeasts will convert the fruit sugar into alcohol but the resulting cider will be very sharp. For a more palatable cider you need to control the fermentation process. This is achieved by using a general purpose wine yeast and adding campden tablets (sodium metabisulphite) to kill off most of the natural yeasts. Once fermentation is completed, which can take from 2-8 weeks, siphon the cider into a pre-sterilised fermentation jar whilst ensuring the sediment is not transferred. Top the liquid to near the top with boiled water and re-fit an airlock. Store in a cool and dark place to allow the cider to clear. If more sediment forms the process will need to be repeated until the cider is cleared. If you prefer a sweeter cider, add approximately 500g of sugar to each fermentation jar when siphoning off the cider for clearing. Add an airlock and allow the cider to ferment for another 1-2 weeks and re-rack into a pre-sterilised fermentation jar. Once the cider is ready, siphon into plastic fizzy drink bottles and store in a cool and dark place. Cider improves with age and, if possible, store for 4-6 months before drinking. Drying Produce Try to select produce, for drying, which is at its best and when cutting try to cut to an equal size to ensure your produce dry's at a even rate. Most vegetables should be blanched prior to drying to destroy enzymes - you can find information on blanching under freezing. Fruit can be dipped in a water mixture with added fruit or lemon juice, pectin, honey or salty water. By dipping the fruit you will prevent oxidisation which darkens the fruit. Your fruit is generally dry enough when it is soft and leathery and vegetables are dry enough when they become crisp. Once thoroughly dried, it is important to properly store your produce. Store in tightly closed jars and whenever possible fill these completely to keep the air out. Jars should be kept in a cool, dry and dark place and the produced used within six months. Dried fruits can be eaten dry and beans can be re-hydrated over night in water. To rehydrate other produce, simply pour over boiling water and allow to stand for a few minutes to a few hours depending on the produce or simply add dry to soups, casseroles or stews. Methods of Drying 1. Food Dehydrator - is an appliance which uses heat and airflow to remove the moisture from the food. The price of an appliance can range from about 60EUR to 300EUR and is generally higher for larger capacity appliances. Before buying an appliance consider how much usage it will get, its electricity consumption and what size meets your needs. Alternatively, you can shorten the drying time by making a solar drier. I would recommend you research a design which suits your needs, there are numerous designs available and many use recycled materials or can be made using cardboard boxes. 3. Air Drying - This is a very easy method and suitable for herbs. And it is very useful to have dried herbs available in the kitchen for herbs used regularly like mint, parsley and oregano. Pick your herbs and remove any withered, damaged or dead leaves. Gather together your herbs in bunches, tie at the stem and blanch in boiling water for a few seconds to remove any dirt or insects. Shake and leave to dry before hanging in a dry breezy place such as by a kitchen window. Drying normally takes two to three days. When dry crush the herbs, remove the stalks and store in an airtight jar in a dark and cool place. 4. Oven Drying - if you encounter a period without sufficiently high temperatures to sun dry this is a simple drying method. Place your produce, in single layers, on non-stick trays, or straight on the oven racks if large enough, and dry at 50c to 60c for between 4 to 10 hours. Regularly check for dryness and turn your produce to ensure even drying. Beans - Stem and cut into 2.5cm pieces, blanch and dry for 6-8 hours Beetroot - Cook, peel, cut into 8mm chunks and dry for 3-6 hours Broccoli - Cut and dry for 3-6 hours Carrots - Peel, slice and dry for 6-8 hours Cauliflower - Cut and dry for 6-10 hours Courgettes - Slice thinly and dry for 4-8 hours Onions - Peel, slice 8mm thick and dry for 6-8 hours Peas - Pod and dry for 6-10 hours Peppers - De-seed, cut into uniform sizes and dry for 4-8 hours Potatoes - Peel, slice thinly and dry for 6-10 hours Sweetcorn - Remove from cob, blanch and dry for 6-10 hours Tomatoes - Dip in boiling water and remove skins, slice and dry for 6-10 hours Apples - Peel, core, cut into thin rings. Blanch for 5 minutes and dry for 6-8 hours Apricots - Cut in half and turn inside out . Blanch for 5 minutes and dry for 8-12 hours Grapes - For details on how to make your own sun dried raisins go to Preserve Recipes Peaches - Peel, halve or quarter and dry for 6 - 15 hours Pears - Peel, slice thinly and dry for 6-15 hours Soft Fruits - Dry for 8-15 hours Strawberries - Cut in half and dry for 6-12 hours Freezing Produce needs to be frozen as quickly as possible, to retain its flavour and nutritional value, and this can be achieved by setting your freezer to a low setting for a few hours. Putting your produce in the freezer will cause the freezer temperature to rise but the lower setting will ensure it freezes quickly. Blanching is easier if you use a wire basket and a large pan. The produce should be completely immersed in the boiling water, for the times specified below, and then cooled as quickly as possible by plunging the wire basket into a bowl of very cold water. When completely cooled, allow the produce to drain and dry thoroughly before placing into portion sized freezer bags. Blanching times and preparation after thoroughly washing all produce: Aubergines - Peel and cut into 2.5cm slices, blanch for 4 minutes Globe artichokes - Trim to leave the hearts and blanch for 8 minutes Beans - Select tender beans and blanch for 3 minutes Beetroot - Cook until tender and freeze Broad beans - Shell and blanch for 3 minutes Broccoli - Trim off any tough stems and blanch for 4 minutes Brussels - Remove outer leaves and blanch for 4 minutes Cabbage - Shred and blanch for 90 seconds Carrots - Slice or cut and blanch for 4 minutes Cauliflower - Break into sprigs and blanch for 3 minutes Courgettes - Slice or cut and blanch for 1 minute Marrow - Peel and then slice or cut and blanch for 3 minutes Onion - Chop and freeze Parsnips - Peel, trim, cut and blanch for 2 minutes Peas - Shell and blanch for 90 seconds Spinach - Blanch for 2 minutes Sweetcorn - Remove husks and blanch for between 4 and 8 minutes depending on size Turnip - Trim, peel, cube and blanch for 2 minutes Jam Making Jam making includes jellies, marmalades, and other fruit conserves and is a popular way of preserving fruit crops. Not only delicious on toast, they can also be used when baking and preparing desserts. Most of the equipment needed to make jams, such as scales, funnels and jugs, are available in your kitchen but if you are going to make jams, pickles, chutneys and sauces regularly it would be well worth investing in a stainless steel preserving pan. You can never have enough jars, so ask friends to keep their glass jars for you and you will have plenty and you can reward them with a jar of jam. Fruit to be used for making jam, should be ripe but not over-ripe or damaged or your jam may not store well or not set. Fruit should be washed and stalks and stones removed before weighing. Place in the pan with a little water and simmer until soft. Cooking the fruit allows pectin to be released which allows jams to set. For low pectin fruits there are a number of ways of increasing the pectin level; by adding a high pectin fruit to your jam such as one finely chopped apple, by adding your own home made pectin (included in this section is an apple pectin recipe) or by adding sufficient lemon juice to aid setting. Before making jam check your selected recipe which should inform you whether your selected fruit has a high or low pectin level. Only when the fruit has softened should the correct sugar to the weight of fruit be added. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly whilst stirring to ensure your fruit does not stick to the bottom of the pan and scorch. After boiling for the time recommended by your recipe, check for setting by placing a small amount of jam on a cold plate and after a minute check for surface wrinkling which occurs when setting point has been reached. Pour whilst hot into sterilised jars and place the lids on immediately. Once cooled, clean the jars, label and store in a cool and dark place. For recipes for fig, lemon curd, pomegranate and marmalade go to Preserve Recipes. Juicing Most fruit and vegetables can be juiced and the combinations are endless. Good juicers include carrots, apples, beetroot, cucumber, tomatoes, cabbage, lemons, celery and ginger. However, almost all fruit are vegetables can be juiced but the amount of juice which can be extracted varies greatly. Experiment with your own combinations. Nuts Dry your harvested nuts in the sun and separate the nuts from any casings before storage. Always store your produce in their shells and in a dry and cool place, preferably in breathable cloth sacks, and they will store until your next harvest but they probably won't last that long. With peanuts, leave in the ground until the plants have turned yellow and dig out. Shake the soil off the roots and hang to dry for seven days in a warm and dry location. After a week, pull the peanuts from the plant, clean off any remaining soil and sun dry for a further two weeks whilst turning occasionally. Peanuts are highly perishable and vulnerable to mould. Shelled peanuts will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for three months and unshelled for up to six months but inspect regularly and remove any peanuts which show signs of moulding. If you are lucky enough to produce a large crop, you can try making your own peanut butter which is a good way of longer term preservation - go to Preserve Recipes. Olives Green Olives - The great Cypriot way of preparing green olives (cakistes or tsakistes) is to make them edible by cracking. The following recipe is one method of producing your own tasty green olives. Pick about 2kg of plump blemish free green olives, usually from late September till late October, and thoroughly wash removing any stalks or leaves and then dry them in the midday sun.  Once completely dry place each one on a large flat stone and hit gently with another smaller flat stone or wooden mallet to crack the flesh but not the olive stone. This is a messy job and best done outside, away from the house and wearing a plastic apron, as the oil splatters everywhere. Put the olives into a large plastic or glass jar and cover with cold water, you will have to insert a smaller lid before sealing to ensure all the olives stay submerged or use a jar with an inverted lid. Change the water daily for the next seven days which will remove their bitterness and on day eight rinse well and drain. Make up enough salt solution to cover the olives, this will be approximately 100g of rock salt for every litre of water required.  Pack the olives tightly into a clean jar and pour in the salt solution, tapping the jars base to ensure all air is released. Then pour a good layer of olive oil over the surface to seal and replace the jar lid tightly. Before adding the olive oil you may also add seven crushed garlic, slices of one lemon and three tablespoons of crushed coriander seeds to add flavour. Store you jar in a dark cool place for about four weeks, after which the olives are ready to enjoy. Your olives are now ready to be rinsed to remove any excess salt and dressed with lemon and fresh coriander for serving as mezes or undressed and used in a variety of recipes. Black Olives - These can be prepared for storage, usually in late November until late December, using the same method as green olives but do not crack. Alternatively, black olives can be dry salted. Pick 2Kg of nice plump blemish free olives Wash them well and pack into a large jar and cover with water. Change the water daily for 4 days and after the final draining, sprinkle enough rock salt to cover the base.   Pickles The first step in pickling is the removal of excess moisture from the produce, which is necessary to prevent bacterial growth and produce a crispier texture, by either soaking in brine or salting. Salting, for up to 24 hours depending on the produce, is used only for high water content produce like cucumbers or marrows. After salting produce should be rinsed several times to remove excess salt before pickling. You should use coarse or sea salt for salting or brining as table salt, due to the additives included, tends to cloud pickles. The brine solution should be made up from 50g of salt for every litre of water and the produce should be completely immersed by use of a plate over the surface of the container. For salting, layer the produce in a container with a very thin layer of salt between each layer and finish with a thin layer of salt. Produce used for pickling must be fresh, firm and without blemishes or damage. Large vegetables and fruit such as apples, pears, cucumbers, cauliflowers or marrows are best cut. However, smaller produce, such as peeled onions and cherry tomatoes can be pickled whole. You can use your homemade wine or cider vinegar for pickling but prepare in advance by adding whole spices in a muslin bag for about 6 weeks. Do not use ground spices which will cause clouding. Your spiced vinegar can be used either cold for vegetables that are best crisp, such as cauliflower and onions, or hot for fruit pickles. Pack your produce as tightly as possible into pre-sterilised jars and add either hot or cold spiced vinegar - depending on your selected recipe. After placing on the lids, label and date. Leave for a month or two before use to allow the flavours to infuse and use within 12-18 months. Keep your jars in a dark and cool place but once opened keep in the fridge. Rose Water Sauce Making Bottled sauces made from low acid ingredients such as ripened tomatoes will need sterilising before long term storage to prevent fermentation. If you are only making a small batch and using it within a month sterilisation is not necessary or you may choose to freeze your sauce. But if you are sterilising, this can be done using any deep pan, such as a pressure cooker, as long it is deep enough to completely cover the bottle and has room for a wire rack to ensure the bottle does not come in direct contact with the heat to avoid cracking. To sterilise your sealed bottles, you will need to bring the water to boil and simmer for at least an hour whilst ensuring the water level does not drop. The methods for sauce making will vary depending on your selected recipe but in all cases use ingredients that are ripe and undamaged. Wash thoroughly and remove any blemished areas. Always cook your ingredients slowly and stir occasionally. Press the pulped ingredients through a sieve and re-heat in a clean pan, adding any other suggested ingredients, before brining to the boil until thickened. Once ready, pour into pre-sterilised jars or bottles and seal. If you want try making your own tomato sauce try the recipe on the Preserve Recipes page. Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds Your sunflower crop can be harvested, from around late September until early October, and turned into a delicious snack which is rich in fibre, vitamins E and B, amino acids and essential minerals.  (1) Once completely dry, rub the seeds into a bucket and soak overnight in salty water to soften the shells. (2) Drain the water and dry in the sun for a few hours,once dry clean out any plant debris. (3) Place on a shallow tray and put into a 180 degree celsius pre-heated oven. If desired you can add salt, garlic powder or paprika to flavour mixing with a little olive oil before roasting. (4) Roast the seeds for about 25 minutes but carefully watch and remove the seeds once golden brown. (5) Cool and enjoy or store in an air-tight jar in the fridge to prolong your snacks life. (1). Wash and dry the seeds after sun drying. (2). To roast, take the dried seeds and toss with olive oil and salt and cook in a pre-heated oven at 150c for about 10-15 minutes whilst stirring occasionally. (3). Once cooled, store in an air-tight jar and eat within two months. Vinegar Making The vinegar process is started by washing the grapes or apples, extracting the juice and, after measuring the volume of juice, straining into a sterilised container. Brewing yeast is added, sufficient for the volume of juice, an airlock is put in place. The juice is left to ferment and turn the fruit sugar into alcohol. Once fermentation is completed, expose the liquid to the air which will permit acid making bacteria to convert the alcohol to vinegar. This process can be speeded by adding half a cup of organic vinegar to the liquid. Whilst the process is taking place a cover, such as cheesecloth, over the container to keep out insects or dirt. The liquid needs to be kept at between 15c and 25c and stirred daily during fermentation which takes between 3-4 weeks. The vinegar is ready when it smells and taste like vinegar. Once fermentation is complete, strain the liquid through a cheesecloth several times to remove any remaining yeast and stop the fermentation process. To permit long term storage your vinegar must be pasteurised by heating to 75c, use a cooking thermometer to determine the temperature, for about 10 minutes. Pour your vinegar whilst still hot into sterilised glass bottles and store out of direct sunlight in a cool area. If your vinegar tastes too strong it can be diluted with water. Flavour can be added to your wine vinegar by adding herbs or spices such as garlic, rosemary. basil, oregano or hot peppers. Let the flavours infuse the vinegar for about six weeks and then re-strain before storing. Wine Making Apart from the produce you are going to turn into wine, all you basically need is water, sugar and wine yeast. The sugar and natural sugars in your chosen produce react with the yeast and ferment to produce alcohol. The are numerous wine making recipes for all fruits andvegetables and each will tell you how much of each ingredient is required. All wine making equipment must be thoroughly cleaned to lessen the chance of bacterial contamination. Your chosen produce will need to be prepared by washing and cutting or crushing to allow the natural sugars to be released. Follow your chosen recipe to mix the prepared produce with the water and sugar and then pour into a pre-sterilised fermentation jar. The yeast is then added, some yeasts require pre-activation whilst some can be added to the fermentation jar without pre-activation. |
Home >