Because we have a seasonal climate, we are unable to produce crops steadily throughout the year: sometimes there’s loads and other times there’s very little to harvest from the garden. And so, we preserve… those courgettes that we are sick and tired of in August will be welcome in our hearty soup in December, when the days of glut are a distant memory.
frying onions
skinned tomatoes
chopped courgette
from the garden
making the soup
So, this week I have been preparing for winter by stocking the freezer with soup – carrot and courgette and mulligatawny (see pictures above) – and passata made from oven roasted tomatoes.
Now, I look in the freezer and can savour the prospect of all sorts of goodies through the winter:
home grown fruit
roasted courgette
passata
lots of soup
And as soon as I can manage to collect a load of apples from Perkin, I will be bottling those like mad too.
The Snail of Happiness 
Andrea
/ August 29, 2014In the thick of preserving here as well. I love preserving as a rule and nothing makes me happier than admiring all the jewel coloured jars set by, but right now if I never saw another pear to peel and chop in my life I’d be quite content!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 29, 2014I know I’m going to have exactly that feeling about apples in the not-too-distant future!
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nanacathy2
/ August 29, 2014Just started to pick our plums. First plum cake in the oven right now. Plum chutney next week. Busy time of year but worth it through the winter. Fancy some of your soup..
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 29, 2014Do call in for a bowl if you are in west Wales!
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katythenightowl
/ August 29, 2014If you’re in a collecting mood, we’ve a ton of Damsons ripened in our hedgerow – I’m sure Mr Night Owl would be pleased to see them being used! Lol
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 29, 2014Ooh – thank you! Mr Snail is off on his travels on Sunday, so I’ll call round some time next week 🙂
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thecontentedcrafter
/ August 29, 2014Fabulous photos and great work too! I don’t preserve any more but I used to way back. I do still gather things for the freezer and enjoy being able to supply my needs over winter.
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katechiconi
/ August 29, 2014I’m looking forward to tomato season so I can stock up on pasta sauce. I’m down to my last two jars. I don’t think my garden’s going to be the source this year, though, what with dismantling the pods and getting the new place started. I’m also looking forward to seeing if our new mango and citrus trees produce anything!
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kareninhonolulu
/ August 30, 2014That is so wonderful to read about certainly fruits of your hard labor
Sent from my iPhone
>
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quarteracrelifestyle
/ August 30, 2014Alot of work at this time of the year for you but awesome to be able to eat berries through winter, along with everything else!
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goodfoodmarsh
/ September 2, 2014Amazing photos! Loving all your preparation for the coming months & I’m sure your passata will be amazing! If you have a minute, I’d love your thought on my leftovers dish (I was reminded of it by this post!) 🙂 http://goodfoodmarsh.wordpress.com/2014/08/30/leftovers-hullabaloo/
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 2, 2014The photos were not take with my usual camera, so it’s strange you should mention them specifically!
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narf77
/ September 6, 2014Crazy preservation in your neck of the woods and wide eyed maniacal seed planting on ours. OH the joys of gardening! 😉 Love those foodie futures ma’am, always great to open up the freezer and know that you are at least a couple of weeks safe from starvation 🙂
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