Le Temps Des Conserves (My preservation calendar)
I am fairly serious about preserving food. In fact a few years ago, there was an article about me in the local newspaper. Kay Beatty wrote it and took the pictures. There is a rhythm to it, throughout the year. One does not built a pantry of home preserve food in 2 days or 2 weeks. It takes over half the year to do it, little by little. Some things are done in big batches: for example, hit a pick-your-own berry patch and freeze/can 20 lbs of berries. Others are done throughout the growing season (canning tomatoes, one or two canner-loads at a time). And others still are done in very small quantities, as things are available: typically herb ferments, or condiments… but those are the spice of life in the kitchen!
So here is my preservation calendar, based on the fruit & veggies we grow in quantities for preserving or can get in abundance locally.
May
- Strawberries: jam, spread, syrup & shrub, freeze chunks/slices, freeze pre-measured puree
- Harvest & hang bunches of herbs to dry: mints, lemon verbena, lemon balm, thyme. oregano, nepitella
- Blanch & freeze spinach
- puree & freeze dill; make dill oil.
June
- Blueberries: jam, spread, syrup, can, freeze, occasionally dehydrate
- Sour & sweet cherries: cordial, jam, juice, fruit leather, fruit butter, freeze (pitted or unpitted), dehydrate
- green coriander berries: freeze or ferment
- Red currants, white currants, black currants: jam & jellies (sometimes mixed with other fruit), juice, freeze
- garlic scapes: pesto/paste, ferment
- soft leave herbs: paste (freeze or ferment)
- dry tea herbs such as camomile, calendula, linden, mints etc
- rhubarb: can spread/sauce, jam, chutney, freeze
July
- Apricots: jam, juice, can halves or puree
- Beets: pickle, dehydrate & powder
- Blackberries: juice, syrup, shrub, wine, jam, spread/sauce, freeze
- Cabbage: sauerkraut & kimchi
- Cherries, sweet, & blueberries: jams, can spread/sauce, juice, butter, freeze (cherries may be pitted or unpitted)
- Cucumber: bread & butter pickle, dill pickles, lacto-ferment, relishes
- Garlic: cure, pickle, confit, ferment, paste (ferment or freeze)
- Raspberries: see blackberries
- Peaches & Nectarines: dry, fruit leather, jam, can (halves, slices, puree), freeze (slices or premeasured puree), pickle
- Plums: can (roasted, halves, puree), jams, spreads, cutting preserve, pickle, chutney
- Shiitake: saute & freeze, dehydrate
- Zucchini: dry, sott’olio, relishes
August
- Blackberries: see above
- Chayote greens: saute & freeze
- Corn, sweet: pickle, freeze
- Cucumber & Zucchini – see above
- Eggplants: roast/grill & freeze; sott’olio
- Elderberries: freeze, jams, syrup
- Figs (should we be so lucky every few years only): jam, can, freeze, dry
- Green beans: blanch & freeze, pickle (by themselves or in relishes)
- Peaches, nectarines & plums: see above. Also paste or “cheese” (aka cutting preserve) with some plum varieties
- Peppers, sweet: roast & freeze; chop & freeze; relish; paste (freeze or ferment)
- Plums, including Damsons: see above
- Raspberries: see above
- Swiss chard: blanch & freeze
- Tomatoes: dry, can (juice, puree, sauces, condiments)
- Tomatilloes: freeze; can (by themselves or as salsa verde)
September
- Apples: can (sauce)
- Autumn berries: juice, fruit leather, jelly
- Green beans: see above
- Pawpaw: puree & freeze, fruit leather
- Pears, European & Asian: can (whole, slices or sauce), chutney
- Peppers, sweet: see above
- Peppers, hot: pickles, hot sauce, lacto-fermented, freeze
- Quince, European: can, roast & freeze, jam, paste (aka membrillo or quince “cheese”)
- Quince, Japanese: jelly
- Raspberries: see above
- Rhubarb: can spread/sauce, jam, chutney, freeze
- Tomatoes: see above
- Tomatilloes: see above
October
- Apples & Pears: see above
- Chayote: dark warm storage, pickles
- Chestnuts: freeze, dry/flour
- Ginger: pickle, candy, preserve in honey, jam, paste (ferment or freeze)
- Peppers, sweet & hot: see above
- Asian persimmons: freeze puree, pickle
- Winter Squash: warm storage, pickle
- Sweet Potatoes: warm storage
- Green tomatoes: jam, chutney & relishes, sott’olio