The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Growing => Fruit => Topic started by: mikey9863 on August 06, 2013, 08:25:47 pm

Title: Fruit and what to do
Post by: mikey9863 on August 06, 2013, 08:25:47 pm
I have taken a stock of the friut and I have numerous apple, plum and pear trees as well as some fig.....then all the wild fruits such as blackcurrant,blackberries, raspberries and redcurrant....
What should i do with them all.....Cider, wine, preserve or bake....Ideas please


 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: doganjo on August 06, 2013, 08:31:19 pm
Take a Hygiene Certificate online - about £20; make jam, jelly, chutney, pies, crumbles etc - label according to the legal guidelines and start a farm shop. :excited:
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: Lesley Silvester on August 06, 2013, 10:41:30 pm
Many of them can be frozen, in particular the berries and currants. Do you have cooking apples? Cook, cool and freeze in portions.


Lucky you to have loads of fruit.
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: Ina on August 07, 2013, 06:07:48 am
And if you run out of freezer space, bottling works well for all of them. When I was young, we always had bottled fruit for dessert. More elaborate "puddings" were for Sundays only.
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: Bert on August 07, 2013, 07:15:01 am
 I also have loads of fruit and no idea what to do with it. So I know how you feel Mikey 9863.
I did turn some of the fruit into a summer fruits pudding, very simple and quick to make. But it dose have to be in the fridge over night, according to the recipe. But I made it early morning and served it that evening, with great results  :thumbsup: . Other half said it was the best pudding I've ever made  :eyelashes: . I wouldn't know as I didn't have any of it, because I HATE summer fruits  :huff:
 
Take a Hygiene Certificate online - about £20; make jam, jelly, chutney, pies, crumbles etc - label according to the legal guidelines and start a farm shop. :excited:


I'm loving this idea  :thumbsup: , is that really all it takes to sell home made stuff ?, a hygiene certificate & labelling.



Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: suziequeue on August 07, 2013, 07:17:23 am
We press all our apples for cider and juice. The black/red currants, raspberries and strawberries get weighed in batches and put into the freezer but will be made into jam, cordial, coulis and ice cream.

I find that easier to manage. The summer is such a busy time on the smallholding that the last thing I want to be doing is fruit processing indoors.

I am interested in the bottling side of things. We seem to be getting a pear harvest this year. I would like to bottle those.
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: mwncigirl on August 08, 2013, 10:27:26 pm
Can you make jam from frozen fruit then Suziequeue?
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: suziequeue on August 08, 2013, 10:43:43 pm
I always have.
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: HesterF on August 09, 2013, 01:08:59 am
Jellies, jams, ice-cream, juices, cordial, wines, cider, just frozen for use through the winter. Depends what you like to eat and drink, I guess. We get through a lot of jam so I've been stockpiling that this year with a bit of jelly and cordial thrown in (oh, and lots of ice-cream but that gets gobbled up straight off - good for using up eggs as well though). I've just bought a load of wine-making stuff from my neighbour who wanted to clear it so gooseberry wine is next on the agenda once I can get my head around 'proper' brewing. Most of our apples are newly planted but I have hopes we can become self-sufficient on fruit juice as well.

H
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: HesterF on August 09, 2013, 01:10:52 am
Oh, and we have a lot of fig trees too. I'm not a big fan but my mum loves them so I'm trying to perfect a 'figs in brandy' recipe for preserving them.
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: Ina on August 09, 2013, 07:10:58 am
Figs make nice jam too - if you eat that kind of thing... I also made a "proper fig roll" with it in the past. Very popular.
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: Lesley Silvester on August 09, 2013, 09:48:35 pm
I've wanted a fig tree for years but the only suitable place for it would be on the route from the goat yard to the milking bench, so I don't think it would stand a chance.  :(
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: Julestools on August 09, 2013, 11:20:31 pm
We have lived in an old pear orchard for 47 years and hardly ever done anything with the pears apart from feed them to the pigs. We sometimes stew a few and occasionaly bottle them but that's about it. Half the trees were pulled up in the 80s to make way for a new yard and shed. Nobody seems to want them
Title: Re: Fruit and what to do
Post by: doganjo on August 09, 2013, 11:29:28 pm

Take a Hygiene Certificate online - about £20; make jam, jelly, chutney, pies, crumbles etc - label according to the legal guidelines and start a farm shop. :excited:

I'm loving this idea  :thumbsup: , is that really all it takes to sell home made stuff ?, a hygiene certificate & labelling.
http://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/food-hygiene/?gclid=CKfzyPy08bgCFcLHtAodbR8AbA (http://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/food-hygiene/?gclid=CKfzyPy08bgCFcLHtAodbR8AbA)

You might get an inspection  of your kitchen too.

See this thread - http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=17992.0 (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=17992.0)