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Preserving Summer Holidays
In 1880 education was made compulsory for children up to the age of 10 and the rhythm of the seasons, already drifting away from an agricultural pattern, began to be dominated by the school year, the Christmas concert, Exams in May/June and the long summer holiday. The long summer break was set originally to accommodate agricultural need for extra labour, frequently crop picking, and were often quite different times in different parts of the country according to local agricultural practice. For example families from the East End of London went “Hopping down in Kent” right up to the 1950’s. A working holiday for the whole family in the fields away from the pollution of London was the only holiday many were likely to have. Over the years there has been greater consistency and several suggestions of changing the school year to avoid having a long summer holiday but still the echo of the agricultural rhythm persists. In the adult world many activities like clubs, reading groups, and classes that are not tied to the school holiday in any way close down for the end of July and August anyway, so there may be a little longer in your time schedule to consider some new activity.
Here then is something for you to consider doing “over the summer”, by yourself, with friends, as a family or with grand children, whatever suits. Linking to the seasonal schedule of crop picking, one of the activities for summer and into autumn is to preserve any excess crops that you may have in your garden. Or you may wish to take advantage of the cheaper prices when fruit, vegetables or herbs are in season. We will ignore freezing and focus on other preservation methods that may be considered more environmentally sound. Long before refrigeration and freezing were available to the average citizen, fruit and vegetables were preserved through drying, using sugar, salt, vinegar or oil, through fermentation, by making particular preservation products e.g. jam, chutney etc and preserving in alcohol. Below are some examples that you might try.
Drying Herbs
Herbs are best picked in fine weather and early in the morning before any of the oils have started to evaporate. Herbs have a better flavour earlier in the season, before flowering, but it is not too late in summer. Tie small bunches of herbs with cotton or thread, wash them gently in cold water and dry off with kitchen roll. Hang them to dry in the house out of sunlight, or in a shed or garage (not the greenhouse). They may take a couple of weeks. Check each bunch is sufficiently dry. Store in an airproof container.
Salting Roasted Garlic
Set oven for 200C, using 8 cloves of Garlic and 300 gms sea salt
Peel the garlic and whizz it in the food processor., add salt and whizz again until mixed.
Pour/spread the mixture on an oven tray and bake for 10 mins, whizz and store in an airproof container.
Preserving fruit in Alcohol
Use a good quality but not highly flavoured Gin or Vodka and choose either a single fruit or a mixture of fruits. Cut up any larger fruits so that all chunks are a similar size, berries work well. A large ceramic jar with a lid is ideal, a glass jar is fine but cover it to keep out the light.
Fill the jar with fruit and pour in the alcohol to cover the fruit. Replace the lid and keep in a cool dark place for a minimum of 4 weeks shaking gently every now and then. When the taste is to your satisfaction strain out the fruit, bottle the alcohol and eat the fruit or use it in a suitable recipe within a few days. The alcohol of course will keep for some time, in some households!
Look out for information on drying apples in September.
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