Before freezers the Kilner Jar was the favoured method of preserving fruit and some vegetables. Bottling (canning in the US) remains a very efficient method of preserving produce for
Old jars can still be used
consumption later, when home grown fresh food gets scarce.
Fruit bottling is having a revival and Kilner jars are getting pressed back into service after years of gathering dust in attics. The beauty of bottling is that once the fruit is sealed into the jar no energy is used to maintain it’s condition, unlike freezing which depends on constant power supply.
Key components of the Kilner system are the lids and especially the rubber seals that keep the air out and ensure the food within doesn’t deteriorate. These seals and lids need replacing and you can be sure that old jars will have perished seals and rusty lids……….what to do?
Bring your old jars along to the Harvest VegEvent and Peter Dornay of Kilnerjarsuk will help you find the right spares to get your Kilners back into action no matter how old they are.
Peter will also be showing some of the older types of Kilner jars from his collection.
Did you know that Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear ‘fame’ has the original Kilner family on his maternal side……..
You can find our more than you really need to know about Kilner and other bottling jars on Peter’s web site :http://www.kilnerjarsuk.co.uk
Great news!
Emma, is a freelance writer, photographer and podcaster. She is a keen gardener and lives in Oxfordshire with husband Pete and three pet chickens – Princess Layer, Chewbucka and Cluck Skywalker. (RIP Hen Solo)
Emma Cooper
Emma will be running the seed swap and selling/signing her book ‘The alternative Kitchen Garden an A-Z’
You can find our more about Emma on her web site: http://coopette.com
The objective of our Harvest VegEvent is to help gardeners to make the most of growing their own – storing more, growing more at both ends of the season and getting better results.
Total self sufficiency is a tough one though, very few achieve it and that’s where local producers come in, they can fill the gaps in your production and provide the food that you can’t or don’t wish to home produce.
The Harvest VegEvent would like to help any local producers to get better known…….I know you are out there because I keep finding out about you by chance so please get in touch if you would like our help in spreading the word.
It’s not just food that we are interested in, anything that is local, sustainable and connected with gardening, food, health and well-being can be included.
Please use the contact form to get in touch/
An important date for your diary, the next VegEvent will be on September the 18th 2010.
Once again it will be at the Victoria rooms Fordingbridge – all the info to follow soon.
If you missed Charles at the VegEvent you have another chance to be inspired at the Milford on Sea Food food week. He is doing his ‘New Ways with Veg’ talk on the Wednesday.
3pm All Saints Church Hall. Full details on the Milford on Sea Food Week web site you will need to be patient as the Wednesday [...]
Are you developing a seed swap habit?
Feed the addiction……..there’s another event happening in Exeter
Introducing…….Exeters second Seed Swap & Permaculture Day!
Featuring lots of local green groups and campaigns, stalls, a gardener’s Q&A, workshops, speakers, an organic cafe, vegan cakes, permaculture film showings, free plants and seeds, and more!!
When?! Saturday 20th March 2010, 10am-4:30pm
Where? St Sidwells Centre, [...]
The Spring VegEvent was a great success; well, we all enjoyed it and I think the 100 or so visitors did too.
Plans for the Harvest VegEvent have begun and the concept has crystallised into an Autumn version of the Spring one. The emphasis will be on what to do with the bounty from your gardens and hedgerows, [...]
If you enjoyed Charles Dowding’s talk at the Spring VegEvent you’ll be pleased to know that there’s a workshop opportunity on March 6th in Brighton:
No digging – can you dig it?
Abundant veg, fewer weeds, less water use and no digging: too good to be true? No – and you can learn how.
Saturday 6 March, 11am-4pm, Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, [...]
Judith Long will be doing two cookery demos at the VegEvent:
1st session 1.15pm – 1.45pm
Potato salad
Braised swede
Spicy potato and cauliflower
Potato salad
Russian salad
Pea pakoras
2nd session 2.15pm – 2.45pm
Creamy chicken and vegetables
Jerusalem artichoke soup
Root rosti
Beetroot in horseradish sauce
Creamy summer vegetables
Borlotti beans in tomato sauce
The recipes can be downloaded : Judith Long’s VegEvent [...]
When searching the internet for local suppliers of veggie garden essentials I was really surprised to find that within the New Forest we have a cloche manufacturer. I thought that pretty much all propagating items these days were made on the other side of the world in China….clearly not so.
Here’s what they have to say about their [...]
