Weekend Preserving Course

Service Description

Taking whatever is most fresh and ripe from the garden, we will learn all about preserving like in the olden days. It's impossible to say what will be coming into harvest on the exact weekend that you will be here, but we will definitely learn at least four different techniques - two in the morning and two in the afternoon, Saturday and Sunday. Also, the importance of proper tools, equipment, preparation and sterilisation. This is a 100% practical course. It will include topics such as: Making tomato-based sauces to last all winter. We call them "bottled sunshine" Preserving green vegetables in brine Keeping fruits: jams, compots and jellies. Similar, but worth a session all on it's own - extracting juices for wines and syrups Pickling hard vegetables Chutneys and savoury vegetable cheeses and, if you are really lucky: Wild mushrooms, drying them and making pastes or Wild Crafting We will harvest fruits and vegetables from the orchards and vegetable gardens, mushrooms and wild-crafting ingredients we will gather in the forests around the barracks. You can arrive and time on Friday afternoon, acclimatise and spend some time looking around the barracks. This usually means going to play with the piggies! Friday night, we eat a simple vegan ploughmans with fresh salads and vegetables. Saturday and Sunday, we pick, cook, preserve and learn. Sunday late afternoon, we say our goodbyes, and pack you off with a selection of the goodies you made yourself! Accommodation Friday and Saturday night is at the barracks. Bedding is provided, bring your own towels.