Page 24 - ALG Issue 4 2014 Digital Edition

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nearby on the site, or in the surrounding gardens but this is less likely for pears, plums and cherries. For varieties which are not self-fertile and require a pollination partner, the partner has to be a different variety of the same fruit species. Two trees of the same variety will not pollinate each other.
A community orchard in an unused or inconvenient part of the site is an option that gives the plot holders the opportunity to grow top- fruit without affecting individual plots. It can also bring the association together for social events such as apple pressing and wassailing or even be the impetus to form an association!
SOFT FRUIT
Soft fruit bushes are much less contentious on the plot but they can become unruly. A new plot holder faced with rampaging raspberry canes or a gooseberry jungle will have a few choice words for their predecessor as they slash through the suckers. Gooseberries along with red and whitecurrants can be trained as fan or cordons and
blackberries, loganberries should be grown on wires; this will also make pruning, picking and handling summer raspberries easier. For gooseberries, redcurrants and whitecurrants grown as bushes, an open goblet shape on a short stem will produce much more healthy fruit; cut a third of the wood from established blackcurrants removing the oldest, weak and badly placed branches.
More detailed cultivation information can be found on www.nsalg.org.uk.
HARVESTING
Finding ways of preserving a good harvest of fruit is one of the joys of allotment holding. We are offering a reduced price individual magazine subscription of £5 for one year, (normally £10 for members – individual members get reduced membership for a year) to the first ten members who send in their favourite fruit preserving recipes to Marketing@nsalg.org.uk. We will put them on the new Preserving and Storing section that is being developed on the website.
Here are a few recipes for you to try.
Raspberry gin/vodka recipe
300g of raspberries
350g of sugar
1.5 litres of medium quality vodka (or
gin)
Sterilised 2 litre Kilner jar
Wash raspberries and discard any
bruised/bad fruit. Place raspberries in a large 2 litre Kilner jar. Add the sugar and top up with vodka to 2-3cm from the
top. Shake every day until the sugar is dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place until you can resist it no longer (leave for at least three months). Remove the fruit after 3 months by pouring through muslin and decant in to sterilised bottles.
Gooseberry and Vanilla Jam – recipe from Good Food magazine, June 2014
1kg gooseberries, topped and tailed
400ml unsweetened clear apple juice (or use water)
1kg granulated sugar
Knob of butter
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out Sterilise the jars and any other
equipment before you start. Put a couple of saucers in the freezer, as you’ll need these for testing if the jam is ready later (or use a sugar thermometer). Put the berries and juice (or water) in a preserving or very large deep pan, bring to a simmer, cook for about 15 minutes until the fruit is very tender.
Add the sugar to the pan and heat gently until sugar dissolves; turn up the heat and cook the jam at a rolling boil, skimming away any scum that comes to the top. After about 10 minutes, spoon a little jam onto a cold saucer. Leave for a few seconds, then push the jam with your fingertip. If it wrinkles, the jam is ready.
If not, cook for a few minutes more and test again on another cold saucer. (If you have a sugar thermometer, it will read 105
degrees when ready.)
Give the jam a final skim, stir in the
butter, then the vanilla seeds and the pod too. Let the jam cool for a few minutes – this will thicken it and prevent any lumps from sinking to the bottom of the jars – then ladle into hot jars, seal and leave to cool.
Quince and Rosewater Jelly – recipe from BBC Good Food magazine, November 2012
2kg quinces, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
Pared zest and juice of 1 lemon (use a vegetable peeler)
About 11⁄2 kg/3lb 5oz preserving sugar Knob of butter
1 tbsp. rosewater
Put the quinces, lemon zest and juice
in a large heavy-based pan and just cover with water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 hour until the quinces are very tender. Strain through a jelly bag or muslin-lined colander. Do not press – leave it for at least 4 hours, or until the juice has dripped through.
Put three saucers in the freezer. Measure the juice and return it to the pan. For each 1 litre juice, add 750g sugar (or for each 100ml juice, add 75g sugar). Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then boil hard until set. This could take between 5 and 20 minutes. To test for set, spoon a little onto a chilled saucer, leave for 1 minute and then push your finger through the juice. If it wrinkles, the jelly is set. If not, return to the heat and boil again for a few minutes, then test again.
Remove from the heat and skim off any surface scum with a slotted spoon. Stir in the butter to dissolve any leftover sediment, stir in the rosewater. Pot into sterilised jars, seal and label. Store in a
cool, dry place for up to one year. The leftover fruit can be used for
making membrillo paste – recipe on http:// www.bbcgoodfood.com/.
Tomato and Peach Chutney – recipe from http://allrecipes.co.uk/
15 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
5 fresh peaches – peeled, stones removed and chopped
5 red apples – peeled, cored and diced 4 medium onions, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
350ml (12 fl oz.) distilled cider vinegar 1 tablespoon salt
50g (2 oz.) pickling spice, wrapped in cheesecloth or muslin
Combine the tomatoes, peaches, apples, onions, celery, vinegar, salt and pickling spice in a large stockpot. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low,
and simmer for about 2 hours, or until thickened. Transfer to sterile jars and store in the refrigerator, or freeze in plastic containers.
Blackcurrant & Lemon Verbena Cordial
2 lb 4 oz. (1kg) blackcurrants
1 pint (660ml) water
13 oz. (375g) granulated sugar
A handful of lemon verbena leaves
Put all of the ingredients in a preserving
pan and bring to the boil (this should take about 5 minutes). Using a potato masher, crush the berries to release the juices and leave to infuse for about an hour. Bring the liquid back to the boil then strain the liquid through a nylon (not metal) sieve. Bottle
it up and keep in the refrigerator. Dilute as you would normally for blackcurrant squash, but use up within 3 months.
Crops can also be bottled, frozen or dehydrated.
HERITAGE FRUIT TREES FROM THE HOME OF THE NATIONAL FRUIT COLLECTION ........................................................................................
Order from our web shop or pop in and see our friendly team, open 7 days a week,
For an unrivalled collection of Heritage fruit trees & soft fruits Grow at Brogdale, Brogdale Road, Faversham Kent ME13 8XZ 01795 531888 or email: fruit@brogdaleonline.co.uk
www. brogdaleonline.co.uk
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