Fruit Preservation Round Up

If you’re growing your own fruit, you know that it’s nearly impossible to enjoy it all fresh without preserving some of your harvest.

If you are not growing fruit of your own, find a local farm, or even the grocery store and try your hand at one of the many methods of keeping the homegrown fruit as a kitchen staple all year long. If you still enjoy the preserves in the dead of winter, you’ll know it’s the right variety for you to add to your orchard in the spring.

Being new to preserving can be a little intimidating. If you didn’t have the luxury of a wise family member showing you the ropes of canning, it might require a bit of research to familiarize yourself with the process. Don’t get caught unprepared! Staring at rows of fresh canning jars and piles of fruit without a plan in place could send you running in the other direction.
Here is a round up of some of the best videos for simple, easy-to-follow recipes with step-by-step instructions:

CANNING:

Canning 101 with Roots & Refuge - It’s the classic method of preserving the garden bounty for good reason. Even if you’re not at the stage of your food growing journey yet where you have pounds and pounds of fresh harvest, Jess reminds you this is a critical skill to begin practicing if you have dreams of homesteading or gardening in your future!

Our own blog at Stark Bro’s covers a great method for preserving pears with ginger and honey. You’ll also learn a bit about the history of Bartlett pears, which are an ideal European variety for preserving. Amy Fewell, founder of Homesteaders of America shares that the easiest way to get started with preserving apples is by making applesauce. This is a no-brainer if you have kids, and Amy breaks it down into such a simple process that you can easily manage with little ones at your feet. Learning this process with Amy is like standing in your best friend’s kitchen and watching as she shows you how it’s done!

FERMENTING & OTHER METHODS

Peach Shrub - People often think of shrubs as bases for cocktails, but this drink can be traced all the way back to the colonial era, where it was a popular soft drink. Stacy teaches the process on her YouTube channel with her husband, OFF GRID WITH DOUG AND STACY.

Stacy is also an expert at fermenting, and she shares fruit fermenting, and a general “Fermenting for Dummies” video that will teach you everything you need to know to get started with fermenting: Check out her Fermenting Series Here.

If you prefer blog posts, Ann from A Farm Girl In the Making is an expert at food preservation, and her blog is full of tips for just about anything you might want to preserve.

No matter what resource you turn to, start simple. And share with us your success! We’d love to see what you’re enjoying in the kitchen. Visit our Facebook page or Instagram and share photos of your fruit preserves!