Came upon this book over the weekend and feel i can thoroughly rrecommend it. It seems to be a mine of information, (to me anyway)
The Jams Preserves and Chutney handbook by Marguerite Patten. Its a softback book. Its listed as £7.99 sterling and tells you all you need to know to preserve your harvest of fruit,and veg.

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And when you're back stops aching,
And you're hands begin to harden.
You will find yourself a partner,
In the glory of the garden.

Rudyard Kipling.

Amazon have it on offer for £5.99

My mum bought it me for Christmas, not actually used it that much yet but there's loads I keep meaning to try!

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

It taught me how to pickle my red cabbage. Sad but true,

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I play hide and seek with my cat
http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk

Use this one a lot, highly recommended
Sue

Hey, grapes - mum wants to buy me a preserving book for Christmas - is this the absolute must have, or are there any others worth considering?

Chutney-head Flum?

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sun 30/03/2008...parsnips a-plenty...

Hazel, I think the M. Patten one is super and it's the one I used most this year. I also really like the WI 'Best Kept Secrets' one:

Amazon.co.uk: Jams, Pickles and Chutneys: Best Kept Secrets of the Women's Institute: Books: Midge Thomas

There's more in the Patten one but the WI one has colour pics and is a bit 'prettier' overall. I'd have to say get both!

Claire

I still like the Marguerite Patten one that I use regularly. It has the advantage of many suggestions of subsitutes so each recipe is effectively 4 or 5. Don't know if it's still available - I got it in a remaindered book shop. Can give you the ISBN if it will help?
0-7475-2318-5
Called Jams, Chutneys, Preserves, Vinegars and Oils, published by Bloomsbury in 1995. The above book might be an update? I would think it would be good.

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Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise of the imagination. Mrs C W Earle

vegheaven.blogspot.com updated May 12th 2008

Had the day off today to go Christmas shopping with mum in Leamington Spa and Solihull (via the Garden Centre...)- and guess what?! The M Patten book was just sitting on the shelf in Waterstones!

As it is a Christmas present, I was not even allowed to open the cover before it was whipped away...

Thanks for you help, grapes!

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sun 30/03/2008...parsnips a-plenty...

I have several books by Mary Norwak, and I'd recommend any/all of them. She's written a couple in conjunction with a gardener called Keith Mossman which are very good (written in the 70's - long before Delia & Gay Search got together!), and all of her books with 'Farmhouse' in the title are worth having! If you put "Norwak" in a search on Amazon or GreenMetropolis you get a good list.
Amazon.co.uk: The Book of Preserves : Jams, Chutneys, Pickles, Jellies: Books: Mary Norwak Book of Preserves : Jams, Chutneys, Pickles, Jellies

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Sarah

http://wixypixies.blogspot.com/

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

I've just read with laughter and tears a book called 'A handful of earth' about a year of healing and growing, by Barney Bardsley.

Synopsis:
When Barney Bardsley's husband was diagnosed withcancer he was thirty-six, and their daughter just one. The family was too young for sell-by dates -- there was too much to live for. And so they did. But when he finally died, Barney felt alone and exhausted. Their savings had all gone and now she must support their child single-handedly. She would just have to take life one day at a time. She took to tending her small, scruffy allotment. Fresh air, wildlife, exercise, nature's cycles of growth and decay -- she found solace in it all.This is the diary of her year in the garden. It begins with January's brisk walks, nourishing soups,and dreams of spring. In May comes a messy abundance of bluebells, tadpoles, and honeybees. In summer the sunflowers shout. And inautumn aharvest of blackberries, beans andsquash. The garden's meditative atmosphere also provokesdeeper musings. Barney recounts the myths and emotions associated with particular plants;shepaintsmemories of childhood; she evokes the changes of mood as the seasons shift. Above all, she charts how her own life is slowly restored, under the garden's healing influence.

Tracey

hello all and happy easter,
Bit of a change of subject, does anyone own a copy of john seymours , self suffient veg gardening and preserving, or something like that, ive had it on order from amazon for nearly 3 months now!, is it worth waiting for?, thanks forn all replys
leisa

Sorry I'm late to this thread, but I've just had a most enjoyable read of:

"Daily Telegraph" Digger's Diary: Tales from the Allotment by Victor Osborne.It's got a few recipes but it's mostly about the people on a large site in London and how they have fared over the course of a year. Gentle and engrossing reading.

Skotch

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Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away