Jams and Preserves

I grew up on a 10 acre block. That meant one thing - fruit trees. Many of my friends, or my parent's friends were in the same position.

And if you have mega-heaps of fruit, and it is free fruit at that, it means that every now and then, when the various crops ripen, Mum pulled out the Fowlers Vacola (the orange set - none of this modern fancy stuff) and she started cooking.

Now if you were a kid and you were smart it was a good time to go and play outside - way outside, or find some homework, or, well do anything to get out of helping pick, peel and pip.

Nonetheless through the year we had apricots, chinese gooseberries, apples, nectarines and plums jammed, fresh, bottled or stewed. And then there were the bonus crops that were swapped with a friend - or they simply had more than they could handle and shared the surplus. That meant blackberries, mulberries, pears, strawberries - well just about anything really. Oh and I can't forget the various marmalades made by all and swapped freely.

I think I have worked out why the tradition is dying - and it isn't that the preserving is hard, or that tinned fruit is so plentiful, it is more a case of buying fruit negates the purpose of preserving it to a large extent. And with smaller land parcels, and busier lives, few of us have the orchard in the back yard so access to "free" fruit is virtually eliminated.