Gardening cookbook to cope with gluts
Ever grown a crop of fruit or veg and it’s done so well you end up with a glut and haven’t got a clue how to use or preserve it? Well, The Jam Maker’s Garden – Grow Your Own Seasonal Preserves is the answer to your prayers.
Written by Holly Farrell with pictures by Jason Ingram, this is NOT a book to keep on the shelf. You’ll need it to hand in the kitchen when you bring your crops indoors and decide what to do with them.
As well as a useful beginners’ section on what equipment you’ll need to make jams, jellies, chutneys, ketchup, curds, etc, the book is mainly divided into seasons, giving cultural instruction for each crop and recipes.
There is also useful information on which fruit trees and bushes to choose for your type of garden, plus herbs, edible flowers, and foraging.
Strengths of the Jam Maker’s Garden
However, it’s the 50 recipes themselves where this book shines. They range from:
- Classics (strawberry jam)
- The useful (horseradish sauce and pesto) and
- The downright unusual (medlar fudge and pumpkin chutney).
There’s also a very handy refrigerator jam – just berries and sugar for first-timers or those short of time. As I’m looking forward to a bumper fruit crop this year, The Jam Maker’s Garden will be in constant use.
Published by Frances Lincoln, RRP £17.99.
If you like this book, you may like The Forager’s Garden by Anna Locke. Read my review. Here are more horticultural book reviews you might like – The Thoughtful Gardener and Good Soil, Urban Flowers and The Salad Garden.
