Small Farm Training Group 
Recipes
Following the recent Friday evening talk on harvesting, storing and preserving fruit and vegetables, Clare Kennard has written a very informative article in the latest issue of the members' newsletter and also provided the following recipes to whet your appetite!
Bottled Pears
Peel, halve (or quarter large pears) and core the pears keeping them in water (with some lemon juice added to stop them going brown) until all of them are prepared.
Make up the syrup with 3 cups of water to 1 cup of sugar; put the drained pears in and bring back to the boil. Turn down heat. Transfer pears to the first warmed Kilner jar. Roughly fill jar with syrup and using a flat bladed knife, run it down the inside of the bottle in four places to squeeze out as much trapped air as possible. Top up with hot syrup, put on a seal, place the band over and screw down firmly. Fill each jar individually. Turn the bottles upside down to ensure a good seal. Once cold take the metal bands off the jars, wipe down and store.
Bottled beetroot
Whilst the beetroot are cooking, prepare the vinegar by putting all ingredients into a large pan and stir to dissolve the sugar. 4 cups water
1 cup vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt Once cooked, drain the beetroot, remove skins and slice (not too thin or thick) – this is hot work.
Return the sliced beetroot to the vinegar mix and bring back to the boil. Working on individual jars, pack the warmed Kilner jar with beetroot and roughly fill jar with vinegar and using a flat bladed knife, run it down the inside of the bottle in four places to squeeze out as much trapped air as possible. Top up with hot vinegar, put on a seal, place the band over and screw down firmly. Turn the bottles upside down to ensure a good seal. Once cold take the metal bands off the jars, wipe down, store and enjoy – especially at Christmas time with the cold meats.