Although this is not so common today, in years gone by many people used to make their own jams, pickles and chutneys. This was mainly a way of preserving food and allowing the family to eat fruit and vegetables throughout the winter. It also used up gluts of fruit or vegetables that would otherwise rot.
Children and adults would take wicker baskets and go around the lanes picking berries from the hedgerows, such as blackberries, hawthorn berries, elderberries, crab apples, rosehips and Rowan berries. Today some people still pick a few blackberries, but the other fruits are often neglected.
Once the fruit had been collected it was washed, placed in a preserving pan and just covered with water. The fruit would be boiled until soft and then either strained through a jelly bag (so that just the juice could be used to give a clear jelly rather than jam) or made into jam. Jam was made by adding sugar to the fruit and boiling until the jam set, then the jam was poured into jars and the tops sealed. In the early days these seals were made from pieces of animals stomachs which were moistened, stretched over the jar tops and tied with string, as the animal stomach dried it would shrink and make a tight seal. In later years cellophane discs replaced the animal stomach, but worked in the same way. In the 1930’s and 1940’s Kilner jars ( special preserving jars with glass lids, rubber seals and screw tight lids) were commonly used. Today screw top lids are often used on normal jam jars, but the cellophane discs are still available for those who wish to use assorted empty glass jars they may have already.
To make the jars look pretty (and to know what was in the jar, labels were either tied on or glued to the jars), sometimes crochet jar tops were added, especially if being given as a gift.
Chutneys were made in much the same way but generally with a mixture of fruit and vegetables and vinegar is usually added.
Pickles are usually made by soaking prepared vegetables in brine, (a mix of salt and water), for 12 hours, rinsing the vegetables and then placing them in jars. Boiling spiced vinegar is then poured over them and the jars are sealed as before.
We have a selection of baskets for fruit-picking, preserving pans/saucepans, oven gloves and even a pattern for fancy crochet jar covers on our web shop, so your dolls house dolls can preserve fruit and vegetables too.