10 reasons to go back to making preserves at home

Preparing preserves at home is one of the symbols of self-production, it allows you to save money and to know perfectly the ingredients we bring to our tables.

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Prepare the preserves at home is probably one of the symbols ofself. In the memories of all of us we see the grandmothers intent on preparing jams, sauces and preserves in oil to have the surplus of garden products available in the following months and in the name of saving. It is a set of traditions that it would be a real shame to abandon. So here are ten of the main reasons to start over making homemade preserves.

Index

Respect the enviroment

Making preserves at home reduces ours environmental impact on at least two fronts. On the one hand it allows us to reuse the glass jars of other preparations, while on the other hand it allows us to save emissions related to the transport of products from the place of production to the point of sale.

Save

This aspect mainly concerns the consumption of vegetables out of season. Zucchini, for example, will cost more in the winter than in the summer months. Therefore, it is wise to prepare preserves to consume summer products even out of season, if desired. Think, for example, of pesto, courgettes, aubergines and peppers in oil or vinegar, as well as dried tomatoes and all tomato-based preserves and sauces. The savings are greater if the preserves are prepared with surplus garden products compared to the quantity that we would be able to consume fresh.

Reduce waste

Again a link with self-production, with particular reference to the vegetable garden. It can happen that the harvest is much more abundant than we expected. How to avoid having to throw the surplus? If giving some vegetables to friends and relatives is not enough, preserves come to our aid, which will help us enrich the pantry for the following months and shorten the shopping list.

Barter and gift

Here is a very important aspect linked not only to savings per se, but also to the rediscovery of an ancient paradigm. Is it really necessary to buy to eat healthy? If we prepare many preserves, we can decide to exchange a part of them with those who have the same passion as us. Also with the preserves we will be able to prepare personalized baskets as gifts Christmas and birthdays, or for other occasions, even simply as a thank you for those who have offered us their help.

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Rediscover family traditions

If you think about the preparation of preserves with a hint of nostalgia, you are really one of us. Remember the summers when grandmothers prepared tomato preserves or chillies left to dry in the sun? Here, the time has really come to rediscover family traditions and carry them forward. Because it would be a real shame that knowledge and traditions of such high value were lost simply for carelessness, laziness and with the excuse of not having enough time. Write down all the recipes for your grandmothers' preserves and get to work as soon as you can.

Devote time to self-production

Self-production is not a waste of time, but time gained. Let's take the space of an evening, a Saturday morning or a Sunday afternoon to prepare preserves and jams with the help of the whole family. The pantry will be enriched in the blink of an eye and we will not have to waste time spending a long time at the supermarket, to buy products of much lower quality, among other things.

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Create new social bonds

In the past, preparing preserves was aoccasion of meeting. Extended families and neighbors at certain times of the year gathered to build up stocks of sauces and preserves in large quantities, for example during the summer and ahead of winter. It was an opportunity to chat, exchange opinions and knowledge, get to know each other better. The union, never as in this case, was and can still make strength. Self-production is contagious, we involve friends and people from the association or the Gas we belong to in the rediscovery of the preparation of preserves.

Have healthy food available

Thanks to the homemade preparation of preserves we will know exactly the ingredients contained in the jars that we will bring to the table. And so we will be able to say no to industrial dyes and preservatives and the excessive sugar content of jams and marmalades sold in supermarkets. It will also be a lot of fun to customize the different types of preserves according to your tastes, for example by adding aromatic herbs and spices. How about a pear jam with ginger or apple and cinnamon?

Support local farmers

If we do not have a vegetable garden or our harvest is not enough, but we still love to prepare sweet and savory preserves, we support local farmers. We are looking for organic and sustainable farms in our area. We do the shopping to farmers' markets and we learn how to buy bio and save a lot thanks to Gas. Among other things, second choice fruit and vegetables will also be fine to prepare preserves, which otherwise would risk being thrown away. Find out from the farmer or from your Gas on the possibility of buying these products at a reduced price.

Opening up to self-sufficiency

Growing your own food and preparing preserves means opening up to a new lifestyle based onself-sufficiency. Of course, preserves represent only a part, perhaps the very beginning, of a new path, but preparing them with the necessary precautions is so fun that enthusiasm will pave the way for you. And so you will begin to share knowledge, ask for advice from the most experienced, save on shopping and discover new flavors.

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