FOOD PRESERVING for BEGINNERS

with ELLEN SCHINDLER

Tuesday 23 May - 5.30pm to 7.30pm (2 hours)

The ability to preserve food is a crucial technological achievement that has allowed humanity to live beyond seasonal limitations, to help ensure a means for people to feed their whānau all year-round. In this day and age these technologies can often be taken for granted, and it can be humbling to take stock of the many methods we have to keep our food over long periods of time. This workshop will guide you to take a closer look at some of the more common methods and how we can use and enjoy them at home.

What to expect:

Join your tutor Ellen Schindler at Kelmarna Gardens for this introduction to the wonders of preserving food. Learn about a variety of practical methods you can apply in your home to capture surplus from the market, the garden, the kitchen, while making the most of each season. Also come away with a better understanding of the impact preserving can have on your health, your shelf, and your wallet!

Your tutor Ellen will bring along all of the equipment and gadgets to show you what appliances are available, how they work, the pros, cons, and costs, as well as range of fun recipes that can serve you at home and on the go. Take this chance to check out these preserving method first-hand, get a closer look at the tools, and ask all of your questions.

Methods covered may include:

Cold storing (fridge/freezer)
Wrapping
Jamming (high sugar)
Brining (high salt)
Lacto-fermenting
Dehydrating/drying
Pressure canning
Vacuum packing
Juicing and water bathing/canning
Brewing
Preserving in alcohol, oil, honey & vinegar (pickling)
Making vinegar
Preserving eggs
Root cellaring
Freeze drying

Tickets include: instruction and demonstrations for preparing and preserving food

What to bring:

Essential:

a refillable water bottle (to stay hydrated)
weather appropriate gear (to keep comfortable)

Recommended:

a pen and notepad (to take notes, if you like)
a face covering or mask (for indoor areas and close quarters)

--

Ellen Schindler is a passionate gardener and community organiser. Since 2006 she has nurtured her home garden in Sandringham into a productive food system with about 55 fruit trees of all types and sizes, beehives, chooks, and vegetable patches. She is also a committed volunteer who has been instrumental in establishing the Homestead and the Dignan Street Community gardens in Pt Chevalier and has been involved in planting and maintaining fruit trees in parks and grass berms across Sandringham.

Ellen has indulged her interest in preserving food, experimenting with a broad range of methods in order to better understand and create practical opportunities for food security and waste reduction. Ellen believes that healthy food should be accessible to everyone, and teaching hands-on DIY workshops is one of her favourite ways to achieve this goal!

In this workshop, Ellen is looking forward to sharing with you her experience, encouraging you to explore your own options, and helping to build a community where more people can benefit from healthy and delicious food! She hopes that you'll find it’s good fun and a lot easier than it looks!

--

At Kelmarna, we strive to make education accessible for everyone. So, where possible, we offer a 35% discount on our workshops to valid Community Services Card holders. If you book one of these tickets, please email us a copy of your valid Community Services Card, and remember to bring it along to the workshop. Please note that this option does not include Super Gold Card holders. Ngā mihi.