Ever wondered what we do with the empty honey jars we get given back? We planned to sterilise and reuse them but have since found a much better cause!
As you may recall from a previous blog post I have joined the Rural Women of NZ. The branch I have joined is the Horotiu Honeys (hard case, I was meant to join this group!). We have been thinking about what we can do to help the community and we have come up with 'Sharing the Surplus'.
We often see fruit trees laden with fruit and not picked and it seems such a shame when there are so many people struggling to put food on the table. Our project is to turn that surplus into preserves. When people have surplus fruit on their trees we are going to pick it, make preserves and give it to those in need. We started this Monday with 'Old Fashioned Marmalade' from the RWNZ 'A Good Harvest' recipe book. It is such an easy recipe - even I can do it!
We procured some grapefruits, oranges and lemons from Freecycle, Community Fruit Hamilton and a lovely gentleman down the road who didn't use his lemons. We then got busy washing and sterilising our jars, cutting and blending fruit, measuring ingredients, stirring pots and filling jars! Here are some photos of our process:
It was fun and we love that we are helping people in our community. The jars will be going to Ngaurawahia Community Care Centre on Monday to be included in their food bank parcels. We are going to meet regularly and carry this on, so if you have or know of any surplus fruit or would like to help please contact us.
