Preserving and pickling

AT this time of the year many housewives wish that fruit trees would bear little and often throughout the year rather than a lot in a comparatively short space of time. We preserve fruits to try to spread this short period, and to have them on hand to vary menus when fruit is out of season. A cupboard shelf packed with bottles of colourful, neatly arranged preserved fruits is indeed a satisfying sight. Bottling is the most popular method, with pickling being done to a smaller extent