First ever preserved fruit

I have never seen anyone preserve their own fruit, and so it has taken some time to build up my courage to have a go. I decided that if I never tried, I would never be able to do it, so here is my first ever attempts using the water bath method, the most trusted method around.

I bought the jars for $2 each at a second hand shop in Albany, where the proprietor has been surprised at the interest in them lately.

I got new lids, clips and rings.

I followed an excellent website where the method was explained.

These are just apples and pears -which were the cheapest fruit per kilo in the market yesterday.

The reason I am interested in learning this new skill is that I want to be able to preserve the produce from our garden, when we have a glut (one day perhaps). It is also a thrifty way of exploiting the natural glut of seasonal fruit in the markets. Preserving gives me total control of what we eat, including how much sugar or salt, and that is a good thing too.

So, the question will be -have I done it right? Will they be edible in a month's time? Watch this space!