I love preserving stone fruit and storing it for the winter, as it reminds me of my grandparents’ pantry downstairs in the basement which I was always scared to visit because of the spiders lying around. However, every time you eat or preserve fruit, you are left with a plethora of stone fruit pits and stems, which would be a shame to waste!
In this blog, I’ll show you how to preserve stone fruits and not waste a single part of it.
Why Preserve Stone Fruit?
Stone fruit has a short shelf life, so it can be difficult to eat it all before it spoils. Preserving these fruits allows you to enjoy their flavor and nutritional advantages all year. Also, storing stone fruit reduces food waste, which is an important part of sustainable gardening. Whether you’re canning (this is what I’ll teach you in this blog), drying, or making jams and jellies, preserving stone fruit is a pleasant activity that honors the entire cycle of growing, harvesting, and savoring your garden’s abundance.
Canned Stone Fruit Ingredients
- Stonefruits / Wild cherry and Apricots (enough to fill a jar)
- Canning jars
- 5 1/2 cups of water
- 2 1/4 cups of sugar
Procedure
- Remove and save the stems of the wild cherry for the tea
- Remove and save stone pits of apricots for the vinegar
- Clean the fruits and sterilize old jars
- Mix 2 1/4 cups of unrefined sugar and 5 1/2 x cups water and bring it to boil
- Add the fruits to jars (different fruit, different jars)
- Cover with the sugar mix
- Clean the rim of the jar with vinegar
- Boil to seal
Note: It takes 1 1/2 cups of syrup per quart-sized jar and your canned stone fruit will last for about a year
Stone Fruit Pit Vinegar
- 1 cup of stone fruit pits
- 4 cups of champagne or rice vinegar
Procedure
- Gently smash the stone and collect the kernel
- Put it in a vinegar jar and cover with rice vinegar
Cherry Stem Tea
- Wild cherry stems
Procedure
- Add fruit stems of the wild cherry to the dehydrator until crispy
- Infuse in hot water and enjoy
Cherry stems are fantastic for promoting proper kidney function, and you simply have to dry them and infuse them like tea. They also taste delicious!
The fruit kernels are also called noyaux with a sweet and intense almond flavour and slight notes of fruit! They contain a really small amount of amygdalin, which could be toxic at high levels, but you would need a huge amount to actually do something.
Using every bit of the fruit not only extends its lifespan but also contributes to a more sustainable way of life. So, the next time you have plenty of stone fruit, consider preserving it. Your future self (and the environment) will thank you.
Also, thank you to my fiance Iasmina (@lajatattoo) for helping me clean the fruit and filming!
Happy growing!
