With a few lessons in preserving under her belt, country gardener Amy Willesee can now turn a vegetable glut into little jars of goodness.

With its tangle of cucumber, melon and pumpkin vines, rowdy swathes of tomatoes and zucchini the size of footballs, the late-summer vegie patch has assumed its annual jungle incarnation. And with more vegies than a carnivorous family of four can poke a bone at, it means gluts galore... and, of course, preserving.

When I started the vegie patch, I had dreams of a pantry choc-a-block with jars of preserves: wooden shelves lined with tomatoes to last the winter, pickled cucumbers, stone fruits in syrup. It evoked an old-world simplicity and I was thrilled when my mother-in-law handed on her Fowlers Vacola equipment to me.

I started with jams, some preserved lemons and limes; easy recipes that didn't require fancy equipment and assumed knowledge. It did provide the pleasure I'd hoped for, but I was reluctant to move into bottling vegies. I was clueless about the Fowlers Vacola and warnings of death from botulism sprinkled throughout my preserving book put me off. So, much of our summer excess ended up as chook food.

Then, a couple of years ago, I went to a preserving course run by a woman called Leigh; a country girl who'd grown up watching her mum preserve each season's harvest and had gone on to do the same.

Leigh's kitchen was a dream. Her pantry was lined with layers of bottled fruit and veg, sauces and chutneys, plus huge tubs of flour and sugar so she could whip up scones to support her homemade jam. In no time, she'd demonstrated how to bottle plums, and it was easy. (What's more, she's never poisoned anyone.)

But the real revelation was Leigh's freezer. While it wasn't as romantic as the pantry lined with jars, it really opened my eyes to preserving's various guises. Her freezer was stocked with zucchini, diced, sliced, batoned and grated. All in zip-lock bags, ready to add to a pasta or curry. Better yet, I found out that zucchini doesn't need to be blanched before freezing. Just cut, bag and voila — easy dinners down the track. It was the same with tomatoes. They're one of the highest-risk vegies for canning, due to low acidity. Yet all I had to do, Leigh said, was make my tomato passata and freeze 500g lots in zip-lock bags.

Needless to say, this opened up a world of preserving to me. I've since visited an Italian couple and watched them preserve eggplants the traditional way — layering slices in salt and weighing them down for 24 hours, before soaking them in vinegar and bottling in olive oil. I've visited the homes of a woman who pickles eggs and another who makes jam in the microwave.

It may not have the old-school appeal of the line of jars, but at least the chooks aren't getting all the goodies now.

Bottling safety

It is fine to sterilise and re-use jars for preserving, but many preserving experts advise against re-using lids. You can buy lids and other preserving equipment at www.greenlivingaustralia.com.au. For Fowlers Vacola equipment, go to www.bakeandbrew.com.au, www.kitchenwaredirect.com.au, www.launchhardware.com.au or try your local hardware store.

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