To Keep Gooseberries

Ingredients

• gooseberries
• coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt')
• roach-alum
• water

Directions

1. Gather gooseberries before they become too large, removing stalks and buds carefully.

2. Fill wide-mouthed bottles with the gooseberries and loosely cork them.

3. Place the bottles upright in a boiler filled with water up to the neck.

4. When the fruit looks scalded, remove the bottles and let them cool completely before corking tightly and sealing with rosin.

5. Dig a trench in a less-used part of the garden deep enough to bury the bottles by 18 inches.

6. Cover the bottles with earth and add fresh stable litter during frost to prevent hardening.

7. Alternatively, scald the gooseberries, fill the bottles with cold water, cork them, and store in a damp or dry place to prevent spoilage.

8. For another method, dissolve roach-alum in boiling water until it feels slightly rough, then scald the gooseberries in a sieve until they look scalded on the outside.