I've been wanting to attempt canning for many years now. Then we moved to Brigham, right next to a bunch of farms and all the fresh produce. This year I finally did it. We went to Perry (the rinky dink town next to our small one. I'll get into that some other time.) and bought a bushel of peaches. That's about 48 pounds to give you a better idea. They sat in the kitchen for the next few days, as Will got sick one of those days. Weds I made freezer jam, and then Thurs I buckled down and with Joseph's help canned the rest. They all appear to be sealed, although it looks like I didn't pack the peaches in quite enough. Not too bad for a first try though! I made 11 pints of freezer jam and 21 quarts of canned peaches. We also enjoyed eating quite a few of the fresh peaches. We only lost approx 10 peaches out of the whole bushel. Not bad. In the future I hope to plant a few peach trees in our backyard, making this process even cheaper! Next year we will also plant lots more tomatoes and make some tomato sauce to can. If you wnat a good website see www.pickyourown.org. They have instructions for canning just about anything you could ever think of and more.
The onion fields should be ready to be gleaned soon, so we should get a bunch of free onions soon. Our contact for cheap potatoes (50 lbs for $10) just got sent to Florida so we'll see if we can time it right to go up the canyon towards Logan and get those. This guy just fills a semi with 50 lb bags and does an honor system thing, you leave your $10 and take your bag. It is nice living in a small town where honor systems still work!
9 comments:
Those peaches look beautiful - and tasty! Congratulations! Maybe I'll get there and be able to taste a home-canned peach.
That is an accomplishment. I remember canning with my mom growing up - it is not easy. I have yet to try my hand at it myself.
Yummmmm. Those peaches look so good. I wonder if I have any canned peaches in my house. I'm going to go look.
What I wouldn't give for some good fresh peaches or a couple bottles of your canned ones. And don't even get me started on the freezer jam! YUMMY
Makes my mouth water just looking at that photo. I used to can but my family didn't eat the fruit so I quit. I am almost persuaded to take it up again just for my own enjoyment! You get my admiration. Aunt Lynda
All that effort wasted on peaches. :>
Congratulations.
My mom thinks it is strange that her daughters haven't got into canning, but Scott has. I do too. I keep thinking I want to can, but produce is so expensive. How much did you pay for your peaches? What are you doing with 50 lbs of potatoes?
We paid $38 for the bushel, about 80 cents a pound. We have an old coal storage area in the basement that is nice and dark and cold. We'll keep them there and use them all winter.
How long will it be before you let anyone open a bottle of peaches that were bottled with lots of time, summer heat, and work? I think you should just enjoy looking at them on your shelf (or still maybe on the kitchen counter) so you can get the full benefit of the beauty of home canning! Once you open the first bottle, the rest will soon be gone!
Good for you, Joanna!
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