So this year I made a goal to preserve some fruit from my fruit trees. We have two apples, plum, cherry, nectarine, and apricot trees. We also have 2 raspberry and 2 blackberry bushes, a grape vine, and a massive garden. This year we did tomatoes, cucumbers, cantalope, cilantro, lettuce, beans, onions, strawberries, carrots, and broccli.
I have so enjoyed using my the fruits of my labors this year, but canning is a massive pain in the butt!!!! My first canning expeirience is that I decided to can the plums off my tree. I picked my whole tree (hours) then the next day I started canning. I canned 42 quarts of plums (hours and huge mess) and then tasted them the next day. GROSS!!! They were like mush. We undid all the cans and blended them up to make fruit rollups with our dryer. (At least they didn't go to waste.) The worst was the aftermath, my stove was black for weeks and the fruit flys were so bad we needed mosquito nets to walk around the house. We had to disenfect every inch.
After that experience, I tried applesauce. Another nightmare. I hate canning applesauce.
Ok, now that I have vented my bad experiences, I did have some good ones. Although the first batch of applesauce ended up to only my husband being able to force it down, the other two batches I did, turned out great ( I still hate it though). I also canned nectarine jam. OOOHHH that turned out good. (top picture). There is this feeling I get after a canning session, and it is one of accomplishment and satisfaction. Now that I have a few sessions under my belt, it isn't so bad. I know a few tricks of the trade and I don't have a black stove anymore ( no more fruit flys either.) We have been LOVING the fruit rollup mix. I freeze it until I am ready to use it. We have oodles of bags. I did pear, apple, nectarine, and plum. Yummy they are so good and my fam eats them like crazy.
So my first year of attempted domestication. Half nightmare, half endurance. We'll see how it goes next year.
Glow Stick Baby
3 days ago
6 comments:
Wow. That is a lot for your first year. I've never canned a thing in my life, but Chris has. He did salsa and peppers one year and apples another year. Maybe I'll let you teach me next year since you'll be an ol' pro. ;)
You can like I did my first time, In bulk! lol I totally overwhelmed myself and the mess in the kitchen was nuts, but I thought if I'm gonna do this. DO IT! I love fruit roll ups too! Sounds like you learned a ton! Congrats!
woah, good work! you have more ambition than me. Dude, the fruit flies sound like a serious nightmare. Glad it ended well.
I have never canned a thing and hope to not start, a good case lot sale is good enough for me.
Holy Martha Stewart! I am super impressed. I haven't even found motivation to plant in our garden yet, let alone learn how to can!
That is completely amazing! This was my first year without any help and I can agree on the half nighmare, half endurance! You sure worked your tail off. Good luck next year!
Post a Comment