Straight from our garden: a beautiful, perfect, golden peach.
It's finally peach season.
With a wet spring and surprisingly cool summer, we were worried about our peach crop. It's our favorite thing to grow in the garden (or eat from the garden). Last year we got so many perfect peaches - remember the peach sock things? We used them again.
(A couple of pears on top!)
Last year we froze a lot of our peaches - some as pie filling, some for smoothies, some whole. This year I wanted to learn how to can them. I was totally intimidated by that idea, actually, having never canned before.
But we had all these peaches just waiting, and my friends and neighbors were so willing to share advice and tips (and extra canning supplies!). So Saturday was designated as Canning Day.
Princess was in charge of the sugar/water solution.
(Her name's not Sophia - that apron is a story for another day!)
The process was made easier by our peaches that peeled so easily without being blanched - thus saving us a step (and a pot!).
Aaron peeled and pitted, Princess sliced (Monkey played video games and Thomas was at Grandma's).
I peeled and then finished the filled jars.
For several hours, this big pot was boiling on the stove.
The finished product: 28 quarts! It truly was rewarding seeing all those golden jars lined up on the counter!
I kinda loved this - and I'm very surprised at that. It was not nearly as hard or as messy as I was expecting. I highly recommend it.
I cannot stress how much my daughter loved this. She was a big help. I'm pretty sure she was pretending she was in the Great Depression the whole day. And when we were done, she counted her allowance money and paid me to order the canning kit* for her dolls.
And then she got some small jars and filled them with small pom pom 'preserves'.
*I saw this set in the catalog and thought: What girl is going to pick a canning set for their doll when they could get fancy outfits, salon chairs, etc.? Turns out it's my girl. That's pretty cool, actually.
