Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The Fruit of Our Labor


It was a long day. Miss Abigail sweated in the heat. But, in the end, she joins the ranks of those few women who know how to can. She is only twelve and she couldn't do it again by herself, but I'm so impressed with how hard she worked to learn this skill. Of all things, Abigail enjoyed blanching and peeling the peaches and the tomatoes. As long as there isn't a bushel left to do, I could enjoy that also. We did peaches and tomatoes in the morning and then, in the afternoon we did a batch of quick pickles, zuchinni relish, and spiced pickled cantaloup. Don't wonder - it's delicious! BTW, the second batch of peaches turned out beautifully.

Last year, at the county fair, a 4-H friend of mine said to me, "I really want to promote the canning project. Would you help me teach a workshop?" So we did. We held a workshop in October for anyone interested in the project and we had about ten kids respond. We taught the kids about safe preserving and did a fun experiment with PH. Then we canned apples together. I don't know how many kids went on to finish the project, but I hope there will be some of those other apples entered, at least.



2 comments:

  1. Please post the pickled cantaloupe recipe. Thats my very favorite fruit.

    We canned today also. 2 batches of strawberry jelly, 2 batches of apple jelly and 6 quarts of lady peas.

    Most of the jelly will go to my daughter who to stock her panty after marriage!

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  2. Canning is a skill every woman should know. Growing our own food is such a wonder and sense of accomplishment. It teaches our children that food just doesn't magically appear at the grocery store. We are awaiting our harvest here in Nor. California - it tends to arrive more around September.
    Blessings,
    Michelle

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