The peaches have ripened and this has been our biggest crop yet! Besides giving bags and bags away to our friends, we’ve put up 11 jars of peaches (with more to do tomorrow), made cobbler, pie and frozen countless ziplock bags full of quartered slices to use for future pies and smoothies.
For the first time this year we’ve had to put up makeshift support beams to keep the branches from breaking off. Slowly, yet surely these branches are straightening up as we pick them off.
The last of the nectarines and two giant ‘forgotten about’ zucchinis lay cut up in the sunshine for drying.
Preserving food for the future months is something I never thought would fill me with such satisfaction. Seeing our cupboards and freezer fill up with neat, colorful, edible packages is like money in the bank to me.
Tell me, are you doing any preserving this weekend?
What are you planning to do with the dried zucchinis? I am always looking for new ways of preserving my ever abundant harvest.
Dried zucchini are great to add to soups and quiches. I’m sure there are lots of other things you could do with them, but those are our two favorites.
Oooh, that’s awesome. I can’t wait until our peach tree produces a bounty like that! Awesome!
well no preservings this weekend because I haven’t such a big garden but…
I’m going to move, than I’ll have a much bigger garden so I hope the next years I will be just as busy as you are. I did make jam’s including cherry plum wich I didn’t know but read on your blog. I used your canlid labels, thank you for sharing.
I really like your blog.
Oh, to have peach trees. Well, we have them but they were never taken care of by previous owners so they will need to come down. We did plant some new ones when we moved in a couple years ago. Anyway, we’ve been freezing and drying lots of stuff here but not zucchini. Our freezer is stuffed with dried tomatoes, tomato sauce, whole tomatoes, marinara sauce, roasted tomatoes, green beans, soup mix, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches (from an orchard), and strawberries. Oh, I did apple rollups last week from early apples and look forward to the fall crop for more rollups and apple sauce. It is neat to be able to put back for the winter lean months and continue to eat “local” all year long. I’m off to check the rest of your posts. Great Blog!
Love your vintage bowls! I won’t be doing any canning this weekend but this week I will make dilly beans, pickles, and pickled beets. I will be blanching and freezing broccoli and cauliflower to put in our chest freezer. I think it was more full last year at this time!
hmmm… Where to start… first, that blue bowl is mine (I have a twin in my cabinet! ;o) second, you use racks and cookie sheets for dehydrating just like I do!
We have about 50 lbs of potatoes, white, Yukon Gold, and reds; in burlap. We planted our fall crop this past week. I have about 10 to 15 lbs of garlic cured and I’ll use about 5 lbs for seed. I like to “simmer” about 1/2 lb to a full pound in 4 or 5 cups of butter or olive oil for a couple hours till the garlic is creamy. Then, you can strain if you like or pour the whole thing in a jar and use the infused fat for cooking. The garlic olive oil with a few bits of the garlic makes the most outrageous fried potatoes and tortilla de patas.
I’ve been making wonderful tomato sauce and also dehydrating a good amount of tomatoes as well as bell peppers. I like dehydrating cause it takes up less space, less weight, and uses less energy.
We have about 3 dozen ears of corn as well as about 6 or seven meals of fried corn in the freezer. Plenty of blueberries and strawberries. The blueberries are best in smoothies, I like using the strawberries for shortcake and ice cream. I want to try dehydrating strawberries next year.
I’ve replanted the Black Valentine beans we grew this spring with the hope that we will have black beans for winter soups and a LOT more seed as well.
I’m picking the first of our cotton. That doesn’t need a lot in the way of preservation but I do have to learn how to spin it into yarn.
I am VERY jealous of your zukes! We can’t grow them well at all because of squash bugs. MADDENING!
Love the blue bowl! ;o)
Wow Jo, you’ve been busy! Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading all you’ve done.
I love your approach to life as well. We are from the Bay Area and we really miss how life goes there. Your blog helps us to keep in touch with those things. Email me if you would like some seeds! Cotton would be beautiful in your garden and I bet your boys would get a kick from seeing the bolls pop open. My youngest loves it!
I went to the u-pick farm on Thursday for strawberries. I canned strawberry jam and strawberry lemon marmalade. I am brand new to canning, so I’m excited for my tomatoes to come in.
Ooh! I have the same pyrex bowl. Love them. And canned peaches: aren’t they the best?
Yes, preserving really is satisfying. I see it as money in the bank and as a time saver for future meals. Cracking open a jar of homemade tomato sauce and adding pasta is simple and delicious. Especially when there’s no time to cook