We got the final 1/2 bushel of beets Thursday and got them canned.
Washing station
Sorting sizes
18 more pints to store for 6 weeks to develop flavor.
Last Tuesday while I was in thrall to the dializer machine Momma headed out to Blueberry Lane and picked 9 1/3 lbs. By the time I got home she had put up 4 1/2 pints of pie filling and 17 1/2 8oz jars of jam.See Momma’s site for pics.
Next up,apricots, peaches and raspberries. Got our eyes open.
We stopped at McDanials farm stand and picked up a 1/2 bushel of beets on our way home Sunday. That was after having dinner with Bob and Edna Hittel. Edna was our letter carrier for years.
This morning Brandy helped Momma clean the beets.
This year Momma sorted out the small ones to put into the new Ball Elite jars.
We ended the session with 20 pints of ruby goodness.
Labeled and ready for at least 3 weeks to “age”
We started to search for the next fruit for canning, apricots. Unfortunately the crop froze in this part of the state. After searching the interweb I have found a possible source. If i don’t find another it looks like we will be making a day trip to Northern Lower Michigan. King Orchards are located North of Travers City, about 198 miles from here in Central Lake . Ah, what I won’t do to get Michigan fruit. Plus, we haven’t been North of Bay City since we retired to Otisville.
We picked up 20 lbs of tart cherries yesterday.Didn’t do the U-Pick,we both tire easily. Got going today finished rounding up supplies and equipment. Started cooking at 11:43 and jarred up 14 jars of jam and 14 jars of chutney with apples, onions,brown sugar, vinegar and spices. We had to stop and re figure the pie filling recipe because we ran low on cherries. Should have made it first and then do just 1 batch of jam. Oh well, hindsight and all that.
