Fall is starting to arrive. I know that sounds crazy, what with all the sunshine and heat (or, in my case, thick billowy quilts of summer fog) but you know what I mean: school supplies and wooly, toast-colored clothes are sprouting up in the shops, vacations are starting to wind down, the days are growing shorter. Little hints of autumn, not quite here yet, but leaving messages to let you know it's on it's way.
This is the time of year where I take stock of my summer and freak out a little because of all the things I haven't done. One way I gage this by taking stock of my pantry. Did I capture the bounty? Will I be able to twist open a jar in the middle of winter and release the essence of summer: sweet jams, tart pickles, brilliant red splashes of tomatoes?
Sadly, this year, the answer so far is no.
With the exception of a brief paroxysm of cherries in June, my canning and preserving adventures have been dormant. I lay partial blame on the weather. Late rains and cool temperatures meant the Blenheim apricot crop was small this year and I didn't act quickly enough on the occasional, meager sightings at the FM. So no lovely 2010 apricot jam. Damn.
The lack of pickles and kraut and strawberry jam, however, can only be attributed to my busyness *collapse* laziness cycles and basic disorganization. I just never got around to it and now I feel the bitter burn of regret.
But wait. It's not too late! Right? It's still stone fruit season! And the San Marzano tomatoes haven't even arrived yet (those cool temps again.) And there's still months to go until it's all about applesauce and pear butter! Plus, it seems like it's always kraut time. So despite the love letters from Fall, it is still summer and the best of canning is still ahead. Reassured, I relax a little but not too much. There's work to be done!
How are things in your pantry? Did you manage to capture yourself some sunshine and put it in a jar?
Related: Putting Up Tomatoes: An Encouragement
(Images: Dana Velden)
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Thank you for the wonderful meditation about the harvest. I would say this year has been better for me than the past few. Strawberry jam, green beans, tomatoes, and peach salsa have been "put up" for the winter. I am even trying hard to put more peach salsa up for Christmas gifts. In just a few weeks my favorite apples for sauce will be appearing; I love this time of year!
I do look forward to what my friends can and put up. Always such a treat in the middle of winter.
i did some canning yesterday (burnt the crap out of my arm) and i ended up with 20 jars of freestone peach jam. the other day i made 7 jars of organic blueberry jam. AND a few months ago i made 6-7 jars of okra and some hot okra! i cant wait to make some more!
So far, I've done a batch of raspberry lavender jam, a batch of pickled carrots, and a batch of dill cucumber pickles. I still want to do one more kind of pickle, and my mom and I can tons of tomatoes together every year.
Blackberry jelly, red currant jelly with rosemary, red currant cordial with vanilla, elderflower cordial. No plum butter though, the tree has shed the fruits because of too little rain and irrigation.
Today I canned some tomatoes and I've already done pickled carrots and two types of cucumber pickles. I'd like to get some jams done soon while the peaches are still around.
cherries in rum, apricots in rum, brine pickles, plum butter and apricot brown sugar freezer jam.
I've put up more this year than last, mainly out of sheer determination. Lots of jam--apricot amaretto, strawberry, blueberry, spiced peach, and later in the year I'll do cranberry-apple spiced jam. I put up tomatoes and a batch of garlic dill pickles and sweet pickles. Mmm mm.
My summer goal was to start canning...that goal escaped me. I love canning posts though!
Great post! So far I have purchased a box of tomatoes three times, and twice have ended up slow-roasting and freezing them. I have a new box, though, and this time, I will do them up right! Canning takes a large chunk of time in conjunction with a fair chunk of energy, and this summer just hasn't been on the high-energy end of things!
i was reading this post, and then you said pear butter. and i am now i will not be satisfied until i eat a giant pear straight from the tree this fall. until then...
this is my first year canning. a friend had a canning party and thus i ended up with spaghetti sauce, salsa, and pepper jelly. but then a friend and i did blueberry and raspberry jams. and today, because it was hotter than blazes, I put up some green beans - my first solo canning. pickes waiting a couple of days. then there will be tomatoes, corn, etc.
We've done raspberry jam, jalapeño and lavender jelly, apple juice, and - just yesterday - about 48 jars of blackberry jam. Everything home-grown/organic or picked in the wild. The pantry is stocked with about 150 jars of summer goodness!
Peach butterscotch, cherry brandy, lemonbalm vodka in the works. I am thinking plum jam soon--love prune plums.
Because of my insistence on waiting for my own garden's bounty for my canning, I've not done as much as I hoped. With the heat in the midAtlantic, my production has been lackluster. I am ready for fall though--the garden just continues, and cool weather crops are so much easier!
Until I can regularly get to a pick your own farm, I'll practice pickling my okra and carrots.
I was like you Dana, unproductive for all sorts of good (and bad!) reasons. The past couple of weeks I have kicked it into gear. I made plum and peach jam, and am hoping for another batch this week. I have yet to ponder the savories. But jam is such a good treat, and great gift, so if this is all I do, it's enough.