It's canning season again! Year 3 for my mommies group to can together. When we started there were 4 mommies (Amy, Anya, Julie and me). Between us we had 5 kiddos and it seemed pretty full in Anya's kitchen. Last year we had 2 more mommies (Jennica and Deb) and way more kids. This year Julie moved away and we sure missed her. But we did add her blogless neighbor, Jackie and her 2 boys to the canning mix.
Over the weekend Kyle and I harvested some pears. Tuesday my pal Amy and her boys came over to help harvest more pears. whew it's hard work and we all agree we are so thankful we are not professional fruit pickers!
Over the weekend Kyle and I harvested some pears. Tuesday my pal Amy and her boys came over to help harvest more pears. whew it's hard work and we all agree we are so thankful we are not professional fruit pickers!
Gus making the rounds on canning day. He had to be held by everyone.
Reese had quite a fun time. He got busted pelting people that were down in the yard from his strategic position on the deck above...with pears!
Anya taking a break from her pregnant lady sitting duty (slicing fruit) to man the processing water bath.
Jackie, a new canner who offered her house as canning central, and Amy's son, Austin.
KIDS GALORE having taco bar dinner: clockwise from far left, Phoenix, Moses, Conner, Liam (standing) Reese, Matthew, Lincoln, Maisey, Austin.
Austin played in the laundry basket of pears for a SUPER long time. This kid has a great attention span!
Amy and Austin
Anya and Lincoln
Nectarines!!!!
Blackberry Jam!It's sweltering hot and labor intensive, but I do believe good times were had by all. It's a long day of play for the kids and gives us time to catch up on mommy things. It's nice to know exactly what went into this food we've made for our families. AND generally it works out cheaper to process our own canned goods. But even if it doesn't on the surface we reuse all our materials each year. Occasionally we lose a glass jar that cracks in the canner but in '07 we got a massive batch off craigslist so really each jar has probably already been used again and again. So all in all we've saved money in our food budget, provided access to yummy homemade goodies for our families to enjoy off season and had plenty of socializing with good friends.
4 comments:
Ok so, how can you tell when pears are ready to harvest? I have 2 pear trees in our yard, and some pears have been falling, but they don't seem ripe AT ALL. I though maybe the squirrels were throwing them down, but now that I see you are picking yours, maybe it is time. Do they ripen after you pick them?
This makes me so happy!!! It looks like a bountiful harvest!
This looks wonderful!! I've only canned a couple times, but loved the results!! They all look so pretty lined up on the shelf too. Way to go, ladies!!!!!!!!
Funny, Anya told me she was at the dentist getting a cap replaced....
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