Harvest Season part 1

Harvest season is here in a BIG way this year.
Our garden is blessing us, our friends' gardens are blessing us,my parents' garden is blessing us,  and our local gleaners group is blessing us.
Yes I used the word blessing four times. Truly the harvest is a blessing.
So far this year we have harvested and put up: cherries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, cauliflower, brocolli, kale, corn, greenbeans, apples, and peaches.
On the coming list cabbage, leeks, garlic, squash, pears, more corn, more cauliflower, more broccoli, more kale, and hopefully beets, and root vegetables.

What do I do with all these things?
Can, freeze, and dry them.

I steamed apples for juice. Round 1 on the steamer gave me 4 qts of juice and 5 qts of applesauce as I ran the cooked apples through the Folly Food Mill after the fact so we didn't waste anything.
I added a teaspoon of honey and 1/2 a teaspoon of citric acid for a preservative to each jar.
I still have 8 gallons of apples to juice, dry, and freeze so there will be more to come. I am also hoping for a few more varieties later in the season.

I purged the pantry in late July to get ready for the harvest and took my 18 qts of tomatoes from last year (that is what I had left) and slow cooked them in my electric roasting pan with some italian seasoning for a basic spaghetti sauce. I ended up with 11 freezer containers (a little larger than a pint) ready to go. Now I have the top shelf of my pantry ready for other goodies and I have 11 package of sauce in the freezer ready to add meat , veggies, and past to.

I purchased 4 boxes of peaches (22lbs each) through our gleaners group. I have been putting them in qt and pint jars. I cut them in half, pitting them and stuffed them in the jars. I used a combination of citric acid and honey and water for each jar. We ended up with 13 qts and 7 pints of peaches so far. I am also drying some for snacks and flash freezing the rest for smoothies. I am still planning on at least 1 batch of jam and 2 pies before all is said and done with the peaches.



Later this week I will post more of the harvest season. Kale, veggies, pickles, pears, and organizing it all.

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