I feel like I’m getting a very late start on canning this year. My own garden is pretty sparse, so I went to a couple local fruit stands to get pickling cucumbers and peaches. I spent this past Saturday evening and Sunday making pickles and jam!
Peach Jam
Up till a few months ago, I had never tried peach jelly or jam. A friend of my mother’s shared some of her homemade jam with us, and it was to-die-for. Her secret? Fresh Redhaven peaches and the Sure-Jell peach jam recipe. (Keep it simple, right?!)
Unfortunately, Redhaven peaches aren’t quite in season yet (the farm where I bought our peaches said about another two weeks for that particular type) but I decided to give it a try with another kind of peach. What I’ve sampled so far turned out very well. All the jars sealed and the jam set up nice and thick. I’m eager to make some homemade bread to enjoy with it!
Dill and Bread & Butter Pickles
For the pickles, I was super lazy and used Mrs. Wages pre-mixes for kosher dill pickles and for bread and butter pickles. I also experimented with soaking the pickles overnight in pickling lime to help keep them crunchy. (This seems to have worked well!)
I’m not a dill pickle person, but my older son goes CRAZY for dill pickles. He eats them for snacks. He eats them for dessert after dinner. So obviously, I had to make some. I prefer bread and butter pickles, personally … and these ones turned out YUMMY! And again, lucky me, 10 out of 10 jars (five of each type) sealed successfully!
What’s next?
I’m still hoping to can peach slices, tomatoes, and sweet corn this summer. What are you canning right now?
Amanda lives with her family on a little red farmstead in northwestern Pennsylvania. By day she's a web developer specializing in WordPress and in her off time she enjoys working with goats and other livestock on the farm, canning, knitting, and crocheting.
