Fruit Harvests

Today I will be picking, washing, and preparing fruit for canning, juicing, and freezing.  I spent the morning picking blackberries and peaches.  The blackberry bushes have been neglected and I missed a lot of fruit with our crazy summer schedule.  I picked about a gallon baggie full of blackberries.  I plan to freeze them and then later, when I have 4 gallons, I will juice them for jelly.  Freezing blackberries is simple.  Just wash them and freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet. This will keep them from sticking together and you will be able to pull out a cup or so for a recipe/smoothie/etc.  However, if you know you are just going to be making jelly or jam later, you can freeze them in freezer boxes.  I will probably do the boxes for this batch, since my freezer is so full of the beef we just got from the butcher.  Right now I have to work with what I have available.  T

The peaches are overflowing.  Two trees are fully ripe with two more full of green and unripe peaches.  I usually make jam, but I may resort to juicing and canning for jelly at at later time.  I would love to freeze them, but I do not have enough freezer space.  I will teach Miss J to can a few quarts for pies and cobblers.  I hope they turn out well so she can enter them into the fair.  Last year she got a rosette for her Caramel Apple Pie filling.  We have one quart jar left and no one wants to eat the last jar. We keep saving it for a "special day."   I guess we need to make another batch of that too!  Here are a couple of recipes that I am looking at for the peaches!  I have a nice stock of dark honey so I plan to try it on at least one batch of the jam to see if we like it.

Honey Sweetened Vanilla Peach Jam

Honey Peach Preserves

Here is a LOVELY pdf of a vintage Ball Canning Blue Book.  The ladies on the front appear to be wearing clothing from the 1920's.  There are several recipes that are appealing in this pdf.  I also love the simple directions on canning at the beginning.  What is your favorite way to preserve your harvest?  Freezing, canning, dehydrating?