8 Gallons of Jam

My mom and I spent the day using up the remainder of the 140 pounds of peaches we picked last Saturday.  She was only going to stay a few hours and we were only going to make two batches of jam, one for me and one for her.  But the peaches wouldn't end and we couldn't let them go to waste.  At many points The Tornado's desire to play "peach smash" with them was sounding like a better option especially after the 300th worm cut out!  We began shortly before 1 pm and my mom literally cut peaches until 8:30 tonight!  I did let her have a short break for dinner.  While she cut peaches, I did the jam making.  We sure accomplished a lot, but the peaches continue to be the gift that keeps on giving.  Me with a sticky kitchen to clean up and her with a batch of half made mango/peach chutney and a peach pie to mix up tomorrow.  Fortunately for her sake, the hardest part is done in the cutting of the peaches.

After she left, I had to figure out just how much jam I have made this summer.  I was quite shocked to discover that the grand total is just over 8 gallons or 43 pints!!  And pears haven't even ripened yet.  The tree that towers over my garden just on the other side of the neighbors fence is a pear that is brimming full of fruit this year!  With what is on the branches on our side of the fence, I do believe there will be enough to get at least one batch of pear butter.  I am going to need a few days to recover from the 140 pounds of peaches before I can think about pears.

Of the peach jams, our favorite by far was Grand Champion Peach Jam.  It was a bit labor intensive, but definitely worth the effort!!  I have now made four batches of it.

The jam run down:

• 3 batches of Four Berry Jam
• 1 batch of Blackberry with Honey
• 1 batch of Blackberry Jam
• 4 batches Grand Champion Peach Jam
• 1 batch Peach Jam
• 1 batch of Rhubarb Strawberry Jam
• 3 batches of Mango Peach Chutney

Comments

[GiGi]

It sounds like a lot of work but it was a wonderful day of fellowship with each other. I think we actually finished a few sentences and thoughts throughout the day. Thanks Steph for doing the picking and motivating us to get this done. Daddy enjoyed the jam with his breakfast this morning!

[Brian Gallimore]

Impressive amount of Jam! I was tired of making jam after two batches myself!

[Derek]

That's so awesome! I'm in the middle of turning my back yard into a small farm, and I plan on growing some fruit trees as well! You're an inspiration!