Enjoying the fruits of someone else's labor

We have been busy canning these last few weeks. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to can any of our own vegetables or fruit because we had very little grow this year. The weather just didn't cooperate. So, we went to the orchards and the farmers markets to get what we needed. Because of the cost we ended up canning just a few things. At the end we had applesauce, green beans, pickles, and blackberry and raspberry jam. Cerah did manage to coax two pie pumpkins to maturity so we pureed and froze the meat from those and will be making pumpkin bread with it over the holidays.

Applesauce:

First, we had to cut, core, and then peel all the apples. Cerah did the coring, I cut and then peeled, and Hannah helped peel.

Once it was all cooked Cerah had to mash them up so they didn't have big chunks in them.

Next we put them in the jars

And they were done. They just had to sit for two weeks before we could start opening them.

Rob made the pickles. I didn't because I don't like dill pickles and that's what everyone else wanted this year.

I did do the green beans though. I love fresh picked green beans. There is nothing in the store that compares to them.

 Finished products:

Applesauce

Dill pickles

and green beans.



Somehow I have lost the pictures of my jam. I took pictures of the girls making it and of the finished product but I can't seem to find the pictures anywhere. So you'll just have to trust me when I say they look (and taste) really good.

Here's a picture of Cerah's two pumpkins that made it:

I wasn't home when she prepared them so I don't have any pictures of that either.

Next year we are hoping for a better yield from our own garden. Growing it is just as fun as harvesting but not quite as fun as eating!