Large Family Canning

Every year 

autumn arrives bringing with it loads of tantalizing fruits

 which when home canned,

 bring their wonderful wholesome flavor to the table all winter.

I remember canning as a child with my mom and my grandparents.  

Every year the grands would fill their capacious car with peaches, pears and apples 

then drive across state  to our house.  

They would help in all the canning, then go home. 

 Their gift of love to our family was a gift that would last for months and months,

 the memories made, will last always.

 No one could peel an apple like grandpa Clyde.  

With the ever present twinkle in his eye,

 he would peel each and every apple all in one string of peel. 

 I watched in wide eyed wonder, always amazed.

Now Grammy and Bethany peel peaches my dad brought across state,

  for another season of multi generational canning. 

Rose and I  listen as Grammy tells of her adventures growing up  on a farm 

with 60 milk cows 

and a thousand laying hens.  

Bethany listens wide eyed, peeling and peeling 

while I fill jars and set them in the canner.  

She will remember these days canning with Grammy 

just as fondly as I remember canning with my grands.

  Good company 

and a big, big stove make the processing go quickly.  

I am very thankful, 

especially when putting food by in large quantity,

 for my commercial Wolf stove. 

 With 6 big burners, we can keep two canners going 

and still have plenty or room for the other big pots for fruit.

 The stove is one of those "God things" which a friend saw on Craig's List and contacted us about, 

and we then purchased for the same price as an average new stove.

Such a blessing!

There is more and more caning to be done, 

for we have foraged apples and plums again this year,

 finding apple trees loaded with juicy, sweet, and large fruit, 

and plum trees

 though not so abundant this year, still provided three box fulls. 

Many hands make light work indeed. 

 Rose, Joe, Jim, Ben and Bethany worked alongside me all day in the kitchen

 making apple sauce and the coveted plum sauce we discovered last year. 

 We listened to worship music 

and tried to encourage Gabe and Olivia to not help. 

(smile)

 102 quarts is a good days work, 

done just in time to clean up and start dinner.