Earlier this week I got a call from an old friend asking if I wanted to can some peaches this year. She has this crazy tree in her front yard that has "white" peaches. They actually look pretty green, but are totally ripe. They don't last long, though and needed to be picked and put up quickly. We planned to go on Wednesday, after Emmaline finished soccer. Unlucky for us, it was pouring freezing cold rain! I wanted to call it off, but Emmaline wouldn't hear of it. We picked quickly, dodging as much rain as possible. At one point, my friend told the kids they might want to slow down since their mom might not want to can that much fruit. Emmaline gave her an "are you kidding me- you must not know my mom" look.
She's right. I LOVE to can things. As I got out my supplies, I thought of Mama. Many of my "tools" also belonged to her and we spent lots of time together canning everything imaginable. I know lots of people thought it was crazy that we spent so much time canning when I visited her on weekends after she got sick, but it felt totally natural to us. Of course it helped us avoid conversations about the future, but it was also a great way to reminisce about the past and spend time together.
Remember mayhaw jelly? I never even picked mayhaws and don't know what they look like growing. Mama did it while I was at school because she said it was too dangerous with so many snakes in the swamp. She usually picked them at the Day's house and we would come home to cheesecloth bags, dripping juice from every cupboard door.
Or how about strawberries in Kansas? By far my favorite thing to can. Anyway, it is really fun to pass this along to my own girls. Emmaline was asking me if I thought Zoe, the daughter of my friend, helped her mom to can. I told her I didn't think so because Zoe didn't mention it when we were at her house. Emmaline answered, "And probably they didn't do it at 9 o'clock at night." Just like Emmaline- when I'm in the midst of thinking we're having a great bonding experience, she brings me back to earth. But when else am I going to can anything? Oh well, it was fun for me anyway.
Earlier this summer we went with Molly to her friend's house to pick raspberries. Tucker ate them almost as quickly as I could pick.
The funny thing is, he figured out which ones were ripe and only ate those. It was great fun and I only wish I had picked more! Oliver was a great helper. 
I made a couple of cobblers and we had the rest in smoothies. Guess now I need to start on the millions of tomatoes I have in the backyard garden.
4 comments:
You guys were brave to be out in that rain - it was SO cold! I love the "you must not know my mom look". Can you believe I've never canned a thing in my life? Always wanted to but never had the time/knowledge/produce to do it. Maybe next year you can teach me!
I'll teach you about making blog books if you teach me how to can fruit...deal?? I want some of your cobbler...mmmm. :)
Those do look pretty small for peaches are they especially sweet? My mom loved canning and peaches were her specialty. You wouldn't think Grand Junction Colorado would be a good place to grow peaches, but it seemed to be. I remember them as huge (wonder if they were?). In mid winter there was nothing better than bottled peaches! Glad you had a good time.
Yay for you Charlotte! I froze mine because I don't have any canning equipment nor do I ever want to get any. My mom canned our entire lives and I had to help out. It was fun at first when I was little and then I came to dread it. Haha the things we do when we get to be moms!
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