I’m enjoying preserving at the moment. Having a little bit of free time helps. My youngest child has just started school and so I’ve gone from 15 child free hours a week, in which to cram in work, chores and a bit of blogging, to a wonderful 32.5 hours a week. Oh the luxury. I can type that guilt free as, at the moment, he’s loving being a school boy. Wooohoo!
Of course I should really find a ‘real’ job and have vaguely started looking but in the meantime I have been putting things in jars.
A friend (well actually two different friends) of mine have peach trees, and over the past couple of weeks the fruit has begun to ripen. There’s no way they can use all the fruit so I have become a very grateful beneficiary. Some of the fruit have become peach and plum jam (the plums were from my parent’s tree), some has become peach and chilli sauce, and some peach chutney but the best fruit I saved for bottling.
My kids love bottled peaches, they will a whole jar in a single sitting, which quite frankly is pretty gross to watch. Because they eat so many at once I want to limit the sugar a bit so I preserve them in either a super light sugar syrup, 1 cup sugar to 2 litres of water or occasionally in plain water. I used sugar syrup for these as they were ever so slightly under ripe.
I never peel the peaches I am preserving. I find the process too time consuming and I don’t think the minimal textural difference warrants it. I also find that some peaches hold their shape better if you leave the skin on. If you really want skin free peaches it generally comes off pretty easily when you take them out of the bottle.
These are freestone peaches, I love the colour and texture of the flesh where the stone has been – very pretty.
I bottle all my fruit in Fowlers bottles. I bought a kit on eBay a couple of years ago and have really enjoyed using it.
You just put the fruit in jars, top with water, sugar syrup, or brine depending on what you are preserving, put the rubber sealing rings and lids on, clip them in place and into the water bath they go. They emerge after an hour or two (there is a guide that explains the appropriate temperature and preserving time for each fruit or vegetable) ready for the shelf and the occasional proud glance.
Now I just have to keep the kids away from them, at least until the fresh peach season is over.
Those look so beautiful. I dream of getting enough peaches to can like that. We did get 50 pounds last year, but the townhouse mates share was half. And at 25 pounds I canned a bit. An awful lot got eaten fresh. None got canned as just peaches though. I wish I had.
I like canning things separately – I find it easier when its time to use them.
Just beautiful. I’m planning to plant a peach tree this year, so will hopefully be harvesting some fruit in a few years.
It was only 3 years ago when my youngest started full time school…it’s amazing how all that “free time” gets quickly eaten up by this and that.
Isn’t it – I already seem to have full days…
Those are worthy of admiring gazes, they’re so pretty! I hope your kids realize some day how lucky they are.
They probably will but only after they have kids of their own to take things for granted…
How nice it must be to have so many peaches that you can’t eat them all fresh, but have to preserve them! The peaches we get here are mostly very poor – often crunchy and with a green tinge – definitely not good!
Melbourne’s climate does seem to suit them, I think you may need to relocate your island further south….
Lovely pics. I’m with you on not peeling the peaches. Keep it low maintenance plus the nutrition is just under the skin.
I always find that there’s usually an excellent reason to be lazy.
What lovely peaches! And how great to have friends willing to share. sadly, peaches here are prone to lots of diseases that make it difficult to grow them without heavy spraying.
They do seem particularly happy in Melbourne’s climate.