I am sitting here plum tired! I started to wonder how I could be so tired and then I began to add up what we have accomplished in the past week.
Because it is "that time of year" again…(you know the part of the year where all of the sudden the fruit and veggies are ready to be packed up and preserved for their long winter’s nap?)I found myself being pulled against my will to prepare certain fruits – peaches, apples, and tomatoes to be exact – for the coming months ahead.
When I use the words "against my will" I am reminded of my Tuesday lecture prepared just for Mason after he said, "I don’t want to practice the piano. I just want to take piano lessons and know how to play." It became apparent that I needed to remind him how it just doesn’t work that way. Every day progress is being made helping him become a better musician, the small things add up to something big! We all know that, right?!
Now back to my canning diary:
Monday Stephen had the family up at the crack of dawn ready to go pick tomatoes out in Salem. We (along with our friends the Puzey’s who wanted to learn how to bottle tomato juice) went out and picked 5 bushel of tomatoes. We then came home and set up tomato juice production. We had quite the set up as you can tell from the photos. We had a successful day ending up with 114 quarts. We did have 3 casualties which spooked us all and made us get jittery…kind of funny now that I think of it.
Tuesday I picked up my peaches from my mother-in-law Sharon. As we talked we both realized that we were out of canning jars. Just as I was about to pull out of the driveway Aunt Dot pulled in. Low and behold in the back of her trunk were boxes of quart jars. I offered to help carry some and as I was unpacking boxes, Sharon said, "you should take these wide mouth jars – they would be perfect for your whole tomatoes." I tried to rebuttal say they would be great for her peaches, but she quickly ushered them into my stead and I was left humbled and grateful. I came home and told Stephen the story and he just beamed, so proud of his mom. It was a small act, but the selfless example made a large happy spot.
Then I found myself Wednesday afternoon with ripening peaches & a bushel left of tomatoes in my garage, 1 1/2 week old apples in my mud room, and 10 dozen ears of corn to take care of. I sat on my back porch with my sinus infection feeling sorry for myself – much like Mason must have felt sitting at the piano! The words I said to him rolled through my mind as I wondered how I would fare. Sniffing up my pride I became determined to practice what I preach. I ended up on the phone sorting through my plight with a cheerful friend when suddenly I heard her say, "I will be over in a minute." She came to my rescue, not only physically but emotionally. I knew if was a sacrifice and wanted to resist and then I looked down at my lame finger and surrendered. She came for an hour and Stephen popped out from his home office to show his support. I was officially up to my elbows in ears of corn, but my spirits were soaring at the heart.
This morning I set my alarm for 6:30 am so I could get an early start without interruption from my children. I took care of the peaches and apples! I wish I would have kept track of pits that were exiting my finger tips…it felt good, it smelled good, and it tasted good! I made an appeal to Stephen a couple of times for help and finally as he was walking out of the kitchen I declared, "I have decided that when the canning is happening, you have to be right next to me." He is efficient, quick, and really cute.
Even though the fruits of our labors are acts performed solely by ourselves the love & support from others become paramount in the quality and enjoyment with which we perform . I am grateful for the boost from friends and family and was able to accomplish more than I originally sought out to do a week ago. Waiting in my deep freeze and storage room shelves are:
57 bottles of tomato juice, 14 bottle of whole tomatoes, 25 quarts of freezer corn, 14 quarts of frozen peaches, 7 quarts of apple pie filling, 7 quarts of peach pie filling, strawberry, peach, and raspberry jam.
post edit: Sorry Stephen, I didn’t know you had already blogged about the tomatoes! oops 🙂
