Peach Fiasco

Ken loved stone fruit.  Stone fruit always appears near the top of the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list of food with heavy pesticide residues.  Years ago I insisted we spend the extra money on organic stone fruit: peaches, cherries, plums, nectarines.  So I bought and canned peaches once I could get organic ones so Ken would have some at any time of the year.

After Ken’s illness and death I had so much food – much more than I could eat before it became old and had less flavor and nutrition.  so I began to share.  And farm families I shared peaches with loved them.  So I decided to can peaches for them for the same reason I canned peaches for Ken: they are a real treat when time is scarce and stone fruit is out of season.  And I enjoy doing it!

 

Times change, and my source for the organic peaches ended.  I called two Twin Cities co-ops to source peaches.  I requested organic peaches that would can well. I ordered two cases.  I went into the cities and picked them up. 

 

 

I came home, and did what I have done for decades: took each out and placed them on newspaper so they would not touch and mold.  They were not ripe.  Each morning and night I checked them so I would be ready to can them as soon as they were not rock hard.

 

But within one night they molded and showed bruises. I called, the co-op brought them back.  And got two cases from another grower.  I watched these more closely so I could can them once they were no longer unripe.

 

 

 

These second peaches also molded and once cut open were either mealy or soft at the pit.  I froze the ones with the most bruises and canned what I could cut in half or quartered.

 

 

 

 

So now I will start to find a good source for next year.

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. I picked our plums and pitted and froze them .  I will make both peach and plum jams in future!

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