So when I realised that I wasn’t going to lift today I figured it was a good excuse to get some of the canning done. So, usually the cherries are available in 10lb, 20lb, and 30lb pails. They have a weird mix of pounds and kg at times. So in my head I’m thinking 20lbs of peaches sounds about right. I want to make peach conserve (for which I need 8 cups chopped) so I figure I’ll get somewhere around 12 quart jars out of what’s left. I have some cherry concentrate left from earlier in the year so the plan was to can them in the cherry juice.

We set off around 12:30. Round trip it’s less than 90 mins so no big deal. Lunch is usually around 2pm so I figure we’ll be back in time. Of course I didn’t count on torrential rain which pushed the trip time out to 50 mins one way. The plant was shut for lunch when we got there so it was a 20 min wait until we could get the peaches. I knew there was a Subway back at the highway so off we went, and had lunch there. I really was quite good. Since it’s been a while since I checked their calorie levels I just went with the 6″ roast beef, no cheese, with mustard. I was really ready for this since for some strange reason I had skipped my morning snack.

So, back to the farm for the peaches. There are no buckets for the peaches, it’s just $2/lb. So I’m thinking still about 20, maybe 25 pounds (so I can get 14 jars out of it - the sterilizer takes 7 at a time). Then they mention that a 40-lb box is $57.50. So let’s see… $50 for 25-lbs or $57.50 for 40-lbs. No contest. The insane woman agrees to the 40-lb box. 

Wait, it gets better. I also purchased (frozen) a 1.5kg bucket of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. And before you ask, that’s each, not mixed. Oh, and when the woman went to go get them it turned out they didn’t have any of the small raspberry pails… so she gave me the next size up - no extra charge!

And then, on the way back to the highway. Yes, you guessed it. We stopped at a fruit stand and bought…. fresh peaches. Apricots as well. I know, the two of us should not be trusted. 

The canning process wasn’t that time consuming. I started about 3pm, finished the jarring process by 5pm (and I had to bring up more jars than I had ready, and mix up more canning liquid). The last jars came out of the sterilizer by 8pm, and you really don’t need to be around much once you’re just sterilizing them. So I ended up with 24 quart jars of peaches. Half done in cherry juice and the rest done in a very light sugar syrup. Next year I will check the cherry concentrate before we go down for peaches.

So tomorrow I’ll likely just make the peach conserve. Some of the raspberries and blackberries will be used in jam as well, but I’ll likely do that next week or the week after that (depending on when the tomatoes will be ready for making salsa). Salsa will be the last canning of the year, really. I’ve checked and we have enough dills to get us through to next summer.

On that note I’m going to try and catch up on my reading and then head to bed.

Food for the day:

Total: 2161 (23% fat, 36% carbs, 34% protein)

Breakfast: two fried eggs, pecan raisin bread, jam, clementines (350)
AM Snack: none (0)
Lunch: Subway 6″ roast beef sub (whole wheat, no cheese, mustard), peach pieces (337)
PM Snack: protein shake, soy nuts (314)
Dinner: beef/turkey burgers(2), roll(1), condiments, salad w/dressing (782)
Late Snack: protein shake, peaches, plums, apricots (358) <— just basically made my calories up with fruit!