Don and Elizabeth put our granite canner to good use these past few weeks. The last part of July, they canned peaches and made peach butter and peach jam. The following two weeks, Don and Elizabeth made blackberry jam. I must say, they did a delicious job.

We live thirty miles from the nearest farmers market but only six miles from an Amish community which serves a similar purpose. For instance every Wednesday in July, one of the Amish businesses has peaches trucked in from south Missouri. People line up bright and early to purchase peaches by the box. A choice is given between the number one peaches which are uniform in size with pretty peals and the other option, number twos, which are of varied sizes and have a few blemishes. Number twos are by far the better buy, however there are those folks who can’t resist a peach peal with pretty eye appeal. In the Bryan kitchen though, we peel, slice, cook down, pack and can the peaches therefore we aren’t seduced by a pretty peal. My tip for peaches: If they aren’t fully ripe, put them in a paper sack and sit them on the counter. Also, because we buy in large quantities, I break down the boxes that the peaches come in, place the peaches in a single layer on the broken down box, then slide them under a table out of the way until they ripen according to need.

The blackberries came from our garden. Again, we don’t let looks fool us. Just because the berry has turned from green to red to black doesn’t mean its ready to be picked. I typically walk along the trellis gently pulling on the clusters. If the berries come off easily in my hand, they’re ready to be picked.