We are doing the normal getting ready for winter stuff; splitting firewood, canning, weatherizing the buildings and everything’s going nicely. Everything except for three half-bushels of peaches I bought “cheap” because the market owner said some were going bad. I found out the next day that one whole box and most of the other two had dry rot from being in cold storage too long. I was frustrated to only get 10 pints of peach preserves from a bushel and half of peaches. Here in northern Minnesota we can’t grow peaches and sometimes I really, really lust for peaches! Oh well, you win some and lose some; I lost this week.

In the high tech world, my satellite service (Hughes Net) has been disrupted and poor Lisa at the magazine has been spending lots of time on the phone trying to get things resolved. So far, I’ve had spotty service at best; I can only get online every four days or so! As soon as we have this resolved, I’ll be back blogging as normal, with photos. Until then, I’ll just keep on canning. — Jackie

9 COMMENTS

  1. Zelda,

    I wish we could grow peaches; Avalons are usually rated at zone 5, with possible zone 4 with protection. The University of Minnesota rates them at a zone 5 and advises against growing any peaches. Of course, we, in zone 3, don’t believe everything experts tell us. We will be giving Reliance another try, as they’re the most cold-hardy peach and folks at Fedco, in northern Maine, do have some luck with them. I’m also going to get a dwarf peach and plant it in a tub that we can bring in for the winter and out for the summer. We’re that desperate!!! We’ll keep you posted. (We did plant one Reliance on the West side of our house to protect it from our severe winter wind from the West. It died. But we’ll definitely try again…and again…and again.

    Jackie

  2. Michelle,

    If the jars are still sealed and the food looks and smells okay, it should be perfectly fine; some of mine is that old and we do use it (no complaints, either!). One caution I must mention is that you should be sure that the folks used approved canning methods; there are still some out there who insist on canning green beans and corn…even meat…in a boiling water bath canner. I wouldn’t eat THAT food, except in dire emergency…then I’d be sure to boil it for 15 minutes first.

    Jackie

  3. Sorry about the tech and peach woes. I cant wait till they fix your internet, Ive been getting on here twice a day for a few days to see but no updates…hopefully they get it fixed soon!

  4. Peaches for short season cold areas – check out a variety named Avalon and if it is grafted, ask what the rootstock is. You’ll see them rated differently depending on who is selling the tree and what the rootstock is. The peaches may be small and it may take a few years to get some, but peaches are possible. Trees will need a protected place for best results – see Sepp Holzer’s description of planting in east facing niches, planting hedges for shelter and other suggestions for cold climates. Rocks store heat. Sepp proved it is possible to create microclimates for difficult crops and get good food production.

  5. Hi Jackie, sorry about the peaches. That is no good.

    I went to the Preparedness Expo in Utah yesterday and got to meet Dave and shake his hand. I really had been looking forward to it. There were so many great booths.
    The Backwoods Home booth was the best of course. It was great to see your books! I bought your latest cooking one (it will go great with the canning one I already have). Since I bought a T shirt and wore it around the Expo Dave let me choose another book. So I chose the “Starting Over”
    Love it!

    I bought some Tattler lids while I was there. The guys selling them gave a great lesson on how to use them and of course they knew who you were!

    You have inspired me greatly. Although I live in town and figure I’ll never get my dream “out in the great woods” I live as self reliant as I can. I have a huge garden and can everything and cook from scratch. Two weeks ago my husband finally “relented” and built me a chicken coop and I am the proud owner of 4 beautiful egg laying hens.

    Thanks for all you do.

  6. It was a while ago, but I once used a Maytag wringer washer with a foot operated air switch to start and stop the wringer. There was a bulb on the end of the hollow tube.

    I am a regular reader, even though your life is so different from life here in Brooklyn.

  7. You just keep on doing the most important thing…canning, becuase technology can wait. your livelyhood is more important. you have inspired me Jackie. thanks

  9. We too love peaches and they seem to be so expensive any more. And we can actually grow them here in MI so I cannot even imagine how much you spent for those ‘cheap peaches’ Sorry that it didn’t work out better for you :-(
    I was wondering, we recently had a chance at some home canned food that a relative had canned. She died and the family wanted to just throw them out. I figured that they might be good or we could at least use the jars. Some are from the 90’s and a couple are from the late 80’s. Do you think that they might be ok or would it be better to just dump them and use the jars for canning something else?
    Thanks Jackie. We LOVE your articles. You are a very inspiring woman. We hope to one day be self-sufficient and are striving towards that goal :-)

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