Do you remember that song from childhood that went something like this: “Over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go. The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh in the white and drifting snow.” Well, there wasn’t any snow or woods but there were corn fields, lots of them. I had the pleasure of visiting two farms this week, late August being a great time for a farm visit. Gardens and fields are at their peak and the days are sunny and warm.
My first destination was to the family farm of a high school friend to pick up some sweet corn. Little did I know I would need to actually pick it but with a few instructions, I was able to successfully twist the cob off the stalks and demonstrate my “trip and fall” tendencies tromping around in the field. Even more exciting was driving around in the fields looking at prairie natives she is reintroducing in the ditches/fields on their property. In her side-by-side we were even able to access the meandering Whetstone River in several places. She sold me a bit of beef from family livestock and after a pop of area made wine and a nice chat I was back on my way to the lake. What a wonderful summer afternoon adventure! Oh, and even after three supper’s of sweet corn, five baggies of corn made its way into the freezer for enjoyment later in the year.
The next trip was triggered by a voicemail message announcing a loaded plum tree with fruit ready for picking. The call came from a distant cousin whose son often shares his pear tree bounty with me. Well, the pear tree didn’t produce this year but the plum tree at his father’s adjacent property sure did. Off I went to visit another farm and his tree was loaded with small plums already overripe but perfect for jam. With a little help from father, son and grandson, I filled a five gallon bucket that I calculated would yield more than enough fruit pulp for a batch or two of plum jam. With thick skin and juicy fruit, after washing, they went straight into a large 20 quart stockpot, in two batches, after which the ominous task of removing the pits began. It was husband Paul to the rescue laboriously extracting almost every last pit from the pulp. I found a few outliers while making the jam and may have seen one slip into a jam jar which may be good luck for the recipient. Next up, taking some finished product to my generous cousin/s.
We ended up getting 20 jars of plum jam using only half the pulp, the rest of which I took to my cousin who has a produce market where she sells all kinds of produce, jams/jellies, canned goods, breads/rolls and crafts. During our Friday visit to her garden/market, we picked up 40 pounds of tomatoes that yielded 9 quarts of tomato sauce. She also had tons of colorful peppers I couldn’t resist so this week we will be making pepper jelly. The refrigerator is also full of chard that we need to blanch and freeze for fall/winter soups, stews and omelets. So, things are going quite well on the food preservation and canning front this year but I will be on my own when my lakeside friend calls to announce grapes and apples are ready for picking a couple weeks from now. Happy Canning Season!