The Payoff

It's been a long summer, but fall is finally on the far horizon. I note the five day forecast is predicting highs only in the eighties which is hopefully the beginning of a seasonal trend.

If it's too hot to want to work outside there's always something to do inside. Such as making the family jam supply for the year. So far there is muscadine grape, strawberry, and peach jams and maybe some persimmon to come if the recipe I came across the other day pans out. I messed up the shots of the jars so I'll try to reshoot them this coming weekend for the next post.

This is the last batch of peach jam processing. The nice 16qt Tramontina pot that Diana got me for Christmas last year (only cost $200 for a $40 pot! {laughing}) works well as a water bath canner. The Key limes are off of our trees. I always end up having to buy some additional fruit but those limes were grown by us. I much prefer fresh squeezed juice to bottled lemon juice which doesn't have a very good flavor to me.

This is a bit of summer's bounty from earlier in the season - yellow summer squash relish. We have a particular fondness for this relish, in fact there's nothing I like more on a burger or dog so we always make a lot to get us through the year and some for gifts. Had to go and buy a couple of red sweet peppers this time around as I didn't have any ready when I wanted to make the relish. Usually except for the vinegar, sugar, and spices we produce everything else. This is a great way to use all those squash that have grown too large but that aren't yet woody.

Just now it's the persimmons that are coming ripe. We inherited a mature tree when we bought the place. I have no idea of its specific variety but it is a Hachaiya type astringent that tends to alternate bearing. This is one of its big crop years and it is heavy with fruit. Ordinarily I just run them through the Victorio and freeze the pulp but this year I'm woefully short on freezer space so I'm determined to dry or can as much as I am able.

The problem is that astringent type persimmons have a peculiar chemistry. Even when allowed to become soft-ripe which makes them sweet and non-astringent extended cooking can cause the pulp to revert back to mouth puckering. I have a recipe that claims to eliminate that but I haven't tried it yet. This coming weekend I hope.


What I've been doing lately is drying them. This is a photo of the first batch. They were pretty in the dryer but the finished product was disappointing. I've since learned to wait until they are fully colored but still firm (and thus astringent) then peel them, cut into rounds, then dry. The dehydration process takes the pucker out and the cross sections reveal a pretty eight petaled design that looks nice when finished. Dried persimmons are new to me so I'm still experimenting with what I'll do with them.

I will be devoting a little freezer space for some puree though. The stuff is great in pancakes, muffins, and mixed with some cornmeal and buttermilk for a baked pudding.

The citrus are starting to color up. My trees are all young so this will be the first year that we've gotten more than a couple of fruit. Still won't be buckets full but hopefully we at least have some for fresh eating for a while.

I picked up the winter forage seed last weekend. Looks like I'll have to get out and start getting the ground prepped soon. The garden has been patiently waiting as well.

Looking forward to cooler weather!

.....Alan.