Thank you

Peaches and blueberries are now done for this 2011 season. 

We so enjoyed each one of you. 

Thank you for allowing our family to provide you with blueberries and peaches this year.  We hope that you were very pleased with the quality of them. 

We are already looking into adding a few additional fruits for next year.  Cherries and apples are on the top of the list.  Check back periodically to keep updated. 

We look forward to being able to provide your family with delicious and nutrition products again next year. 

Blessings from our family at Alexander Farms

Peaches Coming Next Week!

The Crest Haven peaches will be here on:
 Thursday, August 18th. 

You can come and pick them up any time between:
9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Also, for those of you that ordered Baby Gold peaches,
those will be here on the same day.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at visitalexanderfarms@gmail.com and I'll be happy to answer those for you!

We look forward to seeing you Thursday!

How To Can Peaches

Canning peaches is simple and fun if one knows how to do it!  For those of you who have never canned peaches before, we want to show you how easy this really is!  We're going to go through and give step by step instructions on how to do this the way we do it for freestone peaches.  When I say "freestone", what I mean is that the peach comes off of the pit easily.  For those of you who have gotten the Loring, Crest Haven or Harmony  peaches from us, those are all freestone peaches.  The variety of peach that we are taking orders for right now, called a Baby Gold peach, is a cling peach.  What that means is that the peach has to be cut off of the pit.  Cling peaches are really good to can because they hold their firmness.  However, we have always done the freestone, which is just fine for canning also.  We used to can our peaches a little bit different than we do now.  Last year, someone kindly told us how they canned their peaches and we tried it and absolutely loved the way they turned out!  They weren't mushy and falling apart at all and the taste was awesome! So, we're going to share with you how to can these firm and delicious freestone peaches!

Step 1:
Prepare to begin. Wash your jars.  Check the tops of your jars to make sure that it is smooth all of the way around the rim.  If there is a chip in the top of it, do not use the jar as the jar probably will not seal.   In a large pot, fill about half full with water and add citric acid.  Use approximately 1/4 tsp. of citric acid per gallon of water.  Citric acid is nothing more than Vitamin C.  So if you have a Vitamin C tablet, just crush it up and add that to your water. This will prevent your peaches from browning.

Step 2:
Begin cutting your peaches.  In the center of the peach, there is a indented line that marks the middle of the pit.  You want to cut opposite of that line, as you can see demonstrated in the picture below. Cutting the peach in half opposite of the line marked on the peach makes it much easier to remove the pit.  Make sure that when you are cutting the peach in half, you cut all the way to the pit on all sides, as it will make it easier in the next step.

Step 3:
Once you have the peach cut in half, you will then grab hold of the peach on both sections and twist to separate the two halves, as is demonstrated in the picture.

 Our two separated peach halves!

You can see how cutting opposite of the line on the peach
makes it so that the pit is only in one half of the peach.

On the half of the peach that the pit is in, cut it in the center, as shown below.

Now break the one side of the peach off of the pit 

and then pull the pit out of the last piece, pictured below.

Then take the other half of the peach without the pit

and if you want to, you can cut it in half as well, 

making a total of 4 quarters out of your peach.

Or, you can leave that half as is, if you like the size of it for eating.  

That is up to you and your personal preference. 

Step 4:

Now we're ready to peel the peach!  To peel the peach quarter (or half), take your knife and cut in just below the skin, as shown below and then pull back the skin.  If it doesn't want to peel back like that, then just cut it off, being careful not to go too deep that you're wasting peach!

   

 

 Peel all four quarters the same way as shown above.

As you finish each quarter, put it in your pot of citric acid water to 

keep your peach from browning and loosing it's bright color. 

And don't forget, if you have children, let them help too!  Peaches are fun and easy to work up!  Why not include the whole family, teaching your kiddos how to do it and just to have fun being together!  Assigning to each one something that is appropriate for them, makes it so that nothing gets damaged and yet everyone can be apart. 

Our Little Helper #1 peeling peaches

Little Helper #2 cutting them in half and separating them.

Step 5:  We are now ready to pack our peaches into the quart jars!  Please view the video below as Britt, our master jar packer, demonstrates how to do it!

So, here we are with our beautifully packed jars of peaches!

Step 6:  The next step is to fill the jars with apple juice.  Some folks use a sugar syrup, but we prefer the delightful taste of the peaches without the added sugar.  The peaches are very tasty with the apple juice and keep their color nicely.  But you do what best pleases you and your family.

Fill every jar to the bottom rim of the mouth of the jar with apple juice.
The peaches themselves add to the liquid in the jars,
so it doesn't take an exorbitant amount of apple juice.

 Step 7:  With a clean and wet wash cloth or paper towel, wipe off the rims of the jars to remove any peach or apple juice.  If you aren't careful to clean the top of your jars, they may not seal.  Place your clean lids onto the jars.

Then screw your rings onto your jars on top of the lids.
Screw the lids on nice and tight, but not too tight.
Just hand tightened.

Step 8:  Fill your hot water bath about 2/3 full with cold water.  Place your jars in your hot water bath.

Cover hot water bath with lid and turn the stove on high.
Bring to a full boil.  Once at a full boil, turn off the stove and
allow the jars to sit in the hot water for 1 hour.

Step 9:  After the jars have sat in the hot water bath for 1 hour, remove the lid and carefully pull out the jars and place them on a towel on the counter.  Allow to sit for at least 8 hours before disturbing the jars at all.  The jars will begin to seal soon after you pull them out of the hot water bath.  As a family, we view each jar that seals as a gift from God and recognize that it only seals because of His blessing, goodness and faithfulness.  Because of that, when each jar seals we say "praise the Lord", rejoicing in His faithfulness and goodness that we are completely undeserving of.  He is our Caretaker and Provider, who gives us all that we have need of and much, much more! Praise His name for any good thing, no praise to us, as we cannot control what happens.  He controls all things! After 8 hours, check the jars to make sure that each jar has sealed.  If a jar didn't seal, just put it in the fridge. 

Now you see how easy it is to can peaches!  Anyone can can peaches if one knows how to.  Now you know and can successfully can your own homemade peaches that you and maybe even your family has labored together to produce with lots of love and fun!

Enjoy!