Hi there! I just recently went to a pick your own farm and came back with 45 pounds of strawberries, yummy yummy :)!! Now I was faced with the awesome task of preserving them all. I spent 2 days making juice, jelly, jam, dessert toppings, pie fillings, and freezing some. I loved every minute of it, but geesh! were my feet tired when I was all done.
If you every get a chance to go to a pick your own farm, do it. They always have the tastiest and freshest produce. To find a pick your own farm near you, click here.
If you love home canning, pick a bunch. If you just want the produce to snack on, pick a little. It is a great activity to do with the kids or to just have some time to yourself!
Here are the steps to making juice from whole fruit. This will work with any fruit.
I filled a 7 quart pot with strawberries and about 1 1/2 cups of water (just enough to keep the fruit from scorching) bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes mashing the fruit every now and then
line a strainer with several layers of cheese cloth and set it in a big bowl to catch the juice. Pour the cooked fruit in the strainer (careful it is very hot!) and let it drain undisturbed for about 3 hours or over night in the refrigerator. It is very important that you do not mash the pulp in the strainer. This will cause the pulp to go through the cheese cloth resulting in cloudy juice.
When you are all done, throw the pulp on the compost pile and use or freeze the juice within 5 days. I ended up with about 2 quarts of juice.
Hint for freezing the juice: freeze in 1-2 cup servings so you can use as needed for jelly. Juice should keep in the freezer for up to twelve months, so just when you have used it all, it will be picking time again!!
Happy Home Canning,
Linda
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