Harvest Time

It's my favorite time of year...autumn!  I love the cooler temp, the changing colors, and especially the abundance of produce at the farmer's market.  Here in Michigan, fall is a time for football, raking leaves (ugh!), and for me, canning!   My G'ma and G'pa had a small farm with six children, and she canned most of their food for the winter.....hundreds of quarts of fruits, vegetables, meats, soups, etc.  She had vats for meat, pickle vats, and the sturdier vegetables in a fruit cellar.  Well, compared to her, I can very little.  But, this year, my son had his own garden, and wanted to do learn how to can .   It was fun to do it together.
 

 My favorite Farmer's Market is in Royal Oak, Michigan.  It's a bit of a drive for us, but not too far from my son's home.  I have a  hard time limiting my purchases because the produce is amazing!
 

 Michigan has a great apple crop this year, kind of makes up for last year!
 

 The market has fresh produce, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, eggs, flowers galore, greens....you name it!
 

 Green Bean anyone?

 Sweet Corn

 

 Brussel Sprouts...one of my daughter's favorites

 Kohlrabi

 Cauliflower and Broccoli

 

 The market is in an older building, like a big garage, but it feels "barn like".  It is on the dark side, and smells soooo good!  I have been coming here since I was a little girl.  Lots of nice memories.

 I always try to buy something that I've never tasted...it's good to experiment!

 

 We planned to can ("put up" as my G'ma would say) Salsa, and Bread and Butter pickles.  We bought a half bushel of Roma tomatoes...it's all they had. 
 

 As, I said....flowers galore!

 

Melons

 

 Sunflowers

 

 Potatoes

 

 Dahlia's, which I love!

 

 We bought 10 quarts of small cucumbers for our pickles..  Then we went out for breakfast and then home to can.
 

 Apricot jam..which I made before the weekend.

 

 Bread and Butter pickles (my half)...we tried Mrs. Wages seasoning pack and they turned out really delicious.  It took half the time with my son and I canning together. 
 

 Salsa...My son and I both ended up getting another 1/2 bushel of Roma's...more quarts were needed for the year!

 

Bread and Butter pickles (my half) from my aunt's recipe, really delicious and soooo pretty!

I still have a few more things to can and freeze.....  There's nothing like a pantry lined with home canned fruits and vegetables...and a good feeling of accomplishment.  Fresh, healthy food, no added preservatives, ready for winter to arrive.  Mmmm

Hope you're having a good week....take time to walk in the leaves!