We ended up with 70-75 peaches, which gives us maybe a dozen or so for out of hand eating. They are SOOOO good! They're clings, which improves flavor, but buggers prepping to process. They also gave us 4 pints of peach sauce made & processed (along with 3 more pints of applesauce) last night. Today I'll do about 3 pints of peach-pineapple jam.
Dug out the cherries & cherry juice that were put on hold when the spousal unit had to be hospitalized again (life-flighted from our Custer Regional Hospital to Wyoming Medical Center ICU, in Casper; no available beds in Rapid City) and have about 3 quarts of cherry syrup ready to jar & process.
Yes; after 1 night in ICU, and 3 days on the med floor, she came home 2 weeks ago, and is back to normal. Her problems that were treated locally as primary problems, were actually caused by a smallish kidney stone that was considered a minor secondary condition; so their meds' metabolites were building up & poisoned her to the point of sepsis & pancreatitis, on top of the heart & liver problems they were treating. Heart rhythm & function are significantly improved, the pancreatitis is resolved, and her liver & other blood chemistries are vastly improved. Kidney stone is GONE, kaput, passed.
Since getting back home, she's helped tremendously in putting up 51 pints of carrots: sitting peeling & chopping. She also prepped the apples and peaches, and did the sterilizing, while I did the cooking, seasoning, packing and processing. She also made enough applesauce on her own, while I was at work, to freeze two half gallon tubs.
Despite woeful summer neglect, the garden gave us several meals of green beans; 2 very heavy for their size pumpkin type winter squash, and 6 or 8 Table Queen acorn squash. We still have several cocozelle in the fridge.
All of the garden is totally dead after 3 nights of light to moderate frost, followed by over a 1/2 inch of snow on Thursday night/Friday morning. The snow was a total surprise, as it was only supposed to get down to about 1,500-2,000 feet higher than we are; instead, they got about 3 times what was predicted, and we caught it, too.
Still have apples to pick, and potatoes to dig; all of the German Butterballs, and about a third of the second planting of Yukon Golds--first planting was a total bust.
(center) The apple tree next to the gate to the garden area:; hence, "Applegate Ranch". There's also one next to the main driveway gate, as well as next to most of the other gates on the ranch. It was taken through the kitchen window, and the screen gives it that 'softness'.