Earlier this week I enjoyed an afternoon with a friend of mine while we canned some fresh peaches she brought back from a recent trip to the okanagan. Ripe for canning, the peaches were soft and perfect.

I took a canning class once, a while back, at Save-On-Meats through a Groupon. I wrote about it in another blog post. Anyway, I remember there were a lot of steps by they were not too complex.

So I did a little search and came across this super handy site, full of recipes to for using local produce. BC Tree Fruits – peaches in light syrup. As I read through the steps, I thought, this is gonna be fruity-fun!

We had a small box of peaches, and a case of 500 ml size mason jars.

In a nutshell, this is what you do: we sterilized the jars, skinned the peaches, made a simple syrup, and then boiled the syrup with the peaches to simply heat through. Then you fill your jars, seal, and boil the jars for a set amount of time depending on contents and the size of your jars. For us we had to boil them for 20 minutes. Remove jars from heat and let cool for 24 hours.

Exciting stuff!

We both agreed that it is best to have two people, or more. It is labour intensive and you could do it on your own, however, it is just more fun with friends. Now I want to host a canning party!! I wish I had more space, or I totally would do it.

Well, here are a few photos from our fun afternoon of peaches, and pears! Once we made it through the peaches, we thought we had enough time to get through the pears too. It felt really productive, and honestly, anyone can do it. YOU CAN CAN!

I also learned recently that there is a new farmer’s market opening in Hastings Sunrise at the PNE, starting October 5. I cannot wait because it is a short drive from my house, and then I can buy lots of great local produce and can away. Bring on the pickles, beets, carrots, jams, and other delicious bounties of the fall.

You can read more about the farmer’s markets in Vancouver here.