As far back as I can remember fall has been the season for bottling fruit. I remember as a young girl standing on a chair wrapped in one of mom's aprons and helping by putting sugar in the bottles, stirring to dissolve the sugar after mom added the hot water, and then as I grew older helping to cut the fruit and put it in bottles. There's nothing quite as satisfying as seeing rows of bottles on the kitchen counter after a long day of work and not many things compare to the satisfying sound of hearing the lids "ping" as they seal. Canned fruits from the store just can't compare to those bottled at home.
I remember the summer before Doug and I got married when my family visited Aunt Hazel and Uncle Walt in Gridley. Their wedding gift to us was peaches, lots and lots of peaches, from their orchard. Mom, Hazel and I worked for hours canning (not bottling) several cases of cling peaches which we packed in the trunk and took home. Those peaches were a staple for that first lean year of marriage when we had lots of bills and not much income.
Over the years my boys and Doug have helped me bottle everything from salsa and spaghetti sauce to homemade fruit cocktail, grape juice, pie filling, etc along with the staples of tomatoes, peaches, apricots, pears, applesauce. It's hard work but so worth it. Now, with just Doug and I at home I bottle much less than I used to, and it takes me twice as long to do half as much, but it's something I hope to keep doing for many years to come.
