I've pretty good eyes... but our "normal print" always looks a bit small, to me; here:

You mean, what do we do with it all Good question; right now I’m gobbling Satsuma plums about as fast as the 105 outside temperature can ripen them! Not much else you can do with plums, that I know of. I’ve an industrious Uncle who makes a magnificent pulp concoction he freezes, mixes with water when thawed and consumes as a ‘fruit drink’(with lots of sugar!). In half-gallon plastic ‘milk’ jugs it packs well in his freezer. Generous, he gives me some and I’ll just drink it ‘thick’ from the container! I call it a “plumshake!” …the kids won’t touch it…

Strawberries, raspberries and blue berries are/were simply eaten fresh… My Transparent apples are likely all ripe ----- about …. Right - NOW! …a joke among the society is they’ve got a four-hour window of perfection! I’ll eat em fast or pitch em for the deer…

They’ll be followed by Gravenstein apples, of which I was ‘warned’ by fellow members “don’t make decent juice.” I dispelled that myth a decade ago at an HOS summer picnic, hauling in 4 fresh/cold gallons of pure Grav… No complaints! Though ‘watery,’ it has the perfect sweet-tart blend for juice! Not a very big crop this year, so fresh eating and giving away (for pies) will likely take care of them. Of all my canned fruit, Gravenstein applesauce is something my kids will actually request!

I’ll grind and press pears along with apples, no matter how scabby… I try to dodge worms and cut out rot. I’ve been drinking frozen half-gallon plastic jugs of my ‘best mixture’ of last years juice. Pressing up to 25 gallons a setting, the problem becomes finding containers and refrigerator space. I’ve a collection of glass gallon ‘wine jugs’ (with new screw caps) from local recycling depots – and a second, or basement refrigerator. …but this year I’ll stop short of filling my plastic jugs for the freezer a little sooner than last … to keep them from ‘expanding’ all over the place.

I also ‘made’ three gallons of pure apple cider vinegar; using glass jugs and ‘water-lock’ cap plugs. …the birds get my grapes, but not my figs! And, Figs will be next! Last year I had two “industrial” dryers going to keep up with seven fig trees. …that’s along with giving away heaping ‘18 count egg-cartons’ of fresh figs to family, friends and neighbors. I’m sure the neighbors appreciate finding them inside their mail boxes… don’t tell the PO! Funny thing, all but for one neighbor – I had to ‘introduce’ them to figs! …with their typical hesitation … as if biting into a palm full of maggots " title="Wink" />

I dry the Persimmons we don’t instantly eat, or should I say store until they’re semi-soft. Non-astringent, you can also eat them ‘crunchy.’ Dried, they’ve come out very good! …and I’ve likely 5 or 6 glass gallon jars (with ‘full-width’ lids) of them stored away. …I also dry pears and apples.

Fuzzy Kiwi are stored in a secondary refrigerator and an unheated basement/garage. The ‘outside boxes’ are eaten as they ripen; usually two to three months after picked! I finished the last of last years crop in April – eating about 8 a day for weeks to keep them from spoiling… I’ve never tried ‘drying’ them; likely too tart, and, it’s pretty cold by the time they begin to ripen. I’ve a massive crop of Hardy kiwi on right now… don’t know what I’ll do with all of them; I know they don’t store near as well as the fuzzy’s. …and I’ve got a very small crop of Fuzzy’s, likely my smallest since they came into production. Having let them set far too heavy last year ... I suspect they’re taking the year off.

The oldest of four, I’ve watched many (likely too many) pressure canners… With… 5 of them myself – I still can. But after reading a great book on presser… here: “Putting Food By” by Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg, and Beatrice Vaughan… I was convinced ‘canning’ destroys so many nutrients you’re basically eating nothing but dead ‘pulp.’ She (one of the three) recommended freezing, so I bought a second freezer instead… Another conclusion I’d come to, and I don’t know how long it will work given the current economy and future fuel prices, is buying fresh fruits at local grocery stores when they’re apparently ‘in season’ somewhere else - and usually at a reasonable price. As my kids would/will always bypass home canned anything for ‘fresh anything,’ not only did I quit fighting that ‘fight,’ I honestly can’t blame them… Safeway had some great pineapples ‘on sale’ all spring

…that’s pretty much the bulk of my harvest! …in a week or so I’ll start to get as much of a ‘belly’ as I allow, or should I say splitting, hauling & stacking firewood allows. Raised on fresh fruit in the Willamette Valley, I’ll eat it to the exclusion of all else -- often times having to ‘remind myself’ to take in some protein. By the end of the season, what would send most trotting to our outhouse, I’m doing my best to store inside a Human Container

Actually the reason I freeze on a cookie sheet is so I can remove the items individually from the frozen bag when I choose to eat them, usually winter. I freeze Cornus Mas, cornelian cherry, and quince. We also freeze pie cherries. It's nice to have fruit in winter and Spring. I haven't had any problems with them or blueberries or raspberries.
John S
PDX OR