It's loquat season here once again. Last year I canned 40+ jars of loquat jam. It was delicious, however it was TONS of work and I don't know if I feel up to it this year. I was given 11 lbs 13.5 oz of loquats from a friend today and need to get processing them ASAP, as they only have a "shelf life" of about 24 hours.
There is a recipe 9in my Ball Blue Book guide to preserving for canning loquats. I don't want to copyright any recipe they have published, but basically you just cut them in half to remove the seeds, then cook them in a light syrup, then can them. Sounds much easier than peeling them by hand so I'll give this a try instead.
i never thought about canning loquats, and they are everywhere! have you tried starting them from seed? i have had no luck. and what type of syrup do you use to cook them down in? im new to this but very passionate. my next adventure is learning to can. i want to fill my back yard with veggies and fruit and can them all!
ReplyDeleteHi Faye! I have tried to grow them from seed and have only ever had 1 sprout. With over 1000 seeds the results were pathetic - ha! One of my husbands co-workers has them sprout up in her yard all the time so she dug two up and gave them to me. I still need to to plant it, but now I'm ahead of the game, as the one that did sprout for me a year ago is not even six inches tall.
DeleteI don't have a pressure canner, so I make sure to find recipes for things I can in a water bath or refrigerator pickles. In addition to my main garden bed (in the backyard) I've converted my front yard to edibles in raised beds and am intercropping edibles in my backyard beds. I too am very passionate about it, but have found that if I want enough of a crop to can and put away for the year I have to plant a LOT more than I have been. This season I'm really focusing on beans. We love green beans and could eat them every day, so I have a few hundred seedlings growing now with the hopes of harvesting, eating and canning lots and lots of delicious beans for the year!
Do you have a blog you are using to track your progress? If so, I'd love to follow you.