Single Tree News: July 2024

Jamming

What do you do when the figs and the pears ripen at the same time? You get to work

We began harvesting figs from our fig tree at the end of June. For two weeks we harvested twice per day until the tree finally decided to call it quits. Even though we competed with the squirrels and the birds, we harvested 68 pounds of figs. My plan was to make up a little and freeze the rest for later because I knew that the pears were about to ripen as well. Once the pears were on I would need to make jam out of those and come back to the figs when the pear trees were done. It was a good plan, until the freezer was so full of figs that there was no room for anything else and Shellie wanted her freezer back. So I began alternating batches of figs with batches of pears. As of this writing, the figs in the freezer are down to a manageable level, so I am now concentrating on pears. But for a while, I was making 2 and even 3 batches of jam per day, alternating between the two.

The Figs

The figs from our tree were not only plentiful this year, they were AMAZING! They were as big, plump, and ripe as Celeste figs could be. Harvesting from the tree was like going on a daily treasure hunt. Some of them were easy to spot, but many were hiding. We would examine each branch, looking under all of the leaves to find them. I could not resist eating a few before making myself stop – these were for jam.

It takes a couple of hours for me to make a batch of jam. Of all the jams I make, figs splatter the most, but I love doing it anyway. Cooking them down, watching the jam get darker and thicker, stirring the pot, and then finally placing the finished jam into jars is very satisfying. The little bit that is left has two purposes. I use it to provide free samples to shoppers at the market and, most importantly, I get to eat it! Thick, rich, not too sweet, it’s absolutely fabulous stuff.

The Pears

This year I had two neighbors that offered me sand pears from their trees: Lydia and Cheron. I am not mixing the pears. Each jar of jam will be 100% from a single tree, with the name of the tree owner noted on the label. It was interesting to see the differences in the fruit from separate trees. Lydia’s pears are more firm, a little squattier-shaped, and a little more of the sandy-brown on the skin. Cheron’s pears are a little longer and greener skinned. But they both taste exactly the same to me.

My favorite part about making pear jam is the incredible aroma in the kitchen as it cooks down. Well, maybe my favorite part is eating the leftovers when the batch is complete. Actually, maybe my favorite part is watching the shoppers react as they taste it. Invariably their eyes roll back in their heads as they savor their first taste of pear-adise. At the most recent market, I sold every jar of pear jam that I brought. I also offered a taste of pear jam to Chrissy, the woman who runs the market. Chrissy and I have had many conversations, and she has tasted several Single Tree products, but not the pear jam. When she took that first taste, she nearly swooned. She then looked at me with wide eyes and asked, “Who are you?!” That pretty much sums up how good this stuff is.

In Other News…

• Did you catch that? Both fig and pear jam are back!
• Our kitchen will be out of commission for an entire month for about a month for a remodeling. I’m going to make as much pear jam as I can until the project begins around July 22.
• The market quote of the month comes from one of the other vendors. He was all excited to tell me about a new selling opportunity. I suppose my lack of enthusiasm was evident because he said to me, “Mark, you gotta work on yourself!” Do I? I’m kind of happy doing what I’m doing.