My peach tree finally produced enough peaches to make a few batches of jam. Earlier in the year I had arranged for someone from the local county extension office to come out and help me prune the tree. I also studied about thinning the peaches so I felt like I was all set. But the tree produced so many peaches that even after thinning them I still had branches on the ground under the weight of all the fruit. And we lost half of it due to fruit just falling to the ground, not to mention the squirrels. But we still had plenty of peaches for a jam. Next year I will prune the tree more and thin more of the immature peaches.

Now it was time to make jam. Before making a new jam I always research the ph level of the fruit and turn to National Center for Home Food preservation website for a base recipe that can be safely preserved via water bath canning. Then I begin experimenting. My first attempt was far too sweet. For my second attempt I reduced the sugar but did not cook it down long enough, and it turned out too runny. Believing that the third time is the charm, I went for a sugar level between the first and second attempts, and added additional lemon juice. That did it! Delicious peach jam flavor with just a little zing to it, and a nice jammy consistency.

This jam is delicious. Everyone who has tasted it at the market has bought some. You can get peach jam in the store, but it won’t be like the Single Tree version. Because the commercial jams have added pectin, they achieve their jammy consistency with far less cooking time. Cooking it down until it reaches a good consistency results in a darker color, but a more fabulous flavor. I learned a lot of lessons, but the resulting jam is a great success.