A big haul from the local farms.....

All these bags in my garage hold 16 dozen ears of corn.
My friend and her hubby were going to the local farms and I wanted to go too. I wasnt sure where they were. I figured maybe Ill get some good deals cuz things were pretty pricey here.  We headed on out and went to the farm stand that had the corn first. (BTW these are about 45min. from home) They brought lots of big feed bags to carry it home in. Her hubby called in 40 dozen for us. I only wanted 15 dozen and 3 of that are going to my bfs dad. This big pickup truck came with big rubbermaid totes filled with corn. We proceeded to count out the first tub which had 53 ears. And so instead of counting it all out , they estimated all totes by that amt. And so we unloaded 9 totes full into the bags and that was put in the truck. All that corn cost $75 and we got more than we planned on so we figured we got them for almost .16 cents each. Not bad , considering it was fresh picked just for us.

While that was going on I wandered around since they had a veggie stand there too. We found a bin of smaller asst. peppers. Her hubby talked him into giving us a good price for all. We decided to split it and it cost us $7.50 for the whole batch. I figure I got several lbs of peppers for half that cost so its a good deal. I also bought two bunches of nice carrots, 50 cents each, 3 bags of green beans, $2 a bag too. That wasn't the best deal but they go for that in the grocery store here and  the store ones are awful. I also bought 1 zucchini....One HUGE one lol for 50 cents! IT will make many loaves of zucchini bread so Ill shred that and freeze it. They had other veggies but the prices seemed too high so I didn't buy anything more from this place.

Then we headed on down the road to where the peaches were.  Her hubby called them earlier and the Alberta's were in. They were $21.50 a box of 20lbs. Not a bad price for fresh big right off the tree peaches so I got two boxes. But when we first got there they had boxes of tomatoes out front. I never expected to find a deal on tomatoes anywhere so I was stunned. They were $16.50 for a 20lb box. I looked at them and the two at the very end looked awesome. So I took one box, stacked in on top of the other but couldnt carry them both. I asked her hubby if he could help me carry them inside. There was a guy between us looking at them tho and he couldnt get past him till he moved. So I made sure that my hands were on both boxes just in case.

Good thing I did that too cuz some woman came around all of us and said Ill take that box , touching the bottom one. I said no, I'm taking both of these sorry. hehehe I know she saw how gorgeous these were compared to the other boxes. And I have this funny thing that happens to me when I shop. I seem to draw people to exactly what I'm buying without even trying. Even at the other place, it was empty till we started shopping. Then suddenly a whole bunch of people showed up lol. And so I always grab what I think Ill want till I can move otherwise its usually gone.

So he helped me bring them inside and we ordered our boxes of peaches. I paid for all my stuff then  went back out to the main area to see if there was anything else I wanted. I saw the Honeycrisp apples and they were a bit pricey $1. 75lb but they were beauties so I splurged and bought 6....they were almost $10. Not sure what Ill do with these tho but I just couldnt pass them up. They have a short season.

And so they helped carry our boxes out to the pickup and we loaded up and left to head home. Her hubby said that stand reweighs everything before they total it up. And if its short the lbs they say it should have , they add more. If its more than what the lbs should be they leave it alone. Amazing! Really honest people. And so now I know where this stand is and I may go out there again sometime.

Even tho the day started out late it ended up in a good haul. We separated the corn when we got here and he even gave me an extra dozen since he knew we got extra. (like I needed that, Ill be doing this corn all week lol) . He helped me get it all in the garage and then they left. My friend had somewhere to go that nite at 8pm and it was already 6:30. So they left quick.  I made a quick dinner of steaks, baked potato and of course fresh corn last nite. The corn is nice and sweet.

So here's my list for the week:

Husk all corn, blanch, save a dozen or so ears whole to freeze for corn on the cob.
Remove corn from rest of ears and can some and freeze the rest. I'm going to try My friend Eby's freezer corn with butter, sounds delish. Then I'm hoping to make some corn cob stock to can. I want to use some in soups and chowders. The rest I may try to make corncob jelly from but at least I can, can the stock to make the jelly later.

 The peaches need a few days to ripen further so I wont worry about them first. I had one with my yogurt for breakfast and they are very yummy. But most are still kind of hard so that can wait.

But I intend to can slices from one box in a light syrup like I did last yr. I'm going to try a honey syrup this yr tho.
And then I may make some peach butter from the rest. I love that.
And I read where you can make peach honey from the skins. Its actually peach jelly. But I can save the skins and freeze them for another time. I know I wont have the time to do that now.

The tomatoes will be cut up and cooked down into sauce. Ill can that for the winter.

 The peppers, Ill use some of the bigger ones for stuffed peppers. I cut off the tops and clean them out then freeze them whole. The tops get chopped to use in cooking. The rest will be cut into wedges to use for sausage and peppers and stir frys thru the yr. 

The zucchini will be peeled, shredded and frozen for zucchini breads.

I'm gonna make soup so the carrots will go in there for dinner.

The string beans I may just blanch and freeze. I did want to can some but I just don't think this small amt. is worth the hassle.

And I haven't figured out what to do with the apples yet. But they will be fine on the counter for awhile. Ive got way more important stuff to process first!