The first day of fall is September 23, 2025. If you are a fancy person, you could refer to it as the “Autumnal Equinox”. As I write this, we are only a handful of days from the end of summer. The seasons come and go, always catching me by surprise. On our farm, the heavy Dahlias show evidence of the first inklings of fall. They bow under the weight of billowy blooms, almost in anticipation of being cut for bouquets.
Not long after that, we see unripe green apples fall to the ground. This is a natural process where the apple trees release the weight of weak fruit from their branches all on their own, making room for healthier apples. Our chickens love to hover, hoping for a fresh bite before we gather them up for the compost. Cosmo and Nasturtium are in abundance in September while the roses slow down and prepare to rest. The garden beds themselves are a mess of dried up leaves and overgrown grass as I tend to become lazy about weeding. I shield the garden borders from my eyes while I obsessively spray Final Stop on our fruit trees in an attempt to naturally stave off caterpillars, aphids and pests of all kinds.
Fall on the farm also means preserving jams, jellies and fruit butters. The first fruit to be preserved are the Italian Plums, usually at the end of August or early September. The apples don’t offer anything until October but second in line…are the pears.
We inherited two types of pear varieties when we moved into our house, Red Bartlett and D’Anjou. We harvest the Bartletts early since our trees are young with flimsy branches. I am always nervous about ripening pears on the counter. However after several experiments, it does seem to be the finest way to attain sweet fruit. The D’Anjous are slower to ripen (on the tree and on the counter) as well as less beautiful to the eye. Which is why they are perfect for making preserves and butters! When I started preserving last year, I was hooked immediately. I devoured recipes, history and techniques to create beautiful looking and good tasting jams/jellies. I found the following definitions extremely helpful:
Jam : A jam is all about texture. The fruit is crushed and reduced down with 45-60 parts sugar. While it will thicken to be spread, it will retain the shape and character of the original fruit. This is why raspberry jam still has seeds in it.
Jelly : While making jelly you shift out all the fruit texture as you prepare it. You retain the flavor of the fruit but the remnants of the fruit is absent. It is usually a clear texture.
Butters : Fruit is cooked longer to attain a thick texture. The butter ends up opaque like smooth apple sauce and is excellent on toast. It is the most user friendly of them all.
Pear butter is one of the easier recipes to start with. You can store your butters in the fridge for up to a month or you can preserve them following canning instructions. This recipe includes instructions on how to preserve the butters in jars. Below I’ve included several more that I have tried and really enjoyed. Truly, pear butter is almost impossible to get wrong. As long as it has a sweetener, a spice and pears in it, you will enjoy it.
I hope everyone has a lovely first day of fall on September 23rd…do something cozy or eccentric. ‘Tis the season :)
-Jenni