u/craftydistraction

So, we have a fig tree. And every year the neighborhood squirrels come along and take one bite from any fig that looks close to ripe. Not ripe? Move on to the next. We know it’s them because we’ve seen them running off with whole ripe figs in their mouths. Typically we end up with 1-3 figs that we can actually eat.
This year there are a lot of figs on this tree. A friend suggested those little green mesh bags might let them stay on the tree long enough, un-chomped, that we get some figs. I’ve used them before on tomatoes and peppers and lemons with very good success, both at deterring squirrels (this was mostly the tomatoes) and also stink bugs. But I’m worried about interfering with the fig wasp’s life cycle. Does anyone know at what stage of fig growth this would stop being a concern?

So… 5 lbs of very ripe strawberries, a new version (to me) of Ball Pectin (the one in the plastic jar) and my 10+ year old Ball canning book that expects powdered pectin to come in boxes.
I’ve just put my jars in to heat and BLAMMO- migraine aura. So I slam a bunch of Tylenol, have a coffee, and go to figure out how much pectin to use. And I get SO confused because migraine brain. I find the “right” answer from the Ball site, but that’s for cups of smashed fruit and my book has pints, I bought pounds, and an old pectin box insert I shoved in my book years back says 5lbs is roughly the same as 5 cups and so I end up using pectin for 8 half pints, based on the website, and same with the sugar. I have no idea if anything I’m doing makes sense but at this point I’m too addled to know I’m addled (IYKYK). Everything seems to go fine at this point, probably due to muscle memory, except I somehow end up with TWELVE half pints!! So now it’s the “will it set?” game. And also HOW? (Yes I should have measured the crushed fruit. Thought about that at the time. Then I forgot to actually do it. Is it possible I accidentally added slightly too much sugar? Yes.). Thankfully I had plenty of clean jars and new lids on hand.

I pop the filled cans on the rack in the canner, put the burner up high and wait for the water to boil. And wait. And wait. And it sits at almost boiling for over an hour. I took a mini nap, had a coke and some chips, played a game on my phone. At some point I pulled out a candy thermometer and that water was just SITTING at 200-205. And I’m like, is this my migraine and I’ve lost the ability to know when water is boiling, or did physics just stop working?

Finally I realize that the canner is sitting on this weird little burner that I had never noticed is actually oddly small, and my stove also has a big burner Right There in front of it. So I drag the canner onto the big burner and probably less than 10 minutes later I’ve got boiling water. Processed and let it sit. Everything seems to have sealed very well, It’s been 4.5 hours and did I just gently nudge a couple of jars to see if they set? Of course I did. I think it’s OK? They might be bricks. They might be sauce. Guess I’ll find out tomorrow. *Sigh* Don’t can with a migraine folks. You aren’t as clear headed as you think you are, and it’s not worth the stress.