Fall Colors-Seedling Edition

I've noticed this before, but small hardwood seedlings seem to turn later than mature trees and they hold their leaves longer.  Sometimes they can be very colorful.

Usually the leaves are somewhat smaller than full-size, though sometimes not by much.  Other times, they're tiny.

More on the Need to Inspect Cranberries

I haven't canned cranberries so far this year, but I did make a batch from a two-pound bag for Thanksgiving.  Although the bag of berries I started with looked pretty good, sorting through them over the course of 15-20 minutes revealed a lot that failed quality control.

As noted, I spent a little less than half an hour going through the two-pound bag.  So doing a canner load of eight pounds takes a while--actually, the sorting is the biggest single task, as noted before.

I didn't weigh the rejects this year, but overall the number was actually pretty low--probably better than I have documented previously.  Still, the rejects were a pretty wretched lot and would've tainted the finished product.  A closer look is below.

Sorting is an essential task. When I have done it poorly, the sauce has been noticeably impacted.  So far, I don't think I've ever had a bad canning batch.  I have, however, had flops with small lots consumed immediately.  It's worth paying attention to.