No problem with flies/ bugs at all here @Beth Gallagher however if it’s windy ( stuff blowing around ) we cover them with a very fine weave white nylon curtain that I made to fit the drying rack ( old screen doors ) We do cover then from late afternoon till morning but to date we’ve never had a issue with bugs The method I use has been practiced by commercial growers for years, they place the apricots on a wood racks to dry and lay the racks on the ground and , ants or bugs never touch them
I have plans of using our patio screen door for a drying rack. (I have electric driers) Someone recommended putting it over a sheet, in the car, in the sun. My MIL used to string cored apple slices and hang them in the attic. It got very hot up there. But it is dead of winter here now. Wish I could take a magic carpet to down-under and sample some of the apricots!
I also have a 10 rack electric dryer which I rarely use because the sun is free as well as apricots don’t dry well in the electric dryer but it’s good for drying sliced fruit , like apples @Mary Stetler https://www.ezidri.com.au/ultra-fd1000-digital I’ve had my drier about 15 + years so it’s not electronic but basically the same
I have plans for a solar drier that is made from windows or plexiglass and is open on both ends to keep dust off the fruit and protect it from dew and moisture, all the while concentrating the solar heat. I have never built it, as it wouldn't work up here well anyway.
Jam I made yesterday minus two jars in-the fridge Small BM jars are 1/2 pint ..larger ones a pint cause they are made in-the US that are not metric @John Brunner
The first lot of apricots are dry ..got another lot out drying we did yesterday @John Brunner This is 1.6 kg from 10 kg of “fresh fruit”
So you are in an area where you can air-dry. I bet being that arid also gives the food you grow an intensity of flavor, provided you are able to irrigate it so it lives. I once watched a video of women in Italy spreading cooked-down tomatoes on an air-dry table like that to make tomato paste. They scraped and turned it every once in a while so all the moisture evaporated. It was just part of their normal lives. As Beth mentioned, not only would bugs get them here, but there are very few regions in the states arid enough to do that. In my area, things would just get moldy. In fact, you can capture yeast out of the air here and make pretty good bread with it. It's fascinating for the vast majority of us who have never witnessed--much less done--such a thing.
Yes not only is it a dry arid area we have horrible limestone soil @John Brunner My hubby spent 3 half days with a huge jackhammer digging a hole for me to plant the apricot tree which would have been 2008 . We have no natural fresh water here our water is supplied by pipeline from a tiny town about 260 km away Infact this area has a terrible history of many of the first immigrants ( Cornwall UK ) , who came here to work in-the mines . Many built homes from the limestone in-the area then added a huge man made ( no machinery ) dug holes to catch water for drinking / household stuff …trouble is the water was contaminated by the long drop toilets and killed many people including 100’s of children who lay in unmarked graves in the local cemetery (Sad) I saying all that yes we have to water our fruit trees however we have rainwater tanks that hold around 10.000 ltrs we mainly use for that use as water is expensive
We can and do get rain anytime , most summers we will get a thunderstorm resulting in a big rain A BIG rain for us is about an inch on the old scale but most of the rain falls in winter ,I’ll have to ask hubby he keeps a record of our rain we had 12 inches for 2021… 7 inches in 2020
I just looked it up. We get an average of 68 inches of precipitation per year. The wettest day on record was in August of last year...7.4 inches of rain.
That sounds like Queensland @John Brunner it’s a very tropical area as is DARWIN Northern Territory both up the tops parts of Australia .,where we are down the bottom of Aust The places mentioned get rain by the bucket full
That lot are safe in the freezer now ,ready to snack on when we feel like a chewy snack which is often when we are traveling in the car ,hubs has a little plastic container I the car he keeps the likes of dates / apricots / sultanas in for snacking, much better than lollies @Shirley Martin
This is the approx 20 kg of my home grown dark red delicious plums I preserved yesterday. I can’t get lids in Australia for my ball mason jars so I had to use most of my ‘pear jars” that I normally keep for when I buy pears from a nearby hobby farmer .they are Weck brand. I can tell you my legs were killing me after standing for 9 hours while washing /preparing/ partly cooking / bottling / preserving the plums .