Many jam recipes with commercial pectin add just a little bit of lemon juice to make the acid/sugar/pectin ratio right for a successful set. I've never seen a jam made with commercial pectin that called for a 6 minute boil, though. The instructions in the box usually say you should bring the fruit/pectin/lemon juice to a rolling boil, add all the sugar at once and boil another minute. Some brands say boil for two, but I've never seen one that said boil for six. If your jam does set, I've done as Ken suggests and rotate the jars during the cooling period. I've also had some success with turning off the heat and letting the jam set for 5 minutes before putting it in jars, to let the fruit disperse more evenly throughout the jam. I usuall make long cooked jams and jellies without commercial pectin because it is so unreliable. I just mix my fruit and sugar, a bit of lemon juice if I need the extra pectin/acidity, and cook it to jell stage. When it reaches 218F I dab a bit on a frozen plate and put it in the freezer for a minute to see if it sets up. If it does, into the jars it goes, if not I cook it for another minute, then test again. Annie

So any recipe that has been around for at least six years is automatically safe? No, you do not mean that. It is obvious that you don't. Just as it is obvious that I did not say the recipe as it is written is unsafe. It isn't. But fiddling with recipes that contain low-acid ingredients and that require the addition of extra acid is unknown territory. And fiddling with recipes simply because one lacks what is a required ingredient in the recipe is another step deeper into unknown territory. Fiddling with it just because you don't like it? How far down that road do you want to go? You want to hike in that territory? Fine. Your choice. You want others to give you a thumbs up as you venture off down that road or worse yet, follow you? No thanks. The weather, the distance to the store, the day of the week, and the phase of the moon, etc. are irrelevant. The point is if you don't have the ingredients for a potentially borderline recipe, you don't make the recipe. And if you don't like the ingredients in the recipe ie: oranges then you don't make recipes that call for those ingredients. Or should we all make scalloped potatoes for supper then we don't have any potatoes and we don't like cheese? And if anyone EVER, even once, read here that "they were going to die a dozen times a thread" then it is very likely they suffered from the inability to read. That or they wanted to can Aunt Tilly's Mayo-Based Potato Salad and Grandma's Tuna Noodle Casserole with Bacon and Cracker Crumb Topping and do it in a BWB just like they did. Dave

Hey--welcome to jamming! I think you'll find it very fun (I have so much fun with new recipes that I have more jam than fam can eat right now). Check out the discussion I linked below--it has a lot of the info you're curious about. As far as I can tell, the recipes look ok. It does seem like a lot of sugar for that amount of peaches and a no-sug pectin, but I'm not familiar with Ball brand, preferring Pomona's myself. My peach recipes are generally 1-1 1/2c per 4lbs peaches. And, I generally add liqueur to most all my jams too. There's also a more recent thread called confused about pectin that discusses some interesting things you might like. Here is a link that might be useful: Jam Discussion

Trees generally require a longer and slower, deeper soaking than does a newly planted lawn. If you are watering the lawn for a few minutes twice a day, you probably want to supplement the maple a couple times a week with a longer soaking. I typically suggest the hose at a low trickle placed at the root zone long enough for the water to soak down to the full depth of the rootball. But the frequency will depend on your soils and your weather. I would also avoid having the lawn grow up to the base of the tree. Lawns are greedy plants and can compete with the young maple for moisture and nutrients and delay or impede establishment. You can also easily damage the tree by mowing or weed whacking too close. Keep a wide mulch ring surrounding it...at least 3' diameter. ETA: tj, we were writing at the same time :-) Did not intend to over-write your comments with my own. We are at least thinking alike!!