It feels as if summer's barely made an appearance this year. Plus there was the heartbreak of tomato blight, leaving me with none to can.

But it was an amazing cucumber year. In July, I canned lots of bread-and-butter, sweet dill and kosher dill pickles. The treasures wait on basement shelves, ready to liven up our winter meals.

There was nearly enough plum-nectarine jam from last year to keep my husband in toast for the winter. The canner had been gathering dust. My jar collection was neatly put away. I'd figured my canning days were done for the year.

Then I went to see my parents in Buffalo. Got a carload of fruit from Tom Tower, my good friend.

He is an amazing farmer. He grows nearly everything, including artichokes, in Youngstown, N.Y., about a mile from Lake Ontario and a few miles from Niagara Falls.

The warm summer breezes from Lake Ontario and the Niagara River make his part of the world temperate. It's a micro-climate, where peaches, nectarines, apricots, grapes and apples flourish.

Whenever I visit my parents, we go to the local farm market to see Tom. I bring him pickles or jam, and he generally shares something wonderful.

This time was the best. He gave me a bushel each of peaches and nectarines. Peaches as big as a globe. Peaches for two. Sweet and drip-down-your-chin juicy.

What could I do with those peaches and nectarines but make jam. Lots. And quick -- the fruit was ripening.

I asked my friend Jeanne Williams, who grows vegetables and raises goats and chickens, if she wanted to help.

Jeanne arrived with a basket of homegrown treats: a bouquet of sunflowers, a dozen eggs from her hens, two russet potatoes, a ribbed Costata Romanesco zucchini, a green bell pepper and a bag of fingerling potatoes.

We got to work peeling and mashing fruit. Juicing lemons, measuring sugar, simmering the jam. We added grated green apples for pectin so the jam would jell. Jeanne uses commercial pectin, which is quicker and easier, but I like to cook the jam down until it's thick, adding lemon juice and grated zest to counteract excessive sweetness. Each batch has a unique flavor and texture, just as the fruit it came from.

We made four batches of jam, each using 5 pounds fruit. First batch was all peach, then peach-nectarine, then, as the peaches dwindled, just nectarine. With the last batch, we went wild. To the mashed nectarines we added more apples, a yellow-red Copra tomato and three yellow plum tomatoes.

We got wilder. I went to the garden and picked sprigs: rosemary, lemon basil, red Rubin basil, Genovese basil and lemon verbena. Each jar of nectarine-tomato jam received a different herb sprig, the names coded on the jar lid. I'll let them steep for a few weeks, then see which is my favorite.

That night for dinner, once most of the sticky goo had been scrubbed off the counters, I baked the russet potatoes and sauteed the zucchini and green pepper. Simple and perfect. Then I created the recipe above with Jeanne's fingerling potatoes because she loves rosemary.

• For canning information and inspiration, check out this Web site and learn about the Canning Across America movement: canningacrossamerica.com.

• To buy Jeanne Williams' Red Barn Farm produce, goat chops or whole-grain bread, catch her at the Morgantown, W.Va., farm market most Saturdays or call 724-447-2951.

• If you're ever in the Youngstown, N.Y., or Niagara Falls area, visit Tom Tower's Farm Market, 1258 Lockport Road, Youngstown, N.Y. (716-745-9538).

Marleni's Apple Cake

PG tested

From Susan Purdy's indispensable cookbook, "A Piece of Cake." Marleni is Purdy's goddaughter. This would be a perfect cake for the upcoming Jewish holidays. Use water in place of the milk, or nondairy creamer for a parve cake. It's apple season, so make it with crisp-tart farm-fresh apples.

• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and nutmeg
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil, such as canola
• 3 tablespoons milk, water or nondairy creamer
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch (3 cups) diced pieces
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and flour a 9- or 10-inch tube pan; tap out excess flour.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.

In large bowl of electric mixer put sugar, oil, milk (or water) and vanilla. Beat well. Add eggs and beat again. At low speed, little by little, stir in flour mixture, beating slowly to blend. By hand, stir in apples, raisins and nuts. Batter will be stiff.

Spoon into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, and cake feels springy to the touch, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 to 20 minutes (mine always bakes in an hour). Cool on wire rack 30 minutes. Loosen cake at sides and tube, invert onto rack. Lift off pan. Top cake with another rack and invert again. Cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving, if you like.

Makes: 10 to 12 servings.

-- Adapted from "A Piece of Cake" by Susan G. Purdy (Collier, 1989).

PG tested

I added a bright red Jimmy Nardello pepper, the first from my garden.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds fingerling potatoes, peeled if you like, halved lengthwise
• 1 long, sweet red pepper or half of a red bell pepper or 2 Cubanelles or even a mildly hot pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat bottom of 8-by-12-inch glass baking dish with 1 tablespoon oil.

Add potatoes, pepper, rosemary, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon oil on top and toss to mix. Roast, stirring 3 or 4 times, until potatoes are tender and golden, 40 to 45 minutes.

Makes: 4 servings.