It took about five minutes to pick my fill of apples last night, enough for a decent batch of apple sauce. I picked blueberries and it looked like I had done nothing, and my freezer is already bursting with berries of all kinds. I am losing steam. The late Spring and early Summer rains really did their part in giving us a wonderful harvest this year. We have had more and better of many things.
I cleared out some of the garden things this week--carrots are out and bagged up. The onions are drying, as are the October beans. I need to shell them, which I have been putting off. This week has become full with many different details, some more fun than others. I guess that is the way it goes. I keep acting like it will all slow down when the school year begins on Friday. Will it? I certainly plan to run fewer errands and avoid answering the phone for awhile.
We had Nature School with Dr. Davis this week, another trip to Skiprock Pond. We all improved our rock skipping skills and determined that it's a place to visit in the Winter months. Some sort of terrible invasive grass made the children's legs and my feet covered in scratches. I think we will always remember what it looks like and avoid it! The spot is still a neat location, and we observed the shale barrens that surround the pond, along with a sleeping rattlesnake (from a distance!).
Well, today is apples, and blueberry popovers. I guess I better get a move on!
Wow sounds like a bumper harvest. How do you make apple sauce? We have gathered a lot of apples from different sources - we are drying some, but I remember my German grandmother making lots of apple sauce and fancy having a go - i tried last year but it went bad in the jars I stored it in. How do you store yours? Thanks. Lovely to have all those berries - blueberries don't grow well here, so we are having to make do with blackberries and a few raspberries. How do you store your carrots? Good luck with it all and starting the school year tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteI cut them in half, put them in a pot with some water, and simmer until they are soft. Then, I run them through a food mill to take out the peels and seeds. I can them in glass jars in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes or so. I think that part is essential for keeping the apple sauce for a long time.
DeleteDo you have bilberries there? I recall Ruth picking them on Victorian Farm. :-) We keep the carrots in bags in the refrigerator. What we grew will last a few months.
No we don't have any bilberries - I think they were probably around at the time, but maybe lost their place in the nation's hearts at some point? A lot of things are now considered heirloom fruits. We can grow raspberries, strawberries, currants and blackberries well here. Sorry I know it sounds like a silly question, but do you put the jars with the apple sauce in them and the lid on in the water bath for 20 mins. We don't have any canning jars here like you do - I make do with old jam jars that have perhaps no longer a good seal? I was thinking of freezing the apple sauce this year as we have two freezers in our garage. Everything is so much smaller here. I couldn't store anything in our small fridge, except the food we eat daily! I dream of a bigger fridge.....:-)
ReplyDeleteYes, that is what I do. Jars for home canning with new lids and screw-on bands into the canner for that time. I wish I could share some of my jars with you. I was thinking of the suggestion of freezing the apple sauce, but then I did think of your small refrigerators there. :-) My husband's oldest sister lives in Mitcham and they got a new big refrigerator--she was thrilled.
DeleteThanks Brandy for all the advice - you are so sweet and helpful! Mitcham isn't so far away from us. We are going to save up for a bigger fridge as it would make things so much easier. It still has to fit in our small kitchen though, so won't be an American style one, but hopefully we will get something full size for here, as my herb oils are taking far too much space up and my husband keeps asking if I intend to keep them!!! I was fantasising about bringing some canning jars back home with us when we were in the States, but we could barely carry what we had by the end of it, so I had to give up on that dream!
DeleteOh wow what a harvest! We've got apple trees for the first time but they're not quite ready just yet - a few more weeks and we'll be harvesting more than we can eat!!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy those apples and your new home! :-)
DeleteIt sounds like you've done a great job with the garden this year. Enjoy your harvest! We've got a couple of things left out there, but that's it. Rains/flooding in spring and the heat wave in summer was hard on the poor garden here.
ReplyDeleteI dropped the ball on weeding, but I think it did pretty well. The potatoes will be interesting to dig up, having never grown them. I hope your weather modulates--last year's drought was tough on us, too.
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