About Them Apples. . . .last part I promise!

I promise, this will be the last you hear about apples. Well, at least until next year!

Ended up with:

12 quart bags of frozen apple slices

apple butter

apple cake

baked apple delight

apple butter pumpkin pie

apple butter bread

apple pectin

and apple cider vinegar.

There was also alot of pieces of apples I gave the rabbits and the dog (yes, we have a weird dog, he loves fruits and vegetables more than milkbones)

And the chickens got the few rotten ones. So I am very grateful that my neighbors planted that apple tree~thank you T&E!

Fallen Leaves

Oh, how I love leaves! Ever think how many uses a leaf has?

1. Science project: see how many different kinds your kids can collect and identify


2. Art project: put a leaf under a sheet of paper and make an imprint with a crayon


3. P.E. exercise: rake into a pile, move onto a tarp, and then. . . JUMP!


4. After extensive jumping, the leaves will be crunched, shredded, and ready for the compost pile or garden.(which is why you put the leaves on a tarp in the first place, it's SOOOOOO much easier to move to the garden!)


5. If you can get bagged leaves, save a bag or two to add to the chicken coop in the middle of the winter. Chickens love to rummage thru a pile of leaves, it sure does keep them occupied in the cold weather!

Evidently, dogs like to jump in leaf piles also. Ours spent hours running, diving, and eventually pushing the leaves off the tarp.

About Them Apples. . . .part III

Ok, enough with the apples! just joking, I am very grateful for them. My next project is to make cider vinegar. I have tried this before, but let it set for too long and it just turned into a big mess.

First, I took a large jar and sterilized it with hot water.

Next, the apple peelings and cores were set, not pressed, into the jar, leaving room for air pockets.

I then added a very, very tiny pinch of bread yeast.

I let it set on the counter for a day, uncovered.

(Note here: there will be fruit flies. think of them as tiny bees, bringing their own kind of pollen (yeast found naturally in the air). Sounds gross, but just think of how sourdough bread needs wild yeast from the air.)

After a day of setting out, I gave it a jiggle to let the fruit flies fly away. Gave it a good stir, getting as much air in it as possible.

Covered with piece of t-shirt tied on with a rubberband.

Set it next to the grape vinegar experiment on the counter where it's a bit dark, but still warm from the breadmaker that's next to them.

Now I let it sit.
Will let you know how it turns out!

About Them Apples. . .part II

Planned on just throwing the apple scraps to the chickens, but just couldn't do it. So after freezing about a dozen quart bags of apple slices for apple pie or such later, I focused my attention on making pectin. Not the white granulated kind, but the liquid kind. Hopefully I can get enough pectin to use for the grape jelly.

I took a boatload of apple peelings and cores and cooked them on low for the WHOLE day. I added water occasionally, just enough to keep it from burning. I stirred it often and by the end of the day I had very little to work with. After cooling, I strained it thru an old t-shirt. It turned out to leave me 3.75 cups of pectin. Since I wasn't ready to use it right now, I froze it and I will have to boil it down for about 8 minutes when I need it.

All the directions I can find say to use about 1 cup boiled down pectin per 1 quart of berries/fruit. I will update you on if this works. So far I am not convinced this is worth the effort, due to the fact I didn't get a whole lot of pectin, but I am glad I at least know how to do this, you know, in case that strange granulated stuff ever goes missing from the store.

About Them Apples. . . .

I was talking to my neighbor last week and he said I could have all the apples on his tree. Cool! I spent a couple of days picking them, trying to process them as I picked, but I was soon overloaded with apples. I don't know what kind they are, but they seemed a bit tart, like a Granny Smith. I am so excited! Now I am off to the kitchen, see you in a couple of days!

About Those Grapes. . .

I was talking with my neighbor the other day and he said he would be picking his grapes soon. He has a nice arbor and wanted to make grape juice out of them. But. . . .the very next day his wife came over and told me I could have them all. Cool! So the not-so-little one and I picked a box full of them and I spent the day/night cooking them down to make juice. I will probably freeze the juice until I have time to make jelly later.

I was going to throw the scraps out to the chickens, but. . . well you know me, couldn't I use them for something?

Smack on the head! What was I thinking!

Vinegar!

Well, I haven't actually tried this before, but, hey, it couldn't hurt to try. Not much on the internet as far as directions go, but I figure it can't be much different than apple cider vinegar.

So, I filled the jars almost full with grape peels, seeds, leftover pulp.

Added sterilized lukewarm water, just to the top of the peels.

Added a tiny, tiny pinch of bread yeast.

Let it sit uncovered for a day, stirring a couple of times to incorporate air.

Covered it with a piece of old t-shirt tied on with a rubberband.

Put it on the counter where I have a warm, dark place.

Now I wait. I think about 8 weeks should be enough time. I might stir it a couple of times, but other than that, I just hope not to forget out it! Update in 8 weeks.

side note: I guess I could have picked out all the grape seeds and then pressed them to make grape seed oil, but. . . . . I found grape seed oil at Wally's World, 24 oz. for $3.69, so I didn't think that picking out all the seeds would have been a good use of my time, would you?

Seed Saver

Hello. My name is Me and I have a confession.

I am a seed hoarder.

Hidden away in the depths of a corner cupboard, you will find. . .

poppy seeds from my mother's old house (she moved 7 years ago)

dill seeds from my grandpa (at least 15 years old)

and. . . wait for it. . .

a packet of turnip seeds found in my grandma's junk drawer dated

1972.

Anyone want to start a support group? I have seeds. . . . .

Planning The Next Garden

Well, it's that time of year for me. Tired of this year's garden's mishaps and ready plan next year's garden.

This year's garden produced about 2 dozen green peppers, just enough field corn to save for seed for next year's crop, 1 very small cucumber that I just threw to the chickens, and so many cherry tomatoes that I just ended up turning the chickens into the garden to eat them all. A few onions, parsley,chives, thyme, and oregano, alot of dill, 1 small pumpkin for decoration only, and 1 acorn squash.

Goals for next year's garden:

organize my herb garden better

grow field corn for the chickens (and for decorations) with squash and beans, I think this is called the "three sisters"

sunflowers for seed for the chickens and rabbits

grow more carrots

can enough tomatoes to last til next year

What goals do you have for next year's garden?

Self-Seeding Tomatoes

As much as I tried, the garden didn't get started this year. But the heritage cherry tomato seeds I bought a couple of years ago are still self seeding themselves and took over the entire garden this year. Too bad the lettuce I grew in the herb garden tasted like tissue paper. I could have had salads for the whole neighborhood.

Day 126: New Herbs

Woring on starting a new herb garden this year. There are so many herbs to choose from! I couldn't decide which ones to plant, so I went thru my spice/herb cupboard and decided to only grow what I will need/use this year. Next year I may expand to something new if this year goes well. I have chives and mint left there from last year, but started lots of parsley seeds to put in there soon. The back corner has dill started, it's up about an inch. I really love dill leaves. ( I have officially changed the name of that herb, from dill weed to dill leaves. With teens around, you don't want them going around saying "My mom grows weed!" Kindof puts a damper on my public appearance.)

Got a rosemary plant for $2 at Wally's World last weekend. Guess I wasted my money because it ended up with mites or something and is basically dead. Still need a couple of oregano plants and my garden should be complete on herbs for this season.

Top Articles for April

Here is a list of the best things I found for this month:

Energy Usage info(specifically dryer usage): http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/dryers.html

Homemade Garden Seed Tape: http://fitzgeraldsfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/2011/04/homemade-seed-tape.html

Rain, Rain Go AWAY

It's been raining so much, I can't get the garden worked on and certainly can't plant anything. So I am very antsy and very tired of cleaning my house. I want to be outside! Here is an update on all that's been going on (or not going on but I wish would start)

My rain barrel has a small leak in it that I need to fix. You know after all this rain, we will have a drought this summer and will be needing that rain water.

My perennial chives are about 8 inches tall and looking good. The rhubarb is now up well and I should be able to pick it next week, I think.

The 4 hens I have left are now 2 years old. After going on a hiatus from laying (three months with only 1 egg laid) they are now back on track. I am getting 3 or even 4 eggs a day. I love these hens. They follow me all over and when they see me pick up a shovel, they come running to see what they can "help" me dig up.

Oh, speaking of chickens. I have a very nice problem. The eggs they are laying are so big they don't fit in a normal large or extra large egg carton. How am I going to sell eggs if I can't use egg cartons? I certainly can't afford to buy jumbo size egg cartons, kindof cuts into the profits. I am open to any ideas, if you want to share.

My first generation New Zealand doe died after giving birth too early. Not much more to say about that.

Two of my mixed breed does had litters. One had 8 babies, the other has 4 (first time momma, so I am thrilled she's taking care of them, don't care that it's only 4)

Christmas decorations are still up on the front porch. Do I ignore them or wait for them to just blow away in our strong spring winds?

I made two loaves of bread yesterday, turned out nice, although I need to adjust the recipe so it doesn't overflow my breadmaker.

Have run out of grocery money for the month, so we will be eating whatever is found in the cupboard. I do have about 60 cans of spaghetti sauce and lots of pasta to go with it, so I'll have to be creative and figure out 2 weeks of menus centered around pasta.

Well, enought for today. Got to get ready for work.

Seedlings Update

Parsley and zucchini

One lone lima bean plant from started at kindergarten. (Can you grow only one and get beans from it or do you need two plants?)

Still waiting for spring. The started seeds are growing nicely, without any growlights, because I don't have any. This year, I started seeds in some leftover peat pots, put them in egg cartons, closed them up, and put them on rice heating pads (warmed occasionally in the microwave.) After the seeds sprouted, I opened the carton lids and just set the seeds in the south window.

(No, I didn't buy a coffee from Dunkin Donuts, I had a free coupon)

We transplanted the little peat pots into yougurt cups and other plastic cups we had saved and just left them in the window. They seem to be doing well, not leggy like some years, I guess because I don't have grow lights.

Seeds! Seeds! Seeds!

Got the 25 packs of seeds today from the Seeds of Change company!

Sorry, but it was a big disappointment.

I was thinking that I would get 25 different varieties of seeds. Maybe even 12 different varieties, of 2 packets each or something.

Nope.

5 variety of seeds.

Corn

Lettuce

Hot Pepper

Eggplant

And wait for it. . . .

9,yes, NINE packets of radishes.

What the heck am I going to do with 9 packets of radishes?

I hope the chickens like radishes. They may be eating alot of them this winter.

Seed Starting

Well, as you can see, I just couldn't wait any longer for spring to come and stay with us, so I started the seeds indoors anyways. Used mostly seeds saved from last year's crops, or seeds leftover from last year that I bought. Acorn squash, some kind of small pumpkin, zucchini, a heritage tomato, bell peppers, parsley, broccoli, and cauliflower. Most of them are already sprouting, but the cauliflower is not. That's ok, I really don't love cauliflower anyways.

Got a good start on the new herb garden area also. I don't know why I call it an herb garden, it's not all herbs. If it all decides to sprout and grow, there will be dill, onions, carrots, lettuce and radishes. There is already onions. chives, and some sort of mint ( I think spearmint) from last year there. I am going tomorrow to see if I can find some oregano and rosemary plants to add later. I might plant the parsley in there also, but I really like to plant it in a pot that I can bring indoors in the fall.

I like to try new seeds/plants every year, but I think I will stick to the tried and true due to money/planting area constraints. When my new barn gets built, my garden will temporarily shrink some, so I have to plan more carefully this year. (Well, I did save a little space for 2 or 3 brussel sprout plants. They sound so intriguing.

Almost Free Seeds!

I was watching tv and found

http://www.seedsofchange.com/

where they were giving away 25 packages of organic seeds for only $5 postage. I couldn't resist, and after checking their website, I realized that most of the seeds sell for more than $3 a package, so I hope I got a good deal. Supposed to be a variety of veggies, herbs, and flowers they will be sending me. I am hoping the seeds are all heritage varieties, so I can grow and save the seeds for future use also. I also hope the seeds get here soon, so I can start them inside if need be. Oh, I am so excited!

Top Articles I've Read For March

Here is a list of the best articles I've come across this month:

Tomato Gardening: http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2011/03/march-24-2011-my-buckets-got-hole-in-it.html

Solar Oven Baking: http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Bread#Zucchini_Loaf (scroll 1/3 way down the page to read some tips on solar bread baking)

Rain Water Calculations: http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2008/08/25/just-how-much-rainwater-can-you-collect-off-your-roof/

Garden Seeds

It's that time of year for seed catalogs! My favorite for the past couple of years has been from an organization in Iowa, the Seed Savers Exchange. I love reading about the history of where the seeds come from. Who wouldn't want to grow corn that originally came smuggled from Europe in a horse's feed sack?

I also found a less expensive site for heritage seeds,

www.http://ohioheirloomseeds.com/ . This year should find the following in the garden: cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, plum tomatoes, zucchini, green peppers, red peppers for drying, sunflowers, garlic, and a variety of herbs. Nothing exotic, but still exciting.

Weeds in My Yard~NOT!

Did you know that dandelion leaves are very nutritious? I find them a bit bitter, but since our family doesn't eat salad things often, I have been picking the dandelions for the rabbits and chickens. While they eat them fresh, they really seem to prefer them dried, like hay. The first year picking them, I made a big mistake. I pulled them all up by the roots, rather than cut the leaves off. So by now, our yard is probably the only one around without any dandelions! My neighbors probably think I have lost it when they see me picking dandelions out of their yards. Oh, wait, they thought that already when they found out I got chickens. And then rabbits. And then more chickens. And then more rabbits.

Anywhoo, now I have moved on to Queen Anne's Lace. And I do not pull it up by the root. I even put some seeds into pots last fall in hopes of getting some to grow earlier in the spring. Will let you know if that works.

The rabbits like the QAL leaves , more than the chickens do.