Trying to Revive the Orchard

I mentioned this past winter that on a very cold day, B went out and harvested samples (scions) from the few very old apple trees that remain in the orchard.  Our goal was to propagate it using some of the Gifford Family's original trees before they were gone, staying true to this homestead that we are caretakers of.

The spring was late, and we have been scrambling to keep up, so this weekend we made sure to set aside the time to graft the trees onto the rootstock that we acquired from a orchardist up in Northern Wisconsin.  

It is really an interesting process.  You cut both the root stock and the scion at an angle, and then cut a slice in each angled piece.  Once done you thread them together like a puzzle.  Then you take a band and tightly cover the splice, followed by some parafilm tape that you wrap over the band and all the way to the top of the new tree top.  Finally, B planted them in some peat moss in a bucket, to soon be transplanted into their own buckets and finally into the row that we prepared at the beginning of the spring.  Fingers crossed, a revived apple orchard to come!

Random 5 Friday

1.  Grey & Gold::  After months and months of very little rain to speak of, every storm coming through seeming just to skirt around our community, we had two days of grey drizzly weather.  No real volumes to speak of, but a steady drizzle that left wet heavy leaves dripping and falling.  Last night, the sun broke through the clouds just prior to sunset to give us the most dramatic light.  Perfect for taking our evening walk and planning the next steps to our fall finishing in the garden.

2.  Dehydrating::  Maybe it was all of the rain this week, but I have been on a huge dehydrating kick, as I mentioned here.  This morning I put the last of  ripe hillbilly tomatoes in.

3.  Tastebuds::  One of my nearest and dearest friends and member of our close knit tastebuds dinner club had her baby yesterday.  We are all so excited!  Maybe it is because my babies are tweens/ almost teens now, or because this group of people is our family here with ours being so far away, but it has been especially exciting waiting for this baby to come into the fold.    Welcome Charlotte Quinn and a heartfelt congratulations Daniela and Scott!! xo

4.  Sickies::  It has been one of those weeks.  Charles came home from school Monday not feeling well, a cold, no biggie, but the bigger concern the sharp right side abdominal pain and low grade fever.  The kid never complains about anything and this was a big deal for him.  By Wednesday things were subsiding, though we are still watching him closely as he had the low grade fever again last night.  This morning Sidney seems to be falling with the cold.  It has been a horrible allergy season here, yet I am afraid that what I had hoped were continued allergies for myself may be something else.  Between that and the fact that I am care-giving sickies, I am afraid that I won't be able to visit dearest Charlotte in the hospital as not to expose her to anything...this makes me very sad  :(

5.   Farm Chores::  Last Sunday after soccer we brought out the cover for the cold frame, reinforced it and reinstalled it over our budding greens.  Just in time it seems as we had our first light frost in the forecast for that night.  We are hoping for a break in the drizzly weather so things can dry out some and we can get outside and do some more winter prep this weekend.

Happy Friday!

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Apple Jelly ~ One Ingredient!

I have been a public radio fan since I found it shortly after our move to Las Vegas eighteen years ago.   We were thrilled when we moved to Wisconsin to find that our area had two local stations WPR and WUWM.  This week on WPR as I was driving from errand to errand, the guest on Here and Now was Kathy Gunst, a Maine chef who focus' on local and seasonal dishes monthly.  My mouth was watering by the end of the program.  One simple recipe piqued my interest not only because I am apple crazy this time of year, but because all you needed was a few hours of time and one ingredient!

Apple Cider Jelly.  All it takes is some patience and a gallon of the refrigerated apple cider that is all over this time of year.  Pour it in a big pot and bring it to a boil, then simmer it for two hours.  When it gets to where it is just coating the back of the spoon, pay close attention and let it continue to thicken and reduce.

What you are left with is a dark brown reduction of beautiful jelly.  The natural pectin in the apple sauce does all of the work and the caramelized effect of cooking it down allows for no added sugar.  I did stir in a teaspoon of Ceylon Cinnamon at the end and then put it in a mason jar.  As it cooled I skimmed a little bit of foam off of the top and then refrigerated it.  The one gallon of juice yielded me one pint of amazing apple jelly!  I will definitely be doing this again!  I may also have to try her easy baked apple sauce.  Just click the link above for the recipes.

When Life Gives You Apples..

It has been downright cool the last few days.  Enough so that a light sweater outside is perfect.  The last couple of years our apple picking has slipped passed us and we have headed out late in the season, when the best, in my opinion, were over.  This year with the onset of crisp air, I jumped on it and we spent some time Monday exploring a new, to us, orchard about 45 minutes from here.  It wasn't the pick your own that we are used to.  They pick and then we get to sample and load up on all we want.  Very reasonably priced too.

I was especially impressed with the reduced price "seconds".  These are the fruit that have some minor blemish on them, and they were selling for $1 a pound.  Fantastic!  These morsels rarely had a bruise, mostly an abnormality in the skin that for whatever reason tainted their appeal (pun intended ;).  Well not for me!  What do you do when life gives you apples??  Make applesauce, of course.  Yesterday after work, I opened all of the windows to let in the fall-like breeze and began slicing and dicing.


Of the many applesauce recipes that I have made over the years, I find that the easiest is always the best.  I don't like it too sweet so for a large pile o' apples (20) I used 1/2 C sugar, 2 1/4 C water and 2 tsp. cinnamon.  I let it simmer for about 45 minutes and then gently took an immersion blender to smooth it out, but only a little bit, some chunks are just fine!  The batch made six pints of applesauce which I processed in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.

I'm thrilled that we so eagerly began the season, Charles wonders why we bothered canning them, they won't last a week!  Well, I have good incentive to make more batches of my four ingredient applesauce, so we can taste the first glimpse of fall the rest of the year! 

Monday evening we finished watching the Walton's with the kids.  All nine seasons plus the movie specials, all in order over about 18 months.  Tonight I am including the applesauce in an old fashioned applesauce cake for B's birthday.  A favorite made by Livy Walton, and a little taste of the simplicity that we strive for.  A happiest of birthdays to my 'old fool'!

Feeding My Soul

Shorter days, that bring twilight at supper time.
Crisp mornings that glaze the surroundings with droplets of dew.
Soft breezes begin to coax the trees of their heavy  burdens,
swirling  leaves just tinged with color to our feet.
Windows flung wide open welcoming.
 Fresh apples, full of the promise, just waiting to be transformed.
The garden's gift, wrapped in hard work, with a bow tied by mother nature's elements.
This, the beginning of Fall, a season that feeds my soul.

Dappled Color

 Everything is beginning to have a wonderful fall feel.  The landscape is turning golden and washed in the early morning sun it is like being enveloped in a warm fall hug. The dappled color and hint of crispness in the air lends itself to a mixture of feelings.  A tugging between getting last minute work done outside and just simply breathing in and enjoying.  It is a time for street festivals, apple picking, hay rides, pumpkin carving and long walks with a gentle shower of leaves falling on your head and shuffling under your feet.  The golden glow invigorates and spurs me into the day, ooh  I can already smell the warmth of simmering apple sauce and baking apple crisp!  Welcome October!