As millions of Americans spent their weekend crammed into the grocery store stocking up for Thanksgiving, I was hanging out on a nearby farm for turkey-butchering day. Some people would find that odd, while to others the thought of buying a factory-farmed, hormone-pumped frozen bird wrapped in plastic for $1 a pound – something that doesn’t even resemble the animal it came from – can
Ginkgo Nuts
Ginkgo trees are graceful, ancient trees that look great in a garden and also commonly found as street trees due to their high tolerance for harsh urban conditions: pollution, drought, compacted soil, etc. The fan-shaped leaves cling close to the branch, giving this tree a rather distinct shape. The leaves turn from a crisp Spring green to a vibrant yellow in the Fall. People make
Pear Cider Success
The pear cider we started brewing in late September has been finished! We took our time throughout the brewing process. The initial fermentation was planned to be only two weeks, but ended up being more like a month due to vacation schedules. We racked the cider and let it ferment a second time, which also ended up being about a month instead of just a
These Jars Need Filling
Winter waits for no one as I make a mad dash to fill these remaining canning jars. Sure there is school work, freelance work, writing projects, travel plans, Halloween costumes… But the canning season comes to an abrupt halt and I can’t bear to see those jars sit there empty all winter. I’m busy canning some questionable tomatoes this morning. I bought them from the
Pear Cider Progress
The pear cider has been quietly fermenting under my kitchen table for about four weeks now. Typically cider would undergo that first round of fermentation for about two weeks, but because of travel plans we decided to let it sit longer. It was time to rack the cider into new carboys. Racking means you siphon out the good liquid into a new container, leaving the
Welcome Fall
It doesn’t feel like Fall today, and yet today it officially begins. The temperature is suppose to climb to the 90’s this afternoon and yet I get an unexplainable itch every year at this time to stock my cupboards and prepare for old man winter. To date, my cupboards are stocked with the following: 10 quarts marinara sauce 2 quarts canned tomatoes 8 pints blackberry
Tomato Sauce = Fail
My eyes are still wet with tears and I can’t believe I am making myself write this post. I had a huge bucket of Roma tomatoes from the Urban Farm I have been planning to can into marinara sauce. I waited a week for them to ripen to the perfect level. You don’t want them overripe, but I wanted them really red. Finally, they were
Endless Squash
So much summer squash… so much zucchini… so many patty pans… Saturday was a really raining morning, the kind I actually prefer to work outside in. That meant fewer volunteers showed up, but the summer squash waits for no one – it still needed to be picked. If we decided to put it off a few more days, we would end up with baseball bat
Canning Season
Canning season has begun at my house, although I was trying to hold off until later in the month to really get into things. It dawned on me the other day though when I reached into the cupboard and found one last, lonely jar of jam that berry season would be gone if I waited too long. Since then, I have put up a couple
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