Apple Day!

We decided that we missed prepping pears for the dehydrator and ordered a 20 pound box of organic juice quality apples to prep and dry.

Easy!

We used the peeler gizmo and hubby helped Adrienne and I, we got it done in about an hour.

Q: Can I leave the skin on?
A: Yes, you can leave the skin on, but it gets rather tough. (The piggies are getting our skins and cores!)
To keep the apples from getting brown (the lighting is why these don't look so good), we mixed 1T citric acid and 1T ascorbic acid in 2 quarts water, and tossed them in. (just don't leave them in longer than 30 minutes)

9 trays full and drying right now!!!!! So much easier than pears!!!

We ran out of space in the dehydrator, so we added a few old apples that were running around, and had enough apples for 2 pies.

(this is what the solution looked like when we got done- kind of murky...)

So Adrienne experimented with freezing one pie's worth for Thanksgiving.
Put apples in boiling water for 2 min and then remove them to a bowl of ice water til cool, and then pack and freeze.

And the other half she cooked up and made 2 half pie/cobblers. one for tonight, and one for the freezer.

This is what she did this time:
8-9 cups Apples
2t. Cinnamon
1t. Nutmeg
1/2t. homemade dried Orange rind
1/2t. salt
some butter
Some water
(you could just use 3/4 -1 cup brown or white sugar)
a splash of Molasses
1/2 t. Stevia
1/2c. Xylitol

Cook it a while on the stove, and then dump it in your pan(s), top with homemade crust (thanks Mom), bake awhile @ 375ish until filling is bubbly and crust seems nicely browned.

The next morning the Dried Apples were done:

After putting up literally hundreds of pounds of pears, a 20 pound box of apples was like a walk in the park! I made a note to self, next time order TWO boxes!

(Adrienne really packed the first jar too full, otherwise it would have been two full half gallon jars!)

pears, Pears, PEARS!

We have our own pear trees, but because of the drought, the fruit was no good this year, but our neighbors across the street had good pears, and told us we could have them all! =)


It is really nice having nice neighbors. (Sometimes I think that they are too nice for us!)

This type of pear "sand pear" (found in yards & hedgerows) are always organic. They are very hardy, and resistant to pests, etc....

From our guesstimation, we picked & processed at least a couple hundred pounds of pears.

To make anything with these pears (even just eating) they must be peeled first. (the peel is indigestible)

Sometime, you even find little faces looking out at you!

Recipe #1.
Dad bought Mom one of those lovely dehydrators this summer, and we dried more than 10 quarts jars packed full. (I know that it was more, because we ate a lot, and gave some away) ...our kitchen is sticky now...


You must wash & then sterilize your jars anytime you are going to can....

...in you go! (you wash and boil the lids & rings too, in another pot)

Recipe #2.
We decided to try our hand at Pear Marmalade. Organic oranges & orange peels...

...processed till smooth.

Add some drained crushed pineapple...

...to your finely chopped pears, sugar, lemon, and any other ingredients that the recipe called for...
...then you boil/simmer it...

...till it gets thick from the natural pectin in the fruit...

..and it gets all nice and carmely brown, and even thicker...

...and you add your thinly sliced Maraschino cherries. (we only had half the amount called for, but we think that what we had was plenty! Then we canned it all! =) ...our kitchen is even stickier now...
Recipe #3.
We made Pear Chutney for the first time too.

Freshly canned chutney~ ready to come out...


...our kitchen is really sticky now...

Recipe #4.
Pickled Spiced Pears

First you infuse your vinegar& sugar with your spices (all tied up in your little spice bag), then you cook the pears in the vinegar syrup in batches. Then you let every thing sit together at room tempature, overnight, to pickle properly.

Next day, you heat your jars & lids, remove the pears & spices, and bring the vinegar syrup to a boil.

Pack the pears into hot jars...

...add boiling syrup, wipe the tops, put on the lids, and can them!

...our kitchen is SO sticky now, I am glad that the pears are all gone till next year...

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I honestly don't want to see or eat another pear for a few months! =}

The Pigs are getting big!

Pork is the pig in front, and Beans is behind.

When the Pork & Beans are hungry, they sound like they are dieing!
...such shrieks, squeals, and general pain you have probably never heard before....

Soaked wheat & rye, pig feed, oats, ground almonds,
apple scraps (left from the pie) & fresh garlic....

....make fat & happy pigs! See Pork's fat jowls?!?
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To quote from the movie 'Babe': "Pork is a nice sweet meat!"

Our babies are growing up...

1. A couple of weeks ago, the Drakes voices changed. =( Somehow I thought that they would just go on "peeping", even though the Ducks' voices changed a long time ago...(I'm not really sure when).

2. They are starting to flirt.
One evening last week, one of the Ducks was standing by herself...maybe 3-4 feet from the rest, and one of the Drakes walked up to her, and said something to her. He stood next to her, and they put their bills together, and started to quietly talk (at the same time). The other 12 heard them and immediately stopped what they were doing, and the throng noisily joined them.

3. Tonight, was the first "date night".
I went out to lock them up for the night, and all was quiet, and I thought they had gone to bed. So I was praising them for being such good babies, when I spotted a duck head "slipping behind the barn" so to speak!
You guessed it: a Duck & a Drake trying to stay out all night....I had to round them up, but at least they went in willingly enough, and the Drake led the Duck in. =)

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FYI: What do you call them?
Male- Drake
Female- Duck
Baby- Duckling
Everybody- Flock

The last berries of the season...

We love to take friends out so they can pick
Blueberries for the very first time in their lives...
A friend of ours from Dallas
joined us on the last day of the season.

This is going to be fun!

"Hmm...there are little sticks and leaves in my bucket..."

He had so much fun at the end of the season, when the berries aren't so plentiful, I can't imagine how much fun he'd have at the peak of the season!
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But seriously folks, if you have never been before you really should make plans for next year. Find a patch of Blueberries (or Strawberries) near you and go make some memories.

Pork & Beans are happy pigs! =)

We got our very first pigs at the beginning of July.

Sorry that it took so long to post about them!

Recycled concrete walk to the pig pen.

Mom and piglets~ they had no shade. =(
We bought our piggies from Rose Creek Farm.

We are home!

(dirty pigs!)

They were very skittish at first, not at all socialized.
But they like us now, and I can play with their ears! =)

This is our first experience with four-footed livestock, and we are enjoying them a lot.


Wilbur Beans in the pig house~ made of good old fashioned wooden doors!

(clean pigs!)

"Charlotte" who lives on the gate now! (she moved in after the video was taken)



That's all folks!

Uncle Pork