Harvest Time: Apples, part 2

The second picking from our apple tree did indeed fill the box again. As predicted, the apples were a bit bigger the second time, too. What to do with them all? I mean, I’ve already done apple preserves and there’s still plenty of applesauce in the pantry. I’ve already baked more apple things beyond what we can eat, although I suppose a couple more batches of apple muffins tossed in the freezer would have been ok. I borrowed a juicer (thanks, Erin!) and we drank lots of homegrown apple juice. While tasty, I don’t think I’m going to pursue this …

Harvest Time: Grapes

This is the third bowl of grapes harvested this year. This is the biggest bowl I have, sitting here in one of our patio chairs. I didn’t weigh it but I expect it’s about 25-30 pounds of grapes. At the time I brought this bowl in, I already had 8 pints of home-dried raisins in the fridge. I now have several pounds of frozen grapes in the freezer. And I’ve given away grapes to several neighbors, at least one of whom had jelly ambitions. I have not made grape jelly this year as we are still eating our way through …

Harvest Time: Pumpkins

Some people grow enormous squash. This week at our farmers’ market, our favorite farmer brought in a squash so folks could guess its weight. It was a funny looking thing, about three feet long, a foot tall, just over a foot wide, with a all-over bumpy surface. I watched a man lift his son, then lift the squash, to better gauge the weight of the squash. I guessed it to be 96 lbs. Caitlyn refused to guess, although she admitted to wanting one of the farmers’ market t-shirts that was the prize. The farmer told me (later, not near the …

Harvest Time: Apples!

The apple tree in the back yard has gone bonkers this year. I’ve made a first run at the apple harvest, filling this box more than half way. The apples are small and slightly underripe (read: pleasingly tart) and bake into lovely things. Like this yeast-based apple bread, which smells amazing when it’s baking and goes wonderfully with cheeses (we’ve tried chevre and cheddar so far; brie would be delightful). Or these apple muffins. I may have made 6 batches of these for a neighborhood End of Summer community event, and my neighbors may have eaten every single one. And …

Beginnng the Harvest, or Free Onions!

This may be my best year ever for onions. Check out these fine things: I ordered my onion starts from Dixondale upon the recommendation of Erica over at Northwest Edible Life (’cause, as far as this urban homesteading thing is concerned, Erica is everything I only wish I could be). I’ve never grown onions this large (which is weird to say, since I think that was one of the pull quotes on the literature that came with the starts. I guess there’s some truth in advertising after all!). My Long Day Sampler of onions included white Ringmasters, red Redwings and …