Heirloom apples, heirloom cider

I have 3 ancient apple trees, and they're starting to drop.   All have seen better days, and the gypsy moths hit one of them pretty hard.   Before the apples really get gross on the ground (and become goat food) I've started scavenging them.  It's a nice tradeoff between losing a few to rot and not having to do the work to pick them.   The trees give me them when they're ready.   Strangely, the sickest looking tree, the oldest and wisest one, also has the most obviously ripe apples up top - either that or it has fewer leaves to conceal the apples.

You won't get apples like this in the store, because they're small and gross, but they're 100% organic, and free.

If anyone reading this knows what kind they are, I'd appreciate the info.   I'm thinking macintosh, and something else, the stripey ones are definitely different apples.

After trimming the gross bits off and running them through the Breville, I get this:

Probably 6 ounces after pouring off the foam.   I'll lose a little more when it settles, too.   If I get an entire gallon, I'll count myself lucky.   I'll add some ale yeast later, and then race it against some unpasteurized cider I get from a local orchard (http://www.phantomfarms.com/) to see which comes out the best.   Hint: if you use champagne yeast you get a deadly combination of apple, bubbles, and super high ABV.   Be prepared for a nap after drinking.   That's why I go with ale yeast, I want something around 6%.

Late summer - Let the Canning begin!

The cherry tomatoes are going full speed these days, so I took 4 quarts of them and decided to save them as sauce.   Since I'm the only one eating it, I get to make it how I like.

All fresh from the garden this year, I'm doing:
yellow cherry tomatoes
a few red tomatoes that happened to be ripe

yellow squash
zucchini
red onion
basil
garlic
olive oil

The olive oil is the only thing I couldn't make myself.   Maybe when I finish the grape jelly in a few weeks, I could try making grapeseed oil.... but probably not.

Given that there's non-tomato stuff in the sauce, I figured I'd need to pressure can it, so I skipped the vinegar/lemon juice.

Half the batch, with the pressure cooker warming up in the back.   Electric stoves just don't have the punch that gas ones do.   It took around 20 minutes to go from boiling up to 10psi.

I ended up with quarts of sauce, a little watery since I didn't simmer it down endlessly (not wanting to mush the zucchini).

Growing your own food and canning it is a great way to reduce your Trace - you can use your own composted scraps as soil ammendment, the vegetables don't travel via truck anywhere, you're reusing the canning jars, and come winter you have a healthy sauce (all my stuff is organic) with no extra sugar, thickeners, or crap.

When it's 101 degrees, bring water

RIP parents who gave their kid the last of their water.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11793114/French-couple-killed-in-New-Mexico-desert-saved-their-son-with-last-drops-of-water.html

Plan Ahead And Prepare!

Rhubarb Wine III: The Drinking

Poured off a cup, it tastes like cheap white wine.   Thin.   Almost no rhubarb taste or smell.

Wine: 1
Ed: 0

Next up, wine from the concord grapes all over the property.   Last summer I put up about 4 quarts of jam, and we have leftovers, and I gave some away, so I clearly don't need this many grapes.

A time to cut, a time to buck, a time to split and a time to stack

The first foggy cool morning of the summer reminded me that it won't last forever, so I've been trying to get the woodpile sorted.   I have about 2 cords set up so far, and another cord in the big pile that's starting to season.  I enjoy cutting and splitting the wood, the smell and feel of it, it's good exercise, and the idea that I'm recycling the carbon that I just exhaled makes me smile.

It's funny how people sell "semi-seasoned" wood - hint: if it's not seasoned, it's green.   The wood guy, nice guy, good price, good wood, delivered a mostly oak cord at about 28% MC inside the splits.  It should at least burn this fall, perhaps not well, but I do get a lot of sun and a strong crosswind.

Here's the small pile, with some big rounds submerged in it that I don't want to think about splitting just yet.

(Yes that's the old outhouse down the hill)

Stacked carelessly around are the bits of wood and fenceposts which help form my tarp system which I'll implement come November.   The composter isn't part of the system, it was just in the way.

Fully loaded and squared, this will be about 4 cords - 4 rows of splits, 4' high and 24' long.
Note that a cord is 128 cubic feet, generally stacked in 3 rows of 16" splits, 4' high and 8' long.  The rows of splits should be stacked with space enough for a squirrel to pass through, but not enough for the cat behind it.   This is mostly maple, with some oak, white pine and white birch mixed in.

The big pile up the hill will be another 5 cords.  If can I can burn 4 cords over the winter, I burn almost no oil, save that what I need for hot water.   I usually burn hard until I have about 1/2 cord left, then depending on the season, put the brakes on, leaving that as my emergency, you-have-no-heat scenario.   I have a genny for the furnace, but it's loud and irritating.

I had some apple that I cut this spring, bucked and stacked but not split.   I tested the ends of the rounds with the moisture meter and got about 9%.   I tested by piercing the bark and got almost 50%.   Splitting one 4" round, the inside was at 30%.   The pieces were so small, I assumed I wouldn't need to split them, but given that, it looks like I'll have to.   You should be at 10-20% MC.   Too dry and the wood burns too fast and hot, too wet (above 20) and it hisses.  Above 25 and you boil sap out the ends!

Apple, glorious, fragrant, high BTU apple - cut from my reclaimed heirloom trees:

Some links which I've found useful:
http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html

I'd add my affiliate link to the Amazon page for the moisture meter that I bought, but they wouldn't let me.  A good one shouldn't be more than $30.   Google it.

I love to talk firewood, ask me any questions.