The promised apple post

Every year that I have had this blog going, I've had an apple post.  I just love apples.
I've made applesauce with you.
I've made apple pie filling with you.
And now, I'm going to share with you how to make by-product of applesauce cider.
And then I'm going to make it into apple pie jelly...not jam...jelly.
And I promise you, if you make it, the house will smell delicious.

As usual, I began by pealing, slicing, and putting apples in a big ole pot.  A really big pot.
Then, since it was a big tall pot, I added extra water so the apples wouldn't stick to the sides of the pot and the top ones would steam as the bottom ones boiled.  This created a massive amount of liquid.  So I began dipping a mug in, straining out the excess liquid, putting it through my handy dandy strainer, and voila! it was apple cider...the best cider ever.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I love apple jelly.  So I put it in a pot, added sugar (1 half gallon of cider, 6 cups sugar) and then the average apple pie spices...a teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger and nutmeg, a dash of allspice.  I also put in a shot of lemon juice to brighten the flavors.  Apples have lots of natural pectin, but most of it is concentrated in the peel, and since I peeled before making my applesauce, I added some Polmona's pectin at this stage...and brought it to a boil.  Soon the simple syrup created by the liquid and sugar and a touch of pectin created a lovely spicy soft set jelly.  I believe it will be perfect for those Christmas present baskets...

So are you putting by some special items for presents?

And don't forget there is still time to enter THE BUTTON GIVEAWAY!

Harvest Day

The garden is a living thriving organism.
It eats, breaths, reproduces, and dies.
From the first lettuce and spinach leaves of the Spring, to the death throes of the peppers as they succumb to the first freeze of the fall, it lives.
In the meantime it feeds and nourishes our family and allows us to put a little by for the winter.

As for the chickens, it is obvious that they are living organisms.
They eat, breathe, (some reproduce), and die.
From the first eggs of a cold March morning, to the piddling out of the eggs in November, they nourish us and provide a modest income.
But one must remember that they are chickens and "respect the chicken-ess of the chicken." as Joel of Polyface would say.
The chickens here have a purpose: eat lawn, get rid of kitchen scraps and weeds, provide manure, provide eggs...maybe some mild chicken antics and entertainment.
When they do not live up to their end of the bargain, they become loads on the economy of our land...after all, we only have a quarter acre and need to use it as efficiently as possible.

So a few months ago we started getting more requests for us to "board" chickens in return for eggs... so we picked up some new chicks and low and behold three turned out to be roosters.

In order to avoid being arrested for cock fighting (as they started to spar) they needed to be harvested.  Just like the garden, everything has it's season.  Weeds that invade the land, make it difficult for the planned plants to grow, and cause general disorder in the garden are harvested.  Too many bad roosters are the weeds of the coops.

Just to get things straight, I am an omnivore.  I eat plant products from the garden, local farmers, and from the regular grocery market.  I get most of our meat in bulk from a local farm that takes great care of their herd of cattle, and sells similarly raised chickens and pigs, from other farmers in their meat market.  Occasionally, I buy from the grocery store since the farm is a little bit from here, but that is very rare.  (It's odd thing is that the grocery store is more expensive than the all natural, hormone and antibiotic free, pasture raised, meat market!)

And occasionally, I get our meat from the backyard.

I will spare you the gory details, but right now I have two roosters in my refrigerator "chilling out."  Yes I said I had three roosters, and only two are sitting in our fridge.  That leaves one in the yard.  He was picked on by the other roosters and is sweet.  He calls gently to the hens to tell them that I put scraps out.  We have never heard him crow.  He runs around to herd the girls into the coop at the slightest hint of a threat.  And he is beautiful.  He has glossy black feathers that shine green and blue in iridescent splendor.  His tail feathers arc.  His golden long neck feathers tell his mood. My husband is attached to him.  That says a lot about this roo's personality.  If he remains a beautiful gentle and quiet boy, we hope to be able to raise our own chicks and not become rooster pot pie!

And as a side note don't forget to enter in our button giveaway!

linked to the barn hop

Friendships

School has been going really well for the girls.  They seem to be enjoying the activities and come home worn out each day.  It's great!  

It was a little different on on Monday.  #1 came home and told us that one of her friends at school said she didn't want to be friends any more. 

Immediately, I wanted to call this little person on the phone and figure out why.  Why does she not want to be friends with #1?  Did something happen?  Was #1 mean to her?  Was she mean to #1?  How can I fix it?  Because I can fix anything, right?  

WAIT A MINUTE... How is she ever going to learn how to work her way out of problems if I fix it?  The last thing I want is to be a helicopter parent.  It won't teach the kids anything and they will always look to us when problems need solving.  They won't know how to do it on their own.  #1 has to figure this one out.  All I can do is guide her in the right direction.  Get her to think about what she wants in a friendship.  What she doesn't want in a friendship.  I told her that friends often have similar interests and when you are around them, it usually makes you happy.  We talked about what it means to be a good friend and discussed things that a good friend should never do.  

These conversations have come way too early in her little life.  While I am sure this little girl wasn't trying to be mean, it still hurts.  It probably hurts me more than it does #1.  But, I'd like to thank that little girl.  Her comment resulted in my fist heart to heart with #1.  It was all I imagined it would be.  We snuggled next to each other on the couch next to the fire.  No tears... this time.  The issues aren't big enough yet, I suppose.   Things could change down the line, too.  They could end up being the best of friends.

As long as the door of communication is open, I can help her fix anything!!!
BUT - she is not allowed to date until she is 30.

Introducing Citysister Designs! and a Giveaway!

Over the past few weeks, I've gotten emails from friends...I've gotten in person questions when out with my sweater...I've gotten asked quite a number of times when out with my knitting bag full of stuff...are your wooden buttons for sale...

And now I am pleased to announce they are...that's right, you can purchase buttons from me!  I have opened an Etsy shop! I am also making a little side bar button to sell my buttons...and I believe I already have a few giveaways set up!  (I have a couple more slots, so if you are interested in hosting a give away...let me know by comment and we can discuss it as I am still working on setting up an email for this.)

My Etsy shop can be found here.

My current stock is created from apple wood harvested from a tree in our backyard.  It is finished in a mixture of linseed oil and beeswax.  This allows for the oil penetrate the wood and make them seem to glow from within and the wax to seal the wood.

Toggle as well as traditional round buttons are available as well as rustic bark on and  more traditional bark off styles.  Both small and larger buttons are available.

The large and toggle style are great for sweaters, while the little ones would be darling on a baby item.


And items are being added daily as I build the site.

So drop on by Citysister Designs!  Tell me what you like and leave a comment...that will automatically enter you in a drawing to be held on Wednesday October 24th.  The giveaway is for one item of your choosing!  For extra entries, you can let others know about it, and leave another comment to let me know about that!

...and if you like what you see, a 10% discount will be given, just write CSCS10 in for the coupon code which will be good until the end of the month.

The graveyard project

Living in the burbs, there are a few things that you should always consider.

#1 You have neighbors...Lots of neighbors.
#2 They are for the most part nosy neighbors.

So when one Saturday morning a few weeks ago I began digging a hole in the garden, I began getting questions.  Mind you, it was a hole about 5 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 1 foot deep.  The first were from the husband.

"Did the dog die last night?"- not an uncommon question as he passes gas so bad we often think he is rotting inside.
"OK...dog's alive...are you planning on killing me and burying me in the garden because you need fertilizer?"

The neighbor and her boyfriend (ages 80 something) kept a close watch sitting on the back porch.

One would think that I would have time to take a picture of this hole, but I didn't.

I made some calls to some numbers I found on Craig's list, but none of them could come through...that's why the hole remained open to the public's view.

So now that the weather is changing, I was able to muck out the chicken coop that I'd been dreading mucking.  I even sent the kids and their friends on a quest for leaves for the nesting boxes.  Chickens prefer pine needles over leaves...go figure.  (No child labor was involved in the actual mucking...that was done prior to kids and friend's play date...they were just looking for needles and leaves.)

Normally, I would muck the chicken coop into the compost heap, but this year I had a different plan.

I wanted hot cow/horse manure (hence the Craig's list calls)...since it is quite hot and steamy I hear.  But when I asked about what they fed the animals, or managed disease in their herd, I didn't want what they had to offer.  I am a purist when it comes to what I'll put in my garden.    The chicken manure I have isn't quite as hot right now since I deep litter and it had partially composted in the coop.  Instead I put it in the hole.  It looked dry, and in order to properly get compost going, one must wet it to the moisture level of a moist sponge.  I thought about getting the hose out, but instead the skies opened up.


Now, why would one put hot manure right into their garden?  Won't that burn your roots, give you horrible diseases, be gross (insert question here)?  The answer is, not really, if you are careful.  All along I have been making a hot bed.  I first read about it in the Backyard Homestead, but didn't have the time or energy to put much thought into it at that time.

Then about a month ago, the Tribune Review wrote an article about a hot bed, and that got me thinking.  For  less than the cost of lettuce (shipped across the country) for the winter, I could grow my own.  I could keep my chard going and maybe some spinach too, since fall grown spinach works best here.

While mine is not as elaborate as hers...I didn't use cinder blocks in my garden...I think it just might work.  I dug the hole, filled it with the chicken litter and let the rain come.  Then I placed straw bales around the hole and back filled the hole with about 6 inches of soil with compost and garden soil from the original digging of the hole.  As the chicken litter decomposes, it will release heat and sink down.  The heat will keep the soil warm and help the veggies grow.  A greenhouse-esque top will be put on top to help retain heat and build solar heat in the bed.  The bales are angled to make the lid of the hot bed face south with an angle (30 degrees is optimal)  to maximize the solar angle of winter in the northern hemisphere.

Since this area will be very rich and deeply loose, after 180 (I'm not counting, but about 6 months) days of decomposing, carrots will be planted.  This length of time is used due to the depth of which the carrots will be growing.  I don't want to burn any root crops or risk disease.  It takes about 6 months for the pathogens and all to break down.

As for the bales of straw...mulch...chicken coop litter...the garden says "yum!"

Let's see how this goes!

By the way...it cost me $18 for the plastic and pipes...(drop cloth from the paint dept and 1 inch plumbing pipe) and $30 for the straw, which will be mulch and chicken coop lining in the spring...so it's something I could use anyway...so I need to grow $48 worth of greens this winter or about 10 lbs...lets see what happens!

Do you do anything to extend your season?

I'd love to hear your ideas!

Linked to the homestead barnhop and simple lives Thursday

Boundaries

As a little girl, I remember making up signs to put on my door.  These signs said things like "KEEP OUT", "My Room" and "No Boys Allowed."  Defining my space was very important to me.  I had two brothers.  One older brother that was a rule follower and never tested limits.  My younger brother did not know what rules or boundaries were.  He tested limits every second of every day, from the moment he opened his eyes to the moment he went to sleep.  He was a pain in my tush!  These signs were for him.

The signs have started in our house, only they aren't on bedroom doors and they aren't directed at siblings.  This one is on the inside of our front door.  Maybe she's telling us not to go outside so that the terrible monsters living in the woods in our back yard will not eat us?  I should ask her.  But, she's at school and I will forget by the time she gets home.

 

The sign greets me every day as I walk downstairs in the morning.  That and the gross dirt all around the handle and dead bolt.  Ick... maybe I should go take care of that now!  It will be my mission until I hear someone crashing to the floor and get distracted... Murphy's Law, right?

I am finding that #1 is starting to need her own space.  She is always saying how her little sister "is so annoying!!"  She often asks for time alone where she can read or practice piano without #2 pulling at the books or slamming on the piano keys.  They are fairly close in age (20 months apart), so they either really get along, or really disagree. 

This whole boundary thing has me laughing over here.  Have you ever seen the TV Show from the 90's called Full House?  If you have, we aren't that far from the DJ Tanner moment where she took tape and made a line down the middle of the bedroom she shared with her little sister Stephanie.  They each had a side and were not supposed to cross the line.  My space and your space.  Easy enough.  That is, unless you have a little sister that likes to test limits like #2 does.  The boundary seems like a good idea, but it will probably cause more problems than anything.  Here I am, thinking about a problem that hasn't happened yet.  Chill out Mama Bear! 

Boundaries set forth by a 5 year old.  It should be interesting from here on out.

Bar Harbor in Pictures

One of the most beautiful places on earth, in my humble opinion, is Bar Harbor, Maine. 

 I like the sunset best.

 J likes the sunrise.  I am not a wake up at 5am kind of girl, so this is where I struggle during our trips here.  The kids liked it this year though.  On this particular morning, it was cloudy.  They thought it was great because we were inside of the clouds. 

We got to see carriage rides on the carriage road trails.

I got to capture some beautiful memories on film with #1 and Daddy.  It is easier to do with her because she doesn't move as much.

#3 got to ride on Daddy's shoulders when his legs go too tired.

#2 ran around on Sandy Beach with me barefoot.  I just love piggies in the sand.

 Such a peaceful place. 

No fighting.  No boredom.  Just bonding with each other in natures playground.  Just perfect!

I'm a sucker for Autumn.  
And I'm a sucker for Bar Harbor! 

Do you have a favorite place that perhaps we should visit?  We are always up for exploring our beautiful country, so I'd love to hear from you!