Archive for September, 2005
September 30th, 2005 - Maggie the gardener
Maggie gardened for the first time last night! We needed (okay, I couldn’t stand to not get it done) to dig the rest of the potatoes. But it would be dark if we waited until after Maggie went to bed. So she came with us–on my back! My Ergo baby carrier can be worn on the front or back. Until about a week ago, I’d only worn her on my front. But I figured it was about time to get her used to the back carry as well. So we’ve gone for a couple walks that way. There’s no way I could garden with her on the front, but it wasn’t too bad with her on my back. (Not like I’m the first person to do so–only the last couple generations of Westerners haven’t worn their babies all the time. And many other countries it’s still traditional. What else would you do with your baby or young child while you work?) She enjoyed playing with the pepper plants while I sat and dug through the dirt Eric shoveled up. She didn’t fuss even once!
Next year, maybe she’ll help me pull weeds! LOL
September 27th, 2005 - 3 hours and 40 minutes?????
A TV Channel Takes Aim at Toddlers - New York Times
I sure hope this isn’t Maggie in a year. If so, remind me to kill myself. Or at least smash the TV since we became supreme idiots,
No, I don’t really think it would be possible for this to happen to us. (Well, except for football season but even then, I don’t think there’s enough football to equal 3.6 hours per day for a whole week.) For starters, Eric and I don’t watch that much TV a day, so she won’t get the time in watching with us. And neither of us are very thrilled by most so-called kid’s shows (except Electric Co [is that still on?] and Sesame Street which we remember loving as kids ourselves) so I can’t imagine turning them on for Maggie if we don’t like them. She certainly won’t be plunked by herself in front of the TV either.
Does it count as bad if she watches football, Good Eats, and Numb3rs?
September 26th, 2005 - Apple juice and canning
I made apple juice/cider yesterday and attempted canning for the first time. I’ve avoided it because I was told my canner (the traditional black enamel pot) wouldn’t work on our glass top stove. I’ve heard from folks who have actually used it that it does work. So I decided to go ahead and try.
I HATE CANNING! Either that or following the directions is a lame way to do it. I need three stoves, I think, for it to work well. The problem is that the steam juicer, the pot to heat up the jars, and the canning kettle all need the largest burner. And they all have to be hot at the exact same time. It’s impossible to actually accomplish. Unfrotunately, my Mom wasn’t available to give me advice before I started, but I’ll try to talk to her tonight to see if I should have done anything differently. I don’t remember her having problems when I was a kid. However, I’m sure at least two large pots fit on our stove–it was on a penninsula, so there was room for two large pots at once. (There’s not quite enough room on mine, but I did it anyway.) And maybe she just processed the hot food and the hot jars, then got the canning kettle going. The directions say to pack the jars and put them in the water right away. I can’t imagine she could have done this because she’d process lots of jars at a time, and only 6 fit in the kettle at once. So something had to be not-hot at some point (since 3 large pots definitely didn’t fit on that stove.) [It was also a poor decision because the apples made only 2 quarts of juice, isntead of the 6 I got from the grapes. So I boiled a LOT of water to process just two jars.]
The steam juicer company sells rubber caps that vacuum seal bottles (pop bottles, half gallon jugs, and gallon jugs). I’m trying to find out if these is a not-recommended way of sealing, but haven’t found anything online yet. Will probably have to call the local Extension. If it’s okay, it’ll be some cost for bottles and the caps. But the other option is filling up the freezer. Which we can do, but could fill up fast if I make lots of juice!
Oh, and the jars did seal overnight, so I think it worked!
September 22nd, 2005 - Grape juice
Last night, I made about 6 quarts of grape juice from free Concord grapes. Thanks to Moe, who dropped off one of the bunches, I used a steam juicer. She mentioned that she’d gotten one and it was SOOOO easy to use. She’s given me tons of grapes last year, too (but I was able to pick them since my knee wasn’t in bad shape). I spent two or three weekends picking, cleaning, and cooking. I got a lot of grape juice, but it was a messy, hard, hot job.
The steam juicer cost $60, which means my juice currently is running $6/quart. But, I plan to use it next year (hopefully I will be able to pick 3-4 times as many grapes) and I can use it for other fruit, such as my currants. I made currant juice in June or so, and would have made more except I was tired of the processing. I’ll probably turn the rest of the frozen currants into juice later this winter. AND, Eric loves fruit juice and will drink the grape as well as others. I’m already eying some of my frozen peaches and strawberries for juicing. I didn’t sweeten the grape juice this time so we can sweeten it to taste. I usually like less sweetness than does Eric. Plus, when Maggie’s old enough, we can give her unsweetened juices. (She’s old enough for most juices already, but I resist the idea of giving juice to kids. I think she should learn to drink milk and water. Juice will be a rare treat. I’m waiting until she’s at least one year old.)
Now to look at canning methods. I think I can use a pressure canner on my stove top, but those cost over $100. So I’m thinking of making something cheap like banana juice* and trying to can it. If it doesn’t work out, I’m only out the time, the electricity, and a couple bucks. And there are always more bananas to buy cheaply. *Eric mentioned making banana juice and I thought it was joking but I’d already read in the juicer’s manual that you could make banana juice. He tried it one and adored it. You can indeed make banana juice. And then I can make fruit rollups out of the left over pulp. MMMMMM
September 14th, 2005 - Not much going on
It’s the beginnig of the school year, so I’ve been quite busy at work the last couple weeks. I also wrenched my knee on the bike ride home two weeks ago. That’s really wearing me out, too. So not much to say here but wanted to let you all know I’m still around!
September 12th, 2005 - Apples, apples, apples
The Apple Journal provides Apple Variety Descriptions for just about every apple you can think of and all the ones you never knew existed.
The Priscillas I bought Saturday at the farmer’s market don’t match the flavor listed. I hope they ripen some more!