One Small Change: Putting Up Fruit

Aside from the bags of green chile we freeze every year, I have done very little canning and freezing as an adult.

I remember my mom freezing peaches and my grandmother freezing green beans.  Those days of putting food up were always fun for me, and to be able to have peaches in the middle of winter is something that even child can appreciate.

We have an apple tree on our new place.  I don't know what kind of apples they are, but they are small, turning red, have a nice white flesh and are a little tart.

The apples are starting to fall and the squirrels and rabbits seem to be enjoying them.  So, I think it's time to start picking and putting them up.  :-)

Therefore my One Small Change for September is to learn how to put up apples.

I'm thinking about making apple sauce, apple butter and sliced apples for pies and crisps to be made over the winter.  Fruit leather and dried apples sound interesting too.

I don't know how many apples we have or what's entailed in all of this putting up.  So this month will be much more about experimenting than accomplishing a specific goal.

I do want to have canning and freezing as part of our yearly activities.  I think there is nothing better than being able to store a bountiful harvest for use later.

As for my August Change of breaking ground on my veggie garden; that did not happen.  My true goal was to have it dug out, and mixed with alpaca manure prior to the snow flying.  So preparing my vegetable garden is a goal for September too.