What are you canning now?

[rancher hicks]

I liked this as well:

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/apple-tree-pollination

If you have only one apple tree in your yard or incompatible varieties, all is not lost. Crabapple pollen fertilizes apple blossoms. So if you have a crabapple in the vicinity that blooms concurrently with your apple tree, you're in business. Grafting a branch of a compatible variety onto your existing tree is another option, though I recommend you hire an arborist to perform this job. You can also use an old, very effective orchardist trick, says Matthew Rogoyski, Ph.D., a horticulturist at Colorado State University. "Put a bouquet of crabapple branches in bloom in a 5-gallon bucket of water and place it inside the canopy of the tree," says Dr. Rogoyski. "Then bees can visit the crabapple blossoms and transfer the pollen to the apple blossoms."

I figure since my neighbors tree has apples there must be one somewhere close enough to theirs. Not sure what variety it is, but I may just buy a Crab apple in the spring, to plant. No one grows edible Crab Apples anymore.

 

[rancher hicks]

Now for why I dropped in.

I was at the flea market, (the Regional Farmers Market has a flea market on Sundays) and I bought some old cooking pamphlets. One is a CERTO. "Secrets of the Jam Cupboard". It has some recipes that some might find interesting.

Coconut Brambles, Jelly Pie, Jamaica Pumpkin Pie, Frosted Jam Pudding, Jellied Apple Sauce, Fresh Pineapple Jam, Banana Butter, Dried Apricot Jam, Dried Fig Jam, Grape Jelly from Bottled Juice, Ginger Marmalade, Pepper Relish.

There are other recipes for how to use Jellies and for making some other Jellies. It has a 1930 date in it and looks to be something you'd send away for or get inside a box of Certo.

I like to buy these old books since the recipes will be lost. I'll most likely get DW to make the "Pin Wheel" cookies and use my home made jam in the center.

 

[Arielle]

http://extension.missouri.edu/p/g6001 - pictures did not copy, text is useful but the pics help a lot, they have charts to tell you what trees do well together.


Apple pollination
All varieties of apple trees should be cross-pollinated with another apple or crabapple variety. To attain the best fruit set on apple trees, the king blossom (the largest and first one to open) in the flower cluster must be pollinated. Thus, the bloom periods of the pollinizer and the king blossom of the apple tree must overlap.
In backyard plantings, two semidwarf apple varieties that bloom at the same time should be planted within 50 feet of each other. Two dwarf apple varieties with similar bloom periods should be spaced less than 20 feet apart to ensure the transfer of pollen between trees (Figure 2).

Figure 2
Apple and crabapple bloom periods. The shaded area represents the time of bloom.
Although some apple varieties, such as Lodi, Liberty, Empire, Winesap, Jonathan, Jonagold, Gala, Golden Delicious, Rome and Granny Smith may be listed as self-fruitful, they will set more fruit on an annual basis if they are cross-pollinated. Additionally, some apple varieties, such as Winesap, Stayman, Mutsu and Jonagold, produce sterile pollen and therefore cannot be used to pollinate other apple varieties. Many nursery catalogues include pollinization compatibility charts (Figure 3) or recommend good apple varieties to use as pollinizers.

Figure 3
Apple pollination. Except where indicated, varieties listed on the left can be used as reliable pollinizers for cross-pollination.
Manchurian crabapple, with profuse white flowers, is commonly used to pollinate early- to mid-blooming apple varieties, while Snowdrift crabapple is used for mid- to late-blooming apple varieties (Figure 2). When using a crabapple tree as a pollinizer, it should be planted within a similar distance to an apple tree as listed above.
In situations where a solitary apple tree is planted, branches of open fresh blossoms of another apple or crabapple pollinating variety can be placed in buckets of water and hung in the tree. Another way to ensure pollination where a single tree is planted, is to top-work or graft another apple variety onto the existing tree. To top-work an apple tree, 6- to 8-inch sections of branches of one apple variety are cleft-grafted onto terminal branches of another variety.
In commercial apple plantings, a row of pollinizer trees is often planted between every four rows of the main variety of trees (Figure 4). If pollinizers are placed within the row, every fifth semidwarf tree is a pollinizer and each pollinizer is offset in adjacent rows to stagger them throughout the orchard block. In high-density plantings of dwarf trees (5 to 6 feet between trees within the row), apple or crabapple pollinizers may be planted between eight to ten trees of another variety in the row.

Figure 4
Alternative planting plans to ensure cross-pollination of apple trees.
Beehives are generally placed in commercial apple orchards as the king flowers open. If hives are brought in before this time, bees may forage flowers of other broad-leaved plants instead of the apple blossoms. For this reason, dandelion flowers should be removed by mowing or by herbicide treatment before hives are placed in the orchard. In orchards where semidwarf trees are planted, one hive of a medium-strength colony (15,000 to 20,000 bees) is generally sufficient per acre. Two hives per acre are used in high- density orchards where dwarf apple trees are planted. Extra strong colonies of as many as 50,000 bees have been effective in pollinating four acres of semidwarf trees under ideal climatic conditions.

I liked this as well:

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/apple-tree-pollination

If you have only one apple tree in your yard or incompatible varieties, all is not lost. Crabapple pollen fertilizes apple blossoms. So if you have a crabapple in the vicinity that blooms concurrently with your apple tree, you're in business. Grafting a branch of a compatible variety onto your existing tree is another option, though I recommend you hire an arborist to perform this job. You can also use an old, very effective orchardist trick, says Matthew Rogoyski, Ph.D., a horticulturist at Colorado State University. "Put a bouquet of crabapple branches in bloom in a 5-gallon bucket of water and place it inside the canopy of the tree," says Dr. Rogoyski. "Then bees can visit the crabapple blossoms and transfer the pollen to the apple blossoms."

Nice job!!!


I was looking at grafting trees this last spring. A bit of work but the temptation of a great variety of scions is only an hour away.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I recently bought a Granny Smith apple tree. Any advice on growing apples? It's a Semi Dwarf, (like me) how long before I should expect some apples. For some reason Granny Smith's are not part of the pick your own variety.

I prefer them for their tartness in cooking. I like a firm apple that holds up well to canning. Many fresh eating varieties are too soft.

Does anyone do "Cold Storage"?

Granny Smith is a self pollinating variety. It is also an excellent pollinator of other variety apple trees. How old is the tree? (I'm assuming you got it in a pot?) I planted my apples bare root and it took 5-6 years to bear fruit. But an older tree in a pot, you'll probably get apples in 2-3 years. It needs 600 chilling hours each winter. (45 degrees or lower)

Semi Dwarf trees will still get pretty darn big.


Here's a lot of information on Granny Smith Apples:
http://www.orangepippin.com/apples/granny-smith

 

[KentuckyMom]

I decided that it would be easier and cheaper to can my own beans. Canned beans have gotten too expensive for me, so I was going to soak dried beans then can them.

 Knowing that I saw many a post on beans here, I figured it would be in this book. They have fresh beans, like black eyed peas and soy beans. I bought red, pink, pinto, black, kidney, and  garbanzo. I make a bean heavy chili using all of those at the same time. 

 Anyone do this?
is it possible? Will I kill my family?
If it works, I am doing lentil and split pea too.
It took me a year to empty the pantry, and now that it is- I am having grocery store sticker shock. (Bad garden year last spring)

I just canned pork and beans last week using dried great northern beans, tomato sauce, and the fat from a country ham that I had frozen for just that purpose. I combined some ingredients from the baked beans recipe and some from the pork and tomato sauce recipe in the Ball canning book. ( my sauce ended up tasting something like ketchup with the brown sugar and spices added.) I processed in the pressure canner for 1 hour and 30 minutes @ 10lbs. What I didn't like-- I pre- cooked the beans so some turned out mushy but some still seemed too firm! Also, I need to add more sauce to the beans I think. My friend told me that she made these multiple times before getting them " just right"! Last year I made vegetarian chili and pressure canned it and it turned out really good!! I haven't tried canning regular chili yet. We usually eat it too fast!

 

[KentuckyMom]

Now for why I dropped in. 

I was at the flea market, (the Regional Farmers Market has a flea market on Sundays)  and I bought some old cooking pamphlets.  One is  a CERTO. "Secrets of the Jam Cupboard".   It has some recipes that some might find interesting. 

Coconut Brambles,  Jelly Pie,  Jamaica Pumpkin Pie,  Frosted Jam Pudding,  Jellied Apple Sauce, Fresh Pineapple Jam,   Banana Butter,  Dried Apricot Jam, Dried Fig Jam,  Grape Jelly from Bottled Juice, Ginger Marmalade,  Pepper Relish.

There are other recipes for how to use Jellies and for making some other Jellies.  It has a 1930 date in it and looks to be something you'd send away for or get inside a box of Certo. 

I like to buy these old books since the recipes will be lost. I'll most likely get DW to make the "Pin Wheel"  cookies and use my home made jam in the center.  

I am always on the lookout for these old recipes too. I managed to get my grandma's old German Potato Salad recipe before she died but now wish that I would have had the sense to get her to write more down. I have some other old cookbooks that I go to when I can't find what I'm looking for elsewhere. They haven't failed me yet!

 

[3goodeggs]

Would you please post your Grandmother's recipe? I love German potato salad, But I have not had any that tasted like our German neighbor made. I know my son would love it, but everything I have tried has been really sour and mushy.
You'd think bacon could save anything, but- no.

 

[rancher hicks]

I am always on the lookout for these old recipes too. I managed to get my grandma's old German Potato Salad recipe before she died but now wish that I would have had the sense to get her to write more down. I have some other old cookbooks that I go to when I can't find what I'm looking for elsewhere. They haven't failed me yet!

My mother used to make a dumpling type thing called a Ka niffly, Not sure how it was spelled, but it was made with flour and eggs I think, that you dropped in to boiling water and served with fried onions.

Some of these recipes don't say how long to bake things. They only use sayings like "bake in a slow oven". No times either. I think they were from times when people used wood stoves and had ovens without thermostats.

There is not date but the phone numbers are four digits and it's a church recipe book. St. Peter's Church, Brockville, Ontario. There are some interesting Jellies in it and I may try some of the cake recipes. Not the "Tipsy Pudding" though. It has Sherry in it and no baking.

 

[KentuckyMom]

I

Would you please post your Grandmother's recipe? I love German potato salad, But I have not had any that tasted like our German neighbor made. I know my son would love it, but everything I have tried has been really sour and mushy.
You'd think bacon could save anything, but- no.

I will look it up and try and post it in the next couple of days! My Dad just hit the " end of the day" jackpot yesterday with fruits and veggies and brought my family a bunch today! I will have my hands full tomorrow but will try and post the recipe soon!
I just found ground cherries when I was out in the field with my boys and chickens yesterday! Supposedly they make good jelly and pie but I'm going to have to find ALOT as they are small!

 

[KentuckyMom]

Okay, I found it tonight!!!
German Potato Salad

About 4 lbs. potatoes
1 lb. Bacon
1 1/2 - 2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 TBSP flour
Cook potatoes with skins on , then peel and slice or cut into chunks. Cut and fry up bacon but don't let it get too done. Drain off all but 2 Tablespoons of the fat.
Mix sugar, bacon, and vinegar together and let boil about 3-5 minutes.
Mix flour in about 2 TBSP Cold water then pour slowly into vinegar mixture. Cook for a few minutes until thickened.
Mix vinegar mixture with potatoes.
You can mix vinegar with water or add more sugar if the mixture is too sour or vice versa if it is too sweet.