Apple Jelly – Not so much

I forgot to update this.  We ended up not going to Chillicothe, as predicted.  In fact, we ended up doing not much of anything.

[Okay, I am TRYING to put pictures in this....maybe check back later?]

ETA:  This all took place July 4 and 5th.

I did indeed wash and core the apples from our tree. The tiny little apples.  I had read somewhere that the underdeveloped seeds were potentially poisonous, so I wanted to make sure I got those out.  I only read it in one place, but that’s not the kind of thing you want to make a mistake with.  This was a fairly tedious and annoying job.  I also discarded any that looked wormy, even if there was no wormy evidence.

I was reminded that sometimes when Janet says “Yes, I will help you,” what she really means is she will wander down to occasionally supervise.  That was what today was.  No worries. I muddled through until most of the remaining apples from our yard were ones that were incredibly tiny.  The heck with that.  I turned to the store-bought Fujis I bought in case that wasn’t enough.  I left about six of those for eating purposes.  Into the pot it all went and, after boiling, I set it up to strain overnight.

Now…I am not big on buying things for projects.  When it comes to canning, I do not have special jar removers and what not.  I use metal tongs and nearly every towel and potholder in the house, but those are all free, having been paid for long ago.  So I didn’t get a fancy stand for the cheesecloth (which I did get).  I ended up having to rig something up with the cheesecloth and a few kabob spears I have laying around.  They come in packets of like a million.

The next morning I woke up, eager to see my gallons of juice that would be turned into awesome apple jelly and that would then be turned into Giftmas presents.  I went to the pot, removed the lid and plastic (to protect it from the fruit flies, who had resisted at that point all efforts to wipe them out), and looked.  A lot.  I tipped the pot and was instantly disappointed.  When I measured it out, I had BARELY a cup of apple juice.  

This was not good.  I needed more than that.  I looked at the jars and lids I had purchased at the store and just sighed.  I poured it into a glass jar and threw it into the freezer.  There are still some apples out there, so maybe we’ll try it again later….

In the meantime, there is likely some message in this.  I could have finished up even with the small apples, despite the growing hump in my neck. I could have used all the apples I bought.  All sorts of things.  Put into it what you get out of it, and all that.  Fine.

Name Change

I really like "Chlorophyllic Mojolicious."  A lot.  And maybe someday I'll change the name back.  But I hope not for a really long time.

See, some of you who know me know my mother-in-law Janet lives with us.  She has for a really long time, maybe about five years.  Now, most people shuddered when I said she was moving in, and I'll be honest, I thought that this was going to be a disaster.

I was also raised with many examples of parents moving in with their children when they were not able to take care of themselves.  My faith also stresses the importance of family, and not just when family is fun or not-problematic.  (At least, in my opinion.  I've since learned that others' mileages may vary, and that's fine.)

Janet is a quiet woman, for the most part.  She's got diabetes that is difficult to control, so often has blood sugar drops.  She also can't hear, but can only wear a hearing aid in just one ear.  The other one is beyond help.  She has a small dog, Sassy, and I'm not sure which one depends on the other one more.  Janet likes to be industrious, and hates to just sit around, but she also doesn't drive, which means that her independence is tied very much to whether my spouse or I are home and can take her where she needs to go.  We juggle the best we can, and for the most part it's actually worked out.  She takes care of my dog and cat while we are gone at work during the day and the house is generally not vacant then, either.  She does make dinner at least half the time too, which is nice.

Janet was also recently diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimers.  I do have my reservations about her doctor, but they have her on medicine which seems to be helping.  Mostly all she has right now is forgetfulness and transposing numbers.  She also can't find words sometimes, and I either way until she does, or if it's urgent, fill it in for her.

Why I have renamed this blog:  Janet doesn't remember much sometimes, but she does remember growing up in Southern Ohio, in the very Northern fringes of Appalachia.  And she remembers her mother and father growing much of their own food.  And she remembers how to do it, how to preserve and dry, and all the things I would like to do.

One thing that I have read about folks with Alzheimers, dementia, and similar disorders is that keeping them active and engaged is important.  It was with that in mind that I insisted we expand our garden and she is now involved.  She is excited to help me hill the potatoes when it is time, and when we found out we could use the green unripe apples on my tree to still make apple jelly she was pleased.  I got her two cucumber plants for the garden so we can make pickles.

The garden began as a way for me to connect to the natural rhythms of the land around me, bring me closer in tune with the Earth Mother and Sky Father.  If it supplemented our grocery purchases, all the better.  However, now I think I was asked to start if for another purpose, to help Janet stay with us as long as possible.  Hence the name change.  I'll change it back when it's no longer for that, but again, I hope it's not for a while.

So far, I've been getting about half a cup of raspberries a day.  No strawberries yet, but that's to be expected.  I think (and Janet has confirmed) the onions are ready to have their leaves bent over to bulb up, and we might be ready to hill the potatoes.  The cucumbers, beans, and squash are doing fine, but that bed seems to dry out quicker than the others.  We've had several days of rain and it's bone dry.  Two of the three tomato plants have actually come back, but the third is done.  I have a TINY green pepper though. The herbs are just HUGE, so I think I need bigger containers so I can separate them out. The first batch of basil and mint is dried and ready to be unhung, only to be replaced with another bunch, and I think the oregano could probably get some trimming too.

Instead of going to Chillicothe for the family reunion tomorrow, I think I shall stay home and get started on the apple jelly, pole the beans, and maybe see if i can plant those things C. gave me.  They may not survive, but we'll at least give it a shot.