More Canning!

We went to the local apple orchard with my mother-in-law and niece last weekend. Connor and Kate had fun playing in the petting zoo and riding the Moo Train. It's a tractor pulled ride made from plastic barrels painted to look like cows. Connor loves anything train/tractor and had a blast.

We picked apples, which I don't think I've ever done before. Galas, Jonathan and Golden Delicious. Honey Crisps are technically done, but we found a few good ones on the ground. I picked 11 lbs of apples... It's amazing how good an apple tastes right off the tree. I love that they tell you to try them right there in the orchard. Connor ate at least two apples.

I made 4 1/2 12oz jars of caramel apple jam, 2 12oz jars of spiced applesauce and 2 12oz jars of sweetened applesauce. I still have 8 apples left. I'm probably going to make more sweetened applesauce. We plan on going back in October for the next round of apples. They have some kinds I've never heard of that will be ready then - Shizuka, Sundance, and others.

I think I'm hooked on canning. It's so rewarding to see the jars stacking up, knowing that I'm "putting up" for later on. We are considering buying three apple trees next spring. I'd like to get a few blackberry bushes too.

I found a bread recipe and am planning on baking all of our bread now. It tastes so much better than the store bought and I don't have to worry about high fructose corn syrup etc.

Adventures in Canning

Ok, so my garden bombed this year. The tomatoes were taken over by weeds. The bell peppers have finally started to set... see?

It looks like I have an ivory and a green in this pot.

One of my good friends gifted me some beautiful cherry tomatoes:

and plum tomatoes. I used the plum tomatoes and the few from my grandma to make Bell Fiesta Salsa last night:

Now... this was my second attempt at canning. I do not have a canning pot. These two jars are pints and are now in the fridge... I realized that the pot was going to be too short too late. The water is supposed to cover the top at least an inch or so, it was maybe half an inch. I didn't want to take the risk and put them in the fridge after they cooled. The lids didn't pop, but the buttons were down. Oh well, I know it will get eaten!

I went out today to get Red Haven peaches for jam, completely forgot the lemon juice. I'll pick it up on Thursday along with a half bushel of tomatoes for bbq sauce and more salsa. In half pint jars this time...

Holiday Cleaning Plan

Last year, I discovered the Holiday Grand Plan. It's an 18 week plan to get organized by Christmas. There is another plan that is for other cleaning and can be combined with the Holiday Grand Plan. I didn't do any of it last year and just remembered it today. It started August 28th, so I have some catching up to do. This year, I WILL do it. All of it.

Housecleaning is such a thorn for me. I hate cleaning, but do feel better (usually) when it's done. Right now, I have a sink full of dirty dishes but am using the excuse that I've had a cold all weekend. It'll get done before we go to bed tonight... I'm hoping that following a set plan like this will get me into more of a routine. They have plans for the rest of the year too, which is nice. I've had a cleaning chart on the fridge for a few years now, and it's hardly ever followed. My husband agreed to chickens on the condition that I improve my housekeeping... time to get working.

Visit to Fair Oaks Farm

Yesterday, we visited Fair Oaks Farm in Fair Oaks, IN for the first time! It is one of the largest dairy farms in the US.

They have a neat play area for the kids:

And a birthing barn where we saw a newborn calf and another being born:

The last pic is the calf that was on the left. The calves are taken from their mothers after an hour or so. They are bottle fed because otherwise, there wouldn't be any milk for the dairy. The mother goes to the milking line.

Then we took a bus to the milking barns. This is the milking parlor:

They have 10 farms with about 3,000 cows at each farm. They milk about 2,800 cows three times/day. That's a lot of milk. This parlor can milk 72 cows at one time and runs 21 hours/day.

We finished the day with yummy grilled cheese in the cheese barn and milk shakes :) We sampled 4 year old cheddar cheese, dill Havarti and sweet Swiss. The cheddar was a bit overpowering, the Havarti was wonderful and I still don't like Swiss. We will be going back sometime, and when we do, I'm bringing a cooler for some cheese :)