!!!! SEPP to Boot: Stephen's Experience (BEL)

BEL #664

What a Monday...! Black Spark was staying close, and is very, very close to birthing a few more kittens. I think we will see them in a week or two, though it's anyone's guess as to where she'll be when she lets those kitties come into the world.

Meanwhile: the sunchokes on the Boots' GAMCOD hugel berm are growing ridiculously well. I'd estimate that they're on average at least seven feet tall.



Some of the sunchokes were so tall that they began falling off the peak of the hugel itself. Today I added a bit more soil and then mulched on top of it with a bit of common tansy. I'm reluctant to try to push the plants upright because I don't want them to lose any more of their tubers. I've seen the plants will continue to grow, then curve their stems so they're once again growing upright.



Chris and I decided that today was a good day to make our first-ever batch of applesauce. After some research at YouTube university, I think we were both impressed at how easy making applesauce could be. We played it safe for our first attempt, and used an InstaPot. Step one was to rinse the apples.



For step two, I prepped the apples by cutting off the damaged parts with a simple paring knife.



Chris picked them up for step three: use the corer-slicer to process the apples a bit. The recipe we decided to emulate mentioned that removing the skins of the fruit wasn't necessary, and in fact would remove most of the nutritional benefits of the apples.



We added about a cup of Mike Haasl's maple syrup, then dropped it into the pressure cooker for about 35 minutes. We'll see how it turns out later this evening.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

Yes, my grandpa made applesauce with the skins and it was delicious! He had a big, run down old tree with spotty apples but they still made good sauce.

BEL #665

The applesauce saga continues...

After the apples had cooked for a bit over 30 minutes, I took a look. Personally, I wasn't really impressed with what I saw.



I remembered that part of the recipe was to use an immersion blender to mix it all together and mince the apple skins. Once that was complete, I was relieved. It actually looked like something I would want to eat, and while it was still warm I had a taste of it and was pleasantly surprised. I poured it all into two large jars, and set them out to cool overnight.



The next morning I added a few dollops to my morning oatmeal. There's already a lot going on in there, and I don't think the applesauce added anything to it. However, eating the applesauce alone is a nice change. The apples are very light and tart, and then there's the maple flavour to round it off at the end. Chris and I chatted about this, and realized that's why things like nutmeg and cinnamon are added to basic foods like this, lending complexity to the food's flavour profile. This was an interesting (and tasty) experiment, overall. More courageous attempts will be made in the future.



Meanwhile, when it comes to other Boot tasks... I took care of a lot of heavy mulching today. There's a rocky hillside just outside the Solarium and I decided that we ought to eventually use it as a cover-crop/mulch cultivating area, prepping it for eventual gardening space. Today I grabbed lots of the tall grasses from the north-side field, and layered it nice and thick over the hillside. I want that organic material to break down and feed whatever's going to change that rocky hillside into some half-decent soil.



Finally: Chris and I made it down to the leaky hydrant connection! Thanks to Paul for his suggestion of using the shop vac out there. We drained the water lines over at the Lab, and then first thing tomorrow we're taking care of the replacement. For some reason, I become excited by doing plumbing work. So tomorrow morning will definitely be a fun one.



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

What I've learned about making applesauce is that the skins and core/seeds add a lot of pectin and color. I know it's a pain in the neck, but I just wash and quarter my apples (the only thing I remove is the stem), cook them in hot water until they're almost soft, then I run them through my old fashioned Foley Food Mill. That strains out everything except for apple. It thickens a bit as it cools. The only thing I ever add to it is a tiny bit of cinnamon.

BEL #666
The BEL of the Beast!
First off, I wanted to say Thank You to SEPPer LeeAnn for her too-brief visit. Happy trails to you...!

Meanwhile, a main task for my morning was to continue moving the hydrant replacement project forward. I didn't meet my own expectations, however the new hydrant is prepped and ready to be installed, and I have a plan for tomorrow morning. I want water running up there again before the weekend, dang it....!



In the afternoon, I realized we still had several apples to process, so among other things we took care of them all. We decided to slice and then dry them. SEPPer LeeAnn and Chris were in charge of slicing the apples, while I reclaimed all the seeds from the cores. We'll plant these apples likely in early November, like we did for last year's half-assed holiday: Appleseed Day.



All the apple slices were dipped in lemon juice and water, then added to the dehydrator racks.



We then packed the dehydrator nearly to the limit. Chris and SEPPer LeeAnn started up the rocket-boost for the assist in the drying process. Chris and I will have these done by the weekend, I think, and then I'll have another addition to my morning oatmeal.



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!