Hi Ashley -- thanks so much for all you do. In your latest newsletter I see that you are suggesting growing apples from seed? I am sure you know that apples are not true to seed and that trees are usually grafted. There is some chance that seeds will bring forward edible apples, of course. However, Johnny Appleseed certainly left a lot of sour apple trees in his wake. Was there something that I missed?
You're right, they don't come true to seed, but I cover that in the article. Every apple that is delicious and well loved now was once a seedling, and it's a fun project with kids. We started a lot of seedling apples when we moved here (broke with no money for anything) and they're all in fruit now. The majority of them are absolutely delicious, as they have the characteristics of their parents (just like human children).
The main problem that makes apples tricky is that they're often pollinated by bitter wild crabs, rather than other tasty apples, but apples from an orchard are usually pollinated by other culinary apples and fare better.
We do graft apples now, and the seedlings that weren't great became rootstock for new trees from scionwood from the good ones (and purchased scion). Seedling rootstock works out really well, and you can plant a seed now and then change the variety 10 years from now. We actually changed the variety of some of our originally grafted apples to other varieties too.
Finishing up the milking season, and making the last cheeses (a batch of Camembert and perhaps a blue cheese). Vacuum sealing my recent batch of feta. I'll use some to marinate in olive oil with spices for gifts. Have some left-over milk to make caramels, and left over cheve to make some chocolate truffles. One more round of canning for fig jam. Had so much, it will be on the list of Christmas gifts to give out. Still cleaning seeds from goose foot. I understand it can be used like wild quinoa. I'll need to research how to prepare it - likely several washings. Happened upon some lovely big acorns. Last year tried to soak some small ones to remove the tannins, but was never successful. Perhaps the bigger ones will work better.
I'm just wondering how it's going with the freeze dryer. I did get one, but have been having a heck of a time finding a cart on which to set it on. I had one that I thought would work that folds, but it was to rickety for my liking so I ordered a metal one, but it turned out to be incredibly high and the castors would not stay in--not terribly safe...so I ended up with a plastic AV cart. Unfortunately, the pump will not fit on the bottom shelf, but I'll just have to deal with that. Being I live in an old farmhouse; plugs are few and far between, and what is available are mostly the old two prong type. If it stays in the bathroom, I'll have to unplug the washer every time I want to run it. I haven't had a chance to run the thing and already it's a headache. I know by asparagus season, I'll be thrilled, but right now...the jury's out. What are your thoughts?
Ours is in our garage and we had a dedicated outlet put in for it. It's not on anything fancy, we actually just left it on the pallet it came on (but took out the shipping padding). It is kind of a headache to get it setup and have a dedicated space for it, but once you get it in a good spot I bet you'll be happy for it. (I wouldn't put it on an AV cart though, they're so heavy I'd worry it'd tip over and hurt someone.)
Hi Ashley -- thanks so much for all you do. In your latest newsletter I see that you are suggesting growing apples from seed? I am sure you know that apples are not true to seed and that trees are usually grafted. There is some chance that seeds will bring forward edible apples, of course. However, Johnny Appleseed certainly left a lot of sour apple trees in his wake. Was there something that I missed?
You're right, they don't come true to seed, but I cover that in the article. Every apple that is delicious and well loved now was once a seedling, and it's a fun project with kids. We started a lot of seedling apples when we moved here (broke with no money for anything) and they're all in fruit now. The majority of them are absolutely delicious, as they have the characteristics of their parents (just like human children).
The main problem that makes apples tricky is that they're often pollinated by bitter wild crabs, rather than other tasty apples, but apples from an orchard are usually pollinated by other culinary apples and fare better.
We do graft apples now, and the seedlings that weren't great became rootstock for new trees from scionwood from the good ones (and purchased scion). Seedling rootstock works out really well, and you can plant a seed now and then change the variety 10 years from now. We actually changed the variety of some of our originally grafted apples to other varieties too.
Finishing up the milking season, and making the last cheeses (a batch of Camembert and perhaps a blue cheese). Vacuum sealing my recent batch of feta. I'll use some to marinate in olive oil with spices for gifts. Have some left-over milk to make caramels, and left over cheve to make some chocolate truffles. One more round of canning for fig jam. Had so much, it will be on the list of Christmas gifts to give out. Still cleaning seeds from goose foot. I understand it can be used like wild quinoa. I'll need to research how to prepare it - likely several washings. Happened upon some lovely big acorns. Last year tried to soak some small ones to remove the tannins, but was never successful. Perhaps the bigger ones will work better.
Those cheeses sound so wonderful! I need to get more batches started!
Here's some information on cleaning goosefoot, hopefully it's helpful: https://practicalselfreliance.com/chenopodium-album-grain/
I've tried the dry winnowing with some success. I'll try the wet method to finish it off. Great blog!
I'm just wondering how it's going with the freeze dryer. I did get one, but have been having a heck of a time finding a cart on which to set it on. I had one that I thought would work that folds, but it was to rickety for my liking so I ordered a metal one, but it turned out to be incredibly high and the castors would not stay in--not terribly safe...so I ended up with a plastic AV cart. Unfortunately, the pump will not fit on the bottom shelf, but I'll just have to deal with that. Being I live in an old farmhouse; plugs are few and far between, and what is available are mostly the old two prong type. If it stays in the bathroom, I'll have to unplug the washer every time I want to run it. I haven't had a chance to run the thing and already it's a headache. I know by asparagus season, I'll be thrilled, but right now...the jury's out. What are your thoughts?
Ours is in our garage and we had a dedicated outlet put in for it. It's not on anything fancy, we actually just left it on the pallet it came on (but took out the shipping padding). It is kind of a headache to get it setup and have a dedicated space for it, but once you get it in a good spot I bet you'll be happy for it. (I wouldn't put it on an AV cart though, they're so heavy I'd worry it'd tip over and hurt someone.)