Hi everyone,
I've decided to create a second blog, with a more descriptive URL. Come check it out:
http://berryberryquitecontrary.blogspot.com/
I'll be switching over to that blog and will no longer be publishing any posts on this blog. I originally created this one to keep family and friends updated with my pregnancy news and feel that a fresh blog will keep me inspired to write posts about our daily lives and happenings. Please bear with me while I set up the new blog and get it just right.
Feel free to come back to this URL any time to look at the pictures or read the archived posts!
Rebecca
19 August 2008
Jam and Wine
I've just spent the morning (and most of the afternoon) processing apples and peaches. It's my first attempt at making wine at home. I'm making an apple wine, from a combination of two recipes: one from my friend Chad, aka Evil Wizard, and one from the internet. I'm also trying my hand at some peach freezer jam.
The apples I'm using for the wine are from a combination of places: 98% of the apples came from the apple tree in my front yard. The rest is supplemented by 6 large gala apples from the grocery store that I had knocking around. So far I've chopped and cored the apples, over 30 cups worth, and mashed them a bit in my primary fermenting pail. I've added one pound of raisins and poured about 6 or 7 litres of boiling water over it all. Now the pail is covered and will sit for 24 hours before adding all of the other ingredients. 5or 6 days from now I'll mash the apples more and then strain them out, and add water to make 20 litres. After that I rack the wine after 3 weeks and then add some sugar. I want a slightly sweet wine, not a dry one.
As for the peach freezer jam, my friend gave me 4 packets of no-cook reduced-sugar freezer jam gelling powder. Each packet, along with the fruit and sugar, makes 4.5 cups of delicious freezer jam. It was super easy to make and I now have 4 full jars in my freezer, and one in my fridge. I had enough left over to spoon over a bowl of vanilla ice cream. YUM!
Next: I'll can some pears and make another batch of peach freezer jam. I can't wait for local tomatoes!
The apples I'm using for the wine are from a combination of places: 98% of the apples came from the apple tree in my front yard. The rest is supplemented by 6 large gala apples from the grocery store that I had knocking around. So far I've chopped and cored the apples, over 30 cups worth, and mashed them a bit in my primary fermenting pail. I've added one pound of raisins and poured about 6 or 7 litres of boiling water over it all. Now the pail is covered and will sit for 24 hours before adding all of the other ingredients. 5or 6 days from now I'll mash the apples more and then strain them out, and add water to make 20 litres. After that I rack the wine after 3 weeks and then add some sugar. I want a slightly sweet wine, not a dry one.
As for the peach freezer jam, my friend gave me 4 packets of no-cook reduced-sugar freezer jam gelling powder. Each packet, along with the fruit and sugar, makes 4.5 cups of delicious freezer jam. It was super easy to make and I now have 4 full jars in my freezer, and one in my fridge. I had enough left over to spoon over a bowl of vanilla ice cream. YUM!
Next: I'll can some pears and make another batch of peach freezer jam. I can't wait for local tomatoes!
17 August 2008
Sustainable Living
There is an unclaimed, unharvested apple tree out front of my townhouse. It is left unharvested because other residents in my amazing community think they're CRAB APPLES (and for some reason think crab apples aren't useable)! I've since disabused them of that notion but they're still too lazy to do anything with them, so the pleasure is all mine. Last week I made a super tasty apple crumble. Yum! Tomorrow we'll gather about 32 cups worth, as I've gotten some good advice on how to make a lovely wine. I'm not looking forward to the collection so much but I'm sure that the feeling of self satisfaction I'll feel in a year when I first drink some will be overwhelming. Maybe not quite so overwhelming as if I had planted the tree myself, but there you go.
I had the fine fortune of coming across some really inexpensive mason jars on Kijiji.com, in the 250mL and 1L sizes. I have enough jars now to make several each of strawberry freezer jam, salsa, and some corn relish in the small size as well as almost 20 large jars of canned peaches, pears, and tomatoes. I can't wait!
The thought of eventually raising chickens, growing our own produce and eating in-season fruits and veggies is exciting. I look forward to the day when I open the door of my house and walk out into my garden, walking between the rows of beans, tomatoes, peas, carrots, potatoes, corn, beets, and peppers. Then I'll walk among the fruit trees: cherry, apple, pear, and peach. I'll weed my strawberry patch and then feed my chickens and let them out into the garden to free-range. The goats will greet me and follow me around looking for treats.
During all of this, Delilah will be learning, along with me, how to build a sustainable, ecologically responsible lifestyle. I hope that eventually our society will learn that the way we have built it (driven by consumerist lifestyle) is not sustainable and must come to an end. Commuting in and of itself is destroying our planet, global relations, and our health. Buying grapefruit that come from Africa? Frozen vegetables from China? WHY?!? Seems kind of ridiculous to me, considering North American, not to mention Canadian, farmers could grow all of these things, if they weren't so consumed with the idea of growing corn for E85 fuel. Grow food, not fuel! Alternate methods of transportation are the answer, NOT alternate sources of fuel. But who am I to convince people? Perhaps it's just as well that we'll exit the city gracefully and live happily ever after on our oh so satisfying homestead.
I had the fine fortune of coming across some really inexpensive mason jars on Kijiji.com, in the 250mL and 1L sizes. I have enough jars now to make several each of strawberry freezer jam, salsa, and some corn relish in the small size as well as almost 20 large jars of canned peaches, pears, and tomatoes. I can't wait!
The thought of eventually raising chickens, growing our own produce and eating in-season fruits and veggies is exciting. I look forward to the day when I open the door of my house and walk out into my garden, walking between the rows of beans, tomatoes, peas, carrots, potatoes, corn, beets, and peppers. Then I'll walk among the fruit trees: cherry, apple, pear, and peach. I'll weed my strawberry patch and then feed my chickens and let them out into the garden to free-range. The goats will greet me and follow me around looking for treats.
During all of this, Delilah will be learning, along with me, how to build a sustainable, ecologically responsible lifestyle. I hope that eventually our society will learn that the way we have built it (driven by consumerist lifestyle) is not sustainable and must come to an end. Commuting in and of itself is destroying our planet, global relations, and our health. Buying grapefruit that come from Africa? Frozen vegetables from China? WHY?!? Seems kind of ridiculous to me, considering North American, not to mention Canadian, farmers could grow all of these things, if they weren't so consumed with the idea of growing corn for E85 fuel. Grow food, not fuel! Alternate methods of transportation are the answer, NOT alternate sources of fuel. But who am I to convince people? Perhaps it's just as well that we'll exit the city gracefully and live happily ever after on our oh so satisfying homestead.
09 August 2008
How Time Flies
Delilah is 3 months old today! I can't believe it, the time is flying by..yet, at the same time, seems to be going so slowly. Every day I wake up and look at her and thank the gods that my beautiful girl is healthy and here to share the world with us. She wakes up with a smile on her face, full of enthusiasm for the day ahead. She's such a joy.
Speaking of her being a joy, I have a hard time with people who ask me, "is she a good baby?" ... um, ALL babies are good, aren't they? I mean, it's not like babies are in the habit of knocking over liquor stores! "Oh, you mean, she's good because she's not crying all the time? That's because she has all her needs met BEFORE she has to resort to crying! I wear her in her carrier when we're out (or Ben does), she has a clean diaper, she's fed as soon as she starts showing me cues she's hungry, and she's HAPPY! Why would she cry?" Ok, she cries when she's overtired, but that's another story. Sometimes I wanna cry when I'm tired, too!
As more and more time goes on, I'm left to ponder what I'll do when it's time to go back to work. Yes, officially I am going back. Unofficially, there's no way in hell I'm going to leave Delilah to someone else to raise while I go to slave for a few bucks...especially since child care would eat over half of my income, anyway...so what's the point? I can't see it happening. So I guess I'll have to find some other way to make some sort of income, at least what I make on maternity leave, and stay home to raise our baby.
Staying home to raise your own child... how novel! I think more people should do it. I think it's very affordable, if you don't have an excessive lifestyle (2 cars, 400 thousand dollar house, dining out all the time, etc). I believe you can be very happy with less STUFF. A smaller house, one (or no) car, home cooked meals, perhaps even growing your own food, all these things are attainable, and reasonable. It amazes me, the consumerism disease that is killing our society. But that's another discussion for another day.
Some day (soon, I hope!) we will have our "Semi-Self Sufficient Hobby Farm". The sooner the better. I want chickens (for eggs), goats (at least two), maybe a cow...a huge vegetable garden, and a fruit garden..apple and peach trees, raspberries, strawberries...I dream of the day where we could grow most of our own food. Spring chickens and broiler hens will supply us with chicken meat, we will likely outsource our beef and grains but could we do everything else ourselves? I think it's doable. Now we just need to find the house in the country with a little property and build the outbuildings for the animals. Can you picture me and Delilah, going out into the yard each day to care for chickens and goats and to tend the garden? I can't wait.
Speaking of her being a joy, I have a hard time with people who ask me, "is she a good baby?" ... um, ALL babies are good, aren't they? I mean, it's not like babies are in the habit of knocking over liquor stores! "Oh, you mean, she's good because she's not crying all the time? That's because she has all her needs met BEFORE she has to resort to crying! I wear her in her carrier when we're out (or Ben does), she has a clean diaper, she's fed as soon as she starts showing me cues she's hungry, and she's HAPPY! Why would she cry?" Ok, she cries when she's overtired, but that's another story. Sometimes I wanna cry when I'm tired, too!
As more and more time goes on, I'm left to ponder what I'll do when it's time to go back to work. Yes, officially I am going back. Unofficially, there's no way in hell I'm going to leave Delilah to someone else to raise while I go to slave for a few bucks...especially since child care would eat over half of my income, anyway...so what's the point? I can't see it happening. So I guess I'll have to find some other way to make some sort of income, at least what I make on maternity leave, and stay home to raise our baby.
Staying home to raise your own child... how novel! I think more people should do it. I think it's very affordable, if you don't have an excessive lifestyle (2 cars, 400 thousand dollar house, dining out all the time, etc). I believe you can be very happy with less STUFF. A smaller house, one (or no) car, home cooked meals, perhaps even growing your own food, all these things are attainable, and reasonable. It amazes me, the consumerism disease that is killing our society. But that's another discussion for another day.
Some day (soon, I hope!) we will have our "Semi-Self Sufficient Hobby Farm". The sooner the better. I want chickens (for eggs), goats (at least two), maybe a cow...a huge vegetable garden, and a fruit garden..apple and peach trees, raspberries, strawberries...I dream of the day where we could grow most of our own food. Spring chickens and broiler hens will supply us with chicken meat, we will likely outsource our beef and grains but could we do everything else ourselves? I think it's doable. Now we just need to find the house in the country with a little property and build the outbuildings for the animals. Can you picture me and Delilah, going out into the yard each day to care for chickens and goats and to tend the garden? I can't wait.
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