70°f/21°C, humid but no rain. Mostly cloudy.
Buddy the dog barked almost all night. At what? Who knows, but perhaps the young doe who boldly grazed under the apple tree close to the back porch while we were out there working had come back looking for apple drops. Pip was content to stay on the rug beside our bed, and let Buddy do the night shift.
So it took me four cups of coffee to get my motor running this morning. First up: start defrosting the big freezer. It was so iced up I could get very little out of it. Such a hassle! We had unplugged it the night before, so it was starting to melt already. We worked on it off and on all day as more and more ice melted, and now it is completely empty. After dumping all the out-of-date stuff, things that had lost their vacuum seal and so on, we were able to fit all the good stuff into the smaller freezer and the freezer in the extra fridge. Next job is to clean up the big freezer and see if we need to replace the gasket, as that may be why it iced up so badly.
In between working on that, I finished up the grape juice, ending up with 12 quarts. As a treat, I made grape juice floats, just grape juice with vanilla ice cream. Surprisingly good!
The tomatoes I put in the dehydrator on Friday were ready to put away, so I did that next, and cleaned up the dehydrator--quite a job as the tomatoes are quite sticky as they dry. These I will use to thicken sauces, and I may grind them up into powder if I find time. This is a good way to use up a lot of tomatoes.
Unless I can find someone to give them to. Canning season is winding down now, just a few more tomatoes to deal with. I have no apples this year so we can't make sauce unless we can find some somewhere. My oldest son is on the lookout in his area, where there are quite a few orchards.
Speaking of sons, oldest just returned from his annual hiking trip, this time a week in the Sierra Nevada range; Derek was in Texas and Louisiana this past week, and Aaron was in North Carolina. Everyone is safely home now, but Aaron will be on the road again this week, this time to Norfolk, VA for a job on the USS Fort Lauderdale (doing what I have no idea, but something to do with boilers or heat systems for sure). He will get to visit his oldest daughter while there as she's in the Navy and stationed in Norfolk.
A friend took this photo of one of the bad storms rolling into Ravenswood last week. This is about 16 miles from us.
More storms are expected this week. We seriously do not need more rain. Last year at this time we were crying for it! Crazy, crazy weather.
Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
I still don't get how you are going to finish all the preserved fruit and veggies..I know you have family members and friends, but you made A LOT!! Last year I made 3 jars of tomato chutney, and 3 jars of jellies....we just ate 1 jar of chutney, the rest are still in the cupboard and I have no idea how we are going to do with them...probably have to throw them away. And I just made 3 jars of fig jam...again, I still have no idea when we are going to eat them...isn't it better that you eat the fresh seasonal veggies and fruit if you do eat them (I personally don't eat them).
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what you diet is, but guessing it is much different from ours. We eat a lot of our produce fresh, but there is still always more than we can use up in a few days. So we put it up. It gets used, and saves us a lot of money in the bargain. But to each his own.
DeleteGood Monday morning after a short night up thisaway. Coffee being consumed at 5:24.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, AC! I slept like a stone, didnt wake up til 8am today. What a blessing.
DeleteYou are always so busy and get so much accomplished. After a night of listening to a dog bark I probably would be stretched out on the couch napping all day
ReplyDeleteI have never been able to nap except on rare occasions. Sometimes I wish I could!
DeleteDid you ever think about taking extra produce to a senior center? Many are not able to garden anymore and really appreciate fresh produce.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea!
DeleteYou are such a great source of info about canning all these fruits and veggies. I love that you still carry this food preservation along these days. I don't love at all what the climate change is doing!
ReplyDeleteSo many people no longer garden, Barb, and I find it puzzling when they have space to do so, and yet complain about high grocery prices.
DeleteA couple of years ago my chest freezer was icing up badly especially in one corner. I contacted the company about buying the right replacement gasket and they suggested I first try using a blowdryer to warm up the original gasket. I did not think this would make much difference, but nothing to lose, so the next time I completely cleaned out the freezer I also used my hair dryer to warm up the gasket. to my surprise it really did help!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea, Quinn. I will try that!
Delete...what, not jam?
ReplyDeleteWhew, you've been busy! I've made plenty of jam in my life, but never any jelly. I remember picking elderberries with my mom. She made elderberry pie (I also remember helping to pick off the little tiny berries from their stems). I am not a fan of the taste of elderberry, however. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteA #@%$@!! dog barking all night is definitely not a way to get a good night's sleep. You are inspiring me to get mt downstairs freezer deiced. Maybe next week.
ReplyDeleteDefrosting a freezer is such a big job. All that "stuff" to sort out. It scares me a bit but DH puts a smallish heater into the freezer after it's emptied then closes the lid. From time to time he goes to vacuum out the water with the shop vac until it's all done. Whew!!
ReplyDeleteThe 12 jars of grape juice are a treasure!!!
Oh, I go with "Live and Learn"!
ReplyDelete