Red Cedar

A few weeks ago I posted at the Vancouver Fruit Tree Project about my fall apple-canning plans… but it wasn’t until these last couple weeks that we actually got ourselves going with 80 pounds of apples turned into applesauce and other things.

In particular, B discovered (and made two dozen jars of) a new recipe that is just heavenly – Apple-Maple Jam. Depending on your sugar tolerance, it’s perhaps a little sweet for toast, but with brie and crackers it’s to die for, and mixed into plain yogurt it makes a brilliant breakfast. Really, very simple – this will be part of our xmas gift-giving this year!

Apple-Ginger Chutney | If you eat curries as often as we do, this is another apple-essential in the larder. Get rid of those non-local mango toppings and try this chutney instead. No exaggeration, this is the recipe that got me hooked on canning, since I’ve never been able to purchase it anywhere. It’s not goopy like a lot of the bottled chutnies are, making it much more than a simple condiment. It adds substance to a meal!

Recipe by Bernardin:
Makes about 7 x 250 ml jars.

3 cups (750 ml) prepared Granny Smith apples, about 5 large or 1 lb (500 g)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cups (500 ml) chopped onion
2 cups (500 ml) dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1- 1/2 cups (375 ml) cider vinegar
1 cup (250 ml) golden raisins
1/4 cup (50 ml) peeled and minced ginger root
3/4 tsp (4 ml) ground mustard
3/4 tsp (4 ml) salt
1/2 tsp (2 ml) red pepper flakes

• Place 7 clean 250 ml mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat to a simmer (180°F/82°C). Set screw bands aside. Heat SNAP LID® sealing discs in hot water, not boiling (180°F/82°C). Keep jars and sealing discs hot until ready to use.
• Peel, core and coarsely chop apples. Measure 3 cups (750 ml).
• Combine prepared apples and remaining ingredients in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 40 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Ladle chutney into a hot jar to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of top of jar (headspace). Using nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if required, by adding more chutney. Wipe jar rim removing any food residue. Centre hot sealing disc on clean jar rim. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight. Return filled jar to rack in canner. Repeat for remaining chutney.
• When canner is filled, ensure that all jars are covered by at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water. Cover canner and bring water to full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process –boil filled jars – 10 minutes.*
• When processing time is complete, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours; DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.
• After cooling check jar seals. Sealed discs curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality, use home canned foods within one year.

Apple-Maple Jam | A simple recipe and one worth trying. This would make lovely gifts for the holiday season – and apples are cheap right now!

Recipe from Ball’s Blue Book of Canning
Yields 8 250 ml jars

3 qt Finely chopped apples (about -6 pounds)
6 c Sugar
1 c Maple syrup
1 ts Cinnamon
1/2 ts Allspice
1/2 ts Nutmeg
1/4 ts Cloves

• Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pot. Bring slowly to a boil.
• Cook rapidly to jellying point. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. This takes 1-2 hours
• Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust caps.
• Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

So much happening since I last posted here, but almost none of it in the garden now that the October rains have started falling. Just before that happened, I managed to get my permanent raspberry “telegraph” posts in, and scored a major haul of plants out of the yard of a friend whose rental house has been sold and is being flattened. I don’t have pictures of it all yet, but we came away with:

• several large bamboo plants (which I’m using as a natural fence against where my angry neighbour lives)
• two hostas
• two blueberry plants (which I have to find room for)
• some raspberry cane
• some irises
• several rosemary plants
• a mahonia
• a heavenly bamboo (nandina)
• chives & parsely

Not to mention a bunch of bricks that we’ve used to complete the edging in our boulevard garden. The generosity of our friend Dave (who owns Elemental Gardens) was just outstanding to us, and I’m excited to see the results come spring as our new plants take hold and flourish. For now we’ve planted the bamboo in containers, but come spring we plant to get an old bathtub and sink it along the fence line in order to contain the plants from running into our (angry) neighbour’s yard.

In other news, on Tuesday night we made our final presentation on the Boulevards Alive! project to the community board who gave us the grant. I’m going to post the photos shortly from that project even though many of the gardens are still in progress because we are technically “completed” now that the money is spent. The board members were really congratulatory on our project and in particular, B made a very eloquent speech about how it was unifying to our community, which they appreciated quite a lot. We’re thinking that perhaps we might put in for another grant next year and I am thinking of perhaps approaching the parks board about putting in a community orchard in Clinton Park. This is a take-off on the community gardens idea, and would be a fruit/nut orchard of about 10 trees (or more) to be tended by the community closest by. We’ll see if there is any uptake on such an idea in our neighbourhood in the upcoming months. Once I’m done with the union work I’m engaged in this fall I’m going to be turning my focus back to the community for some hands-in-the-dirt healing.