When Life Hands You Apples, Make Applesauce

We've had a bumper crop of apples this year--our trees and Dad's are just loaded. So, we decided to make applesauce. M picked apples from our trees (unknown variety--red) and from Dad's (Granny Smith). He and T washed them.

M trimmed and cut the apples.

He put them on to cook until soft.

Then, M ran them through the food mill. He did three batches of cooked apples through the mill. After that, we put the sauce in a large pot, added a little sugar, cooked it for 5 minutes, and put it in the jars. We got 7 quart jars plus 3 (1.5 pint) freezer dishes of sauce.

(The jar lids are not actually pink, it is a reflection from the camera light).

Yard and Garden Pics

Thought I'd take a short walk around the yard and garden and see what's happening.


The hummingbirds were busy feeding on the front porch. There were probably about a dozen of them buzzing around--hard to get a picture of them that showed up. Sometimes, one would chase another and I could hear them actually body slam each other.

The Calla Lily bed has recovered nicely from the willow tree landing on it.

The apples aren't ripe yet, but the trees are loaded. Wish I knew what kind they are.

The okra is growing nicely. M has been picking it, slicing and breading it with cornmeal and flour, and freezing it for fried okra.

A lot of the squash plants have been destroyed by bugs, but we still have some healthy plants making squash.

How our yard and garden does grow!

Our garden is growing fairly well. We have gotten a good bit of squash from it--haven't preserved any yet, just cooking it for meals. The corn is nearly ready--just a few more days.

The gladiolas are nearly done blooming, but I found this one still in bloom.

The apple trees in our orchard are full--too bad we don't know what kind they are.

The peaches in the orchard are still green.

But the peaches on the tree in the front yard are ready, nearly. Ripe enough for the beetles.