Apple Butter

Lately it seems like this blog has become more focused on canning than on the garden - I assure you that the garden is doing very well. I guess they sort of go hand-in-hand, anyways, right? I just finished canning a batch of apple butter - giving fall a friendly little nudge. The house still smells homey and cozy: sweet apples, spicy cinnamon and cloves...

...WAIT - jar #7 just clicked. That's 7 down and 5 more to go. I've been keeping track of the click each jar makes as it seals. There goes #8!


The extra-fun part is that my husband and I went to a local fruit farm yesterday to hand-pick the apples. Iron's Fruit Farm in Lebanon, OH is a blast from the past, as both of us at some point went there on a field trip in elementary school. It's pretty much as I remember it: roving roosters and hens, a friendly farm cat, a plump potbelly pig, a floppy-eared bunny, a pair of iridescent peacocks, and of course, a rambly and gorgeous orchard. We picked Johnathan and Golden Delicious apples for the apple butter. It's going to taste that much better knowing that it was made with local apples.


As I speak we're in the midst of the most powerful wind storm I've ever seen. The aftermath of Hurricane Ike is wreaking havoc on the garden. I can seem some cherry tomatoes and peppers rolling around on the balcony already, I hope my eggplants don't go flying through the air next...

...there goes jar #9!