Edible fruit tree lust

As a resident in a urban suburb with a pretty small yard (about 1/6th of an acre including the space taken up by my house and garage) There's only so much space I can utilize for gardening. I've started to look at getting more dwarf edible trees, as ways to capitalize on landscape and edible space potential.

Some of the types of fruits I've been looking at lately are mulberry trees, grapes, nectarines, hardy kiwis, or paw-paws. Downsides of mulberries, paw-paws and grapes are that they need a lot of space. I've found some dwarf nectarines, and hardy kiwis can be relatively small. Paw-paws are shade lovers, which could be good for my front yard which doesn't get a lot of sun. Trying to consider what I would actually eat and use the most..

Paw-paws would be cool because they're native to North America, and they're unique as far as what's available in a conventional grocery store or even at the Farmers' Market. Hardy Kiwis would be pretty awesome for similar reasons- a way to grow kiwi fruit without having to buy it from across the globe would be great! On the site I was looking at, it said you could start the kiwi tree in a 5-gallon pot and then transfer it to its' permanent home the next year.

Mulberries can get to be really tall and I don't really need anymore tall trees in my yard. I still to want to do grapes, but I need to have the trellising structure before I invest in grape growing.

When you have a small yard and you want to grow your own food, you have to think creatively in order to make the best use of your space! In what ways do you creatively use your space to grow more food?

Homemade Root Cellaring 101

As I posted earlier in the year, one of the projects I really wanted to get to this year was making a homemade root cellar. I looked up ideas, advice, and plans, without a lot of success. It doesn't seem that there are too many people root-cellaring on a small scale- or maybe they're just not posting about it?  Since my basement is heated and I don't have a traditional "cellar", I decided to try out this root cellar idea and share it with you! Inspiration article from Mother Earth News can be found here.

Building Your Own Root Cellar 101

Home Depot buckets

 Supplies list:
 * Drill  *  Shovel  *  5-gallon bucket(s) & lid

Drill and a large bit

You can choose to use buckets you already have at home,  or of course get them from places like Home Depot, Lowes or your local hardware store. If the buckets have been used, rinse them out and dry them before you start your project.

Step 1) Flip the bucket(s) over to drill holes in the bottom. Some of the instructions I saw said to cut off the bottom of the bucket, but since I only have a drill, I just drilled many wholes in the bottom.This helps to veggies inside the bucket to maintain an even temperature, and also for moisture to have a place to leave the bucket.

Bucket with holes drilled in it

Step 2) Drill holes; start with one right in the middle, then work your way out and drill 4 or 5 holes evenly spaced out in the middle, and then 5-6 hole staggered towards the outside of the bucket. (<--- See picture)

Choose bucket location wisely!

Step 3) Choose your Root Cellar location. Choosing somewhere close to your house is a good idea, because the veggies won't be as affected by temperature changes. The space I chose was also under an bumped-out section of our house, so there's shelter from the elements and strong weather too!

Finished install!

Step 4) Dig a hole in your in the special spot you've chosen. Make sure there are no power lines running through the space you're digging! The whole needs to be about 2 feet deep, and a bit wider than your bucket. When you're done digging, you want the top 2-3 inches to but above ground still (see picture). Back-fill the hole so the bucket in snug in the ground- pat down the soil around the bucket.

Carrots are in :)

Step 5) Fill the bucket with root veggies of your choice-carrots, potatoes, or onions should all store well in this type of environment. In the case of carrots, you pull off the green tops, leaving only a little stub of green at the top. If you want, you can brush dirt off of your carrots/potatoes/onions, but do not wash!

She Blinded Me With Science

This past Friday was my first foray into the world of PRESSURE CANNING canning canning canning (those are echos, by the way). Let's start off by saying that pressure canning is pretty epic. Luckily I had a brave lab partner, Ashley, who gracious lent her new ALL AMERICAN pressure cooker/canner to its first trial run.

For those of you have canned before and haven't yet ventured into the uncharted waters of pressure canning, I'm going to walk through some basics. When you do start pressure canning, maybe you will think about this post and not have as many panicked questions as we did- that's my hope for you, at least!

So here's what a standard pressure canner looks like:

Q) What is the difference between a pressure canner and a water bath/boiling water canner?

A) Several main differences:

Pressure canners reach a higher temperature, which low-acid foods (like meat and most veggies) need in order to be safely canned.

A boiling water canner only gets up to 212 degrees, which is the temperature at which water boils. This is only safe for canning most fruits, and some tomato products, which are higher in acid and have a lower risk of developing botulism if canned correctly.

Pressure canners are hella expensive compared to boiling water canners. Just sayin'

Things to know about pressure canning:

• First of all, get the Ball Blue Book of Canning or some other reliable book that includes recipes for pressure canners. 
• Choose the recipe you'd like to make, and make sure the recipe is suitable for a pressure canner (should say so at the bottom). For the purposes of explaining, we'll be talking about canning corn.
• Prepare jars before filling- make sure they have been cleaned and sterilized
• Prepare food for canning- make sure you follow directions as far as amount of headspace required; headspace is amount of space between top of jar and fruit/veggie contents
• Once the jars are full, screw on the lids and rings- tight and secure but doesn't have to be a death grip!

Pressure/Temperature Gauge

Applesauce recipe

This is practically Week of Applesauce! I'm teaching two preserving classes; one was on Thursday (at Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living), and then a class at our local grange with a group called Preserving Traditions on Sunday! I also canned applesauce for my personal stash today- whew! Here's easy instructions for making applesauce, which is one of the easiest things to can!

Homemade Applesauce
Supplies needed:
1 large pot
2 large bowls of apples (about 35-40 apples)
Sugar (optional)
Nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon (optional)
A peeler or combo peeler/corer

Directions:

1) Peel the apples, if you choose too. I usually peel 3/4 of my apples and leave some peel on for color and texture.
2) Core the apples. either with a knife or a combo machine (very useful!)
3) Cut the apples into small pieces- the smaller they are the quicker they cook.
4) Take cut apples and put them in a large stock pot.
5) Turn pot onto 5-6 or medium
6) Add a half cup of water into the pot
7) Spice to taste, adding nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, etc.
8) Add sugar, if you desire. I usually find that 1/2 - 1 cup is enough for me
9) Occasionally stir the apples
10) Once apples reach a more mush-like consistency, mash them up with a potato masher or a spatula or some kind of kitchen tool
11) YOU HAVE APPLESAUCE!

:) Easy, huh?