Apple Pie from Scratch

The weather here in Tennessee has been a bit dicey to say the least. One day it is sunny and mild, next day windy, then today was cold and rainy. We have had the most rain in April in a long time.and this weekend they predict record breaking cold weather.

All that being said, nature just keeps on going.  I have been checking the fruit trees almost everyday.  Today I finally got the first look at little teeny tiny apples.

Not even the size of my thumb

While I know that it takes several years for apple trees to produce edible size apples, I am so excited just to see these little guys.  It means that the apple tree is growing and doing what it is suppose to.  It is still on the path to be fruit bearing no matter how many years.

Only 2 nails big

The peach tree also has several little peaches.  This is the biggest one.and it is only the size of thumb to the knuckle.  It is still fuzzy and hopefully getting bigger.  We will just have to keep an eye on it.

Barbie's Hair Gel

Wild Violets

With the Global Pandemic upon us, many people are trying new things since shopping, eating out and many forms of entertainment are not an option anymore.  One way that I am coping is to work outside more. I began using my reel type mower to cut my lawn.  Because of this, I was able to notice more of what was going on. I never knew I had so many violets before.

Bunches of violets

I am trying to use more of the resources I have so I wanted to see what I could do with them. One of my favorite gardening podcasts/radio shows, You Bet Your Garden, mentioned violets on one of it's episodes. The host Mark McGrath said that violets can be used to help with circulatory issues like spider veins and to help reduce blood pressure. 

After researching on the Internet and asking some friends on Facebook, I discovered several interesting ideas. One article I came across was this one for uses for violets. It contains a link to a recipe for Violet Jelly that you can download.  It sounded so interesting so I decided to give it a try.  Some people said that they wanted to see what it was like so here is what happened.

Violet Jelly

First I collected all the violets I could.  If you aren't going to use them right away, you might might to put them in the refrigerator to keep them from drying out too much.

several cups of violets

I then added the boiling water to let them steep for about 10 minutes and watched the water turn a dark purple.

Violet "tea"

Following the directions in the recipe, I added some lemon juice and stirred while the liquid turned a bright pink. 

lemon juice

Next, the violets were strained through some cheesecloth.  Several cups of sugar were added to the resulting mixture and put on the oven to boil. 

Straining through cheesecloth

After boiling, the recipe called for adding the pectin of your choice and boil another minute. 

Follow directions carefully

To make sure the jelly is clean and safe, I sterilized several pint jars.   Add the jelly mixture and process in a water bath to seal for preservation.

Nice and clean and ready to go

You can see why my friend said it looks like Barbie's hair gel.  The recipe made a little over 5 pints jars of the jelly. 

Barbie's gel

It  really doesn't take like much of anything. Just basically plain sweetness.  That being said, they say you need to do something at least 5 times to get it correct. The jelly is so pink and pretty. It would be the perfect addition to an Easter basket or some type of decoration. Maybe a girly tea party would work as well.  Would I imake it again? Yes, definitely but just for fun, not as  a pantry staple.

Bit by BIt I am restarting my garden

Well today I dug around in a little patch of my garden and decided to plant some potatoes that had already sprouted in the kitchen.

Beginning

Here is what the "site" looked like when I started.  As you can see I had worked in the raised bed area earlier and will blog about that soon.

It was just simple digging however, while I was digging I found many friends to help me. 

My Friend

I used to think that my spirit animal was a dolphin. However, I absolutely love it when I see these sweet little things pop up. It means that the soil is improving.  Yeah!

I also found this cute little thing when I was cleaning out the area.  I transplanted it to another part of the garden and hope it takes.  It is amazing that it just came up from something I planted in the fall..

Buttercrunch is my favorite