Fall Harvesting, Apples, Grapes, Cannellinis,

Our third annual ciderfest is fast approaching. The date is set for October 18th.

Let the annual apple scrounge begin! This is the time of year that we jump on facebook or reach out to neighbors with apple trees and collect apples all over the neighborhood. This load came all from one tree:

And filled up both freezers.

We like to freeze the apples as much as possible, because this breaks the cell walls and releases the juices more efficiently than crushing them alone.

We pulled all the cannellini beans a long time ago, but they have been drying in the shop for over a month. They did not grow well this year at all.

This was all we got. Not enough for more than one pot of soup, but it will do admirably for seed next year. They will be going in the row that was brassicas this year, which should be well mulched by then.

Saved for seed.

This was our entire haul of grapes this year. Also, not very impressive, but this was just one vine, and only three years old at that. We shall prune it hard in the winter and see what it does next year.

Daddy trying out his new toy that a patient gave him. A wood splitting froe, antique, but in excellent condition, but for the handle.

I tried to split a cedar log with it, but it was a lot harder than it looked on youtube. I figured out that it was due to a somewhat twisted grain in this log.