From Tree to Jar in 1 Hour

I knocked on my neighbor’s door a little less than one hour ago, and they graciously allowed me to pick the plums from their tree.  There weren’t many–only enough to do a couple jars (one of which I will give to them as a thank-you).
I brought them home, tossed them in a cool water bath [...]

Busy Days

I have been posting less lately due to an overwhelming amount of work–preparing for fall classes and preserving the harvest that just keeps coming.  On the way to another potluck last night, I spotted a lovely plum tree bearing a nice amount of sound fruit–right in my neighborhood!
We talk about this area of the country [...]

Crab Apple Jelly and a Potluck Party!

I’ve never made jelly before.  Generally I prefer preserves, conserves, butters, and the like.  But I just could not resist with these gorgeous crabapples.  And then there was my mom, hinting “I like crabapple jelly!”
Here it is, all thirteen jars with the Putting Food By recipe.
Note the recipe in PFB results in approximately 5 half-pints [...]

Crap! Crab Apple Disappointment

My lovely crab apples, the ones I so lovingly picked out to can whole in a spicy-sweet pickle, burst their skins.
I followed the recipe just so–washing them and individually pricking each with a needle.  But PFB calls for pricking them with a darning needle, and shucks (hey, I could’ve said darn), I don’t have one.  [...]

Crab Apples

My friend Gail brought me this bucket of the loveliest, perfume-iest crab apples I’ve ever seen. And then she gave me some more.

I’ve been looking through my Putting Food By and Ball Blue Book for ideas–they seem stuck on the jelly and spiced pickled recipes, and though I’ll probably sort through and pickle the [...]

CSA Newsletter: Volume 4, Issue 16

Flying Tomato Farms News
A newsletter for members of Flying Tomato Farms C.S.A.

Vol. 4, Issue 16

GARDEN NEWS:
This may be the last week for the cucumbers—or at least the last big week for them in deliveries. A few days ago we had a pair of chilly, forty-degree nights, and that, along with the inevitable invasion [...]

Women as Terrorists?

Hold onto your tinfoil hats, folks.  There’s a new bumper sticker out about town: ABORTION: THE ULTIMATE TERRORISM.
First we have women as victims, now it’s women as terrorists?  Or is it just the doctors?  Because if women ask for it, then they’re conspiring to commit a terrorist act, aren’t they?
I wanted to ask the guy [...]

Bounty of Late Summer

I should’ve gotten some of the bigger black tomatoes in the basket, too. But I’m pretty happy with this selection of heirloom and open-pollinated varieties (plus one hybrid–the Sungold Cherry).
And in case you’re not drooling yet, here’s a close-up:
Just got out of an all-morning English Dept. meeting. It’s really starting again! Good [...]

Spider Architecture

A bit of Monday morning beauty.

So, You Want to Stop Abortion?

Then the last thing you ought to be doing is making it illegal.
This may seem counter-intuitive on the surface, but the fact is, making something illegal that is fairly common drives it underground, where it becomes much more dangerous, and much harder to get at in terms of control or information or help.
Making abortion illegal [...]