Jelly Time!

[Ysarex]

Yesterday we picked the crab apples. Today I'm making lots of jelly.

Joe

 

[Derrel]

Aweseome! I made about a gallon of blackberry jam last weekend. I always enjoy jam-making. Those crab apples look nice.

 

[Ysarex]

Aweseome! I made about a gallon of blackberry jam last weekend. I always enjoy jam-making. Those crab apples look nice.

Wonderful. My wife started our first blackberry bush this year. We have a nice raspberry patch but we've never done anything except eat those fresh.

Took me most of the afternoon to process those crab apples and now I just have to wait for the juice. Using grandma's old tried and true method -- an old bank money bag hanging under my tripod in a corner of the dining room.

Joe

 

[weepete]

To me that screams cider, but hey I don't like jam that much!

 

[Derrel]

My grandfather used to have a jam/juice-making tool that was used with a bag like that. Basically, it was two long oak "paddles", about 4 inches tall and maybe 24 inches long, I'd guess, hinged at the end with a canvas hinge...we'd pick massive quantities of grapes or blackberries, then he'd use the "squeezer" to crush the berries or grapes, and the juice would run out of the hanging bag and into the catch kettle...it worked great. We would "spin the bag", and he'd squeeze the lower part of the bag, repeatedly.

Every other summer we'd make home-canned blackberry juice, which is one heck of a drink, and home-canned grape juice, which is, well...grape juice. THis was back when the local wineries were JUST getting started, and their grapes were not deemed good enough for making wine from. We'd go to a couple local vineyards and bring home literally gunnysacks filled with grapes!

Your cloth bang and hanging setup really reminded me of the old days! I had not thought of that memory set for a long, long time!

 

[Ysarex]

My grandfather used to have a jam/juice-making tool that was used with a bag like that. Basically, it was two long oak "paddles", about 4 inches tall and maybe 24 inches long, I'd guess, hinged at the end with a canvas hinge...we'd pick massive quantities of grapes or blackberries, then he'd use the "squeezer" to crush the berries or grapes, and the juice would run out of the hanging bag and into the catch kettle...it worked great. We would "spin the bag", and he'd squeeze the lower part of the bag, repeatedly.

Every other summer we'd make home-canned blackberry juice, which is one heck of a drink, and home-canned grape juice, which is, well...grape juice. THis was back when the local wineries were JUST getting started, and their grapes were not deemed good enough for making wine from. We'd go to a couple local vineyards and bring home literally gunnysacks filled with grapes!

Your cloth bang and hanging setup really reminded me of the old days! I had not thought of that memory set for a long, long time!

Yep, I just finished squeezin' the bag -- got about 2 liters of juice so far and hoping to have about 3 by morning.

I'm glad this brought back those old memories for you. I think I've got a few years on you and activities like canning and baking and jelly making and kraut chopping and pickle brine and weeding the garden are memories of normalcy from my childhood. It seems now it's a luxury I'm afforded in retirement to do these things once again. I'm worried that our culture is quickly losing these activities in the ceaseless onslaught of Food Inc. I think Wendell Berry is absolutely correct; the most subversive activity you can engage in today is to start a garden.

Joe