The Fruits of My Labors

When I went to a gardening class a few years ago the instructor asked how much of the growing process the gardener is responsible for. I was surprised at the answer:

5%

Sounds crazy doesn't it? The Master Gardener does the other 95%! I like that.

But once the fruit is ripe, yeah, that ends up back on the 5%'er! That would be me...

aka *The Little Red Hen*!

So this little red hen spent all day Monday harvesting the grapes. Oh my goodness! The vines were loaded! I picked: 9- 3 gallon BYU buckets, 3- medium sized lettuce boxes (which equals 2 BYU buckets) and a large potato box (probably 4 buckets worth!).

Note to self- Next time remove the kitchen shears and pruning shears from your back pockets before taking a potty break!! (bwahahahaha)



Now that LRH had all of those grapes you know what she had to do? Yup, do SOMETHING with them. Previously I've made-

• Juice the WRONG way (it looked like green pea soup! ick)
• Juice the HARD way (too time consuming)
• Raisins (the UTAH way- with a dehydrator and LOTS of stemming- click on the grapes/raisins tag to read about that escapade)

But someone finally told me about the steam juice extractor... Now THAT is the RIGHT way! Behold 47 quarts of pink grape juice! Yes, PINK juice from green grapes!



I think the pink color has something to do with oxidation... sure is pretty!

** Today's photos were edited on my iPhone with Snapseed- it's like PhotoShop for your iPhone! Love it!

Gratitude

326- DYI Grapevine Wreaths

Over the years I've thought several times about how fun it would be to make my own grapevine wreaths, but just never got around to it. So Thursday, as I was hauling vines to the truck, I pulled out some *promising* ones just for that purpose.

Saturday after cleaning the last few beds, trimming raspberries, winterizing the yard and garden hoses I dragged the saved vines over to the deck to have a try at making wreaths. I thought I would need a bucket (note the orange Home Depot bucket on the ground) to use as a form but I found that I had better luck just muscling the vines into circular wreaths. The base vine got wired with my some of my 20-year old roll of wire that never runs out (we used some of it decorating for Camille's wedding) but the subsequent vines just got twined and twisted around the base. It was a very fun experience!



But you know why I like this photo? It shows so much of who I am and where I live. Here I am in my zany-Ron-Weasley-hat (Shirley made it for me and I LOVE IT!) just being my little square-self. I can see the grapevines neatly trimmed and secured to the fence, my tomato patch *put to bed for the winter*, my currant bushes along the garden shed, there's a peek at the path that Stuart and I laid in August and running along the fence behind me some of the newly trimmed raspberries.

I used raffia on one of my wreaths but didn't like it so much.  It started to rain a little after Gordon took this photo for me so I move all the wreaths onto the kitchen table where they are still waiting for me tonight.  That's the nice thing about wreaths... they just wait patiently for me to come back and decide how I will embellish them.  Happy wreaths!

322- A Stolen Day

That's what I had today... a day stolen from cold, wind, rain or snow! It was one of those unseasonably warm November days.  Don't get me wrong... it was still only in the high 50s today but when I am working that is just about right for me. Interestingly enough I had just such a day last year and probably wouldn't have remembered about it except I blogged about it. We get these wonderful days just ahead of cold storms... but I'm not complaining!

I did a funny wardrobe change about 4 times! No kidding! I started with long pants and a sweatshirt, then I changed to a long sleeved shirt, still too warm! I put on my cut-offs and gardening T-shirt, ah! much better... but then I had to make one more change to a collared shirt to keep from getting my back and neck burned... funny girl.

THIS DAY was the day to prune my grapes. I know that they usually should to be trimmed in the spring but the year I did that the vines bled! Not real blood, of course, but whatever grape blood is! Wait, I have it! Grape juice! Seriously, it bothered me. Today the vines were already dormant from our cold and the trimming was juice-free!



I love this kind of work:  seeing what needs to be removed, securing the vines on their new course,  feeling the sun on my back... a day sent from Heaven.  Gordon helped rake up all the leaves and vines and load them into the back of Kevin-son's truck.  We hauled all of the vines, leaves and grass clippings to the green-waste recycle place.  Boy were they hopping!  There must have been a dozen other people doing just what we were... getting ready for snow and winter.

257- Raisin Making 101

Each year I've tried to figure out what to do with the plethora of grapes my vines produce.  I've tried-

• Raisins the hard way (blanch them first) then use a dehydrator (borrowed).  They were tart and not so tasty.
• Grape juice (it looks like green pea soup... I'm not joking!  Come look in my fruit dungeon!)
• Sun-dried raisins (yeah that lasted 24 hours and they got rained on!)
• Raisins done in the dehydrator, sweet product, yummy results!  Eureka!

Last year I bought a second dehydrator after my sun-dried raisin experiment failed so I could deal with the mountain of grapes I dragged in of my deck. (Click on the grapes label if you want to read all the drama!)

I love raisins!  I love them in cinnamon rolls, but mostly I love them in my morning oatmeal!  Sad... I ran out of home-made raisins about 6 months ago.

So this year I was all ready to really go to town and put in my year's supply of raisins!  I started by picking a googlin of grapes (to be more specific 9 buckets full, of which I've given 2 buckets full away, bucket and all.)

I do my very scientific wash consisting of: filling my big kitchen sink full of water, dump in one bucket of grapes, agitate gently, carefully remove to extra large colander while sorting out leaves and stowaway insects.

Of course then all those happy little *bobbers* have to be removed from the stems. Yes, it is mindless work, but that's ok... I can be mindless especially if Gordon helps or I have something to listen to on my MP3 player. Then you put them on the dehydrator racks.



But here is what I wish I'd known before I bought my second dehydrator... dehydrators are not all created equal! This is the Nesco FD60 and the air circulates down the sides and it is 500 watts.  I have even drying and a batch takes a little less than 24 hours.



This one is the Nesco FD35 and it blows the air down the middle. It tends to dry unevenly getting the ones in the middle crispy and the ones on the outside still not totally raisin-ified.



After about 24 hours this is what you will have... yummy raisins! I spread them on my large cookie sheet to cool and let them air dry for an unspecified amount of time.



Then I package them in 1-gallon Ziploc bags for storage. I stored them in the freezer last year until I needed to refill my raisin canister just to make sure that all my hard work stayed good.  I think I'm about half way through my plan... bet you know what I'll be doing every day this week!

249- Raisins- Part Trois

I know you can hardly wait for each new day and the progress I am making with my raisins! Perhaps you would be as excited as I am if you ate them every single morning in your oatmeal! (Yes, that's me. I love my porridge every morning... with raisins, brown sugar and cooked in soy milk... sometimes apples thrown in for good measure!)

Several years ago I attempted raisins, but I was not too happy with the results. I think that I harvest the grapes too soon and the resultant raisins were rather tart! Yeah, what's up with that? I also read at the time that you should blanch the grapes to speed up the dehydrating time. What a hassle.

So here is the first batch of raisins... not blanched and not harvested too early... yummy.



It takes about 18-24 hours to dry a batch (apparently the blanching DID NOT speed the drying time). Batch number 2 is almost finished (I have two dehydrators and one is significantly faster than the other). I estimate I will have about 5 more batches. I'll come back and let you know the final count.

Since not all grapes are created equal some are drier than others. I've found that if I put them all into a container the moisture content evens out. The other thing I do is store the bulk of them in the freezer, filling up my canister as needed. Where that might not be technically necessary, I don't want to lose my raisins to mildew or any other ick after all the work that goes into making them.

248- Raisins- Part deux

OK... well, there was one of the shortest lived experiments in my life! I woke up this morning at dawn to find that it was sprinkling! Maybe that is why the idea of Utah Raisins has never caught on!! I guess you just have to have that wonderful Central Valley climate to make good sun-dried raisins.

So I brought the whole mess inside, tarp and all. I am now in the process of picking them all off the stems and putting them into the dehydrator! What a bunch of mindless work. I have Emma on my MP3 player to keep me company, so I am giving Harry a break this time... he is in the car.

247- Utah Raisins

You've all heard of the famous California Raisins? Yup, well, these are Utah raisins in the making.



I went out tonight and picked 2.5-five gallon buckets AND there are STILL grapes left! What an amazing crop this year. I've tried raisins before... you know the un-natural kind done in the food dehydrator. So this year, with my new wonderful deck, I'm going to try letting the sun do its work just like they do in CA!

Rebekah's family goes every year to the church's raisin farm and harvests the grapes. All they do is lay them on clean newsprint paper and leave them in the rows. I put all of mine on a blue tarp... I'll keep you posted on the results.

244- Grapes

Early this spring I posted a photo of my bare grape vines. I likened them unto the Savior, who is the true vine, from whom we receive strength and nourishment.

This year I have been blessed with a bumper crop of grapes. So far there I've picked a strawberry flat full for the grandkids and neighbors have filled 7-8 five-gallon buckets!... and there are still gobs of grapes left.

I went out this morning and got the light coming in through the grape arbor... what a beautiful sight. As I've worked on this photo (and the new Sept frame) and done housework I've reflected on how easy it is to share the "fruit of my vines" but am I as quick to share the "Fruit of the True Vine"? I hope that I am.

102- The True Vine

And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? Yea, at that day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment from the true vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God? 1 Nephi 15: 15

095- Conference Sunday Tradition

(How fitting that this post is # 250!)

For the last 27+ years, since I perfected my cinnamon roll recipe, it has become the emblem of special times: Christmas Eve morning, Conference Sunday, Seminary treat day... it is my offering of yummy, cinnamony-goodness on these special days.


My Camille-y's sweet hands

I love the fact that now Camille has taken over the tradition. She has become a master baker. Three years ago when I was out of town for Conference Sunday she came down to my house and made them for Dad, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Annie.



I love the fact that we get a rich feeding this day... not only our special cinnamon roll but a rich Spiritual Feast at the feet of our Prophet and Apostles.