Now when he said he had celery from his garden, I was thinking maybe a few stalks. I was wrong.
He said that next year he will thin it out some and with more room to grow, the stalks would probably be larger. There were some pretty big stalks even without the thinning.
I have it all cleaned and cut up. Tomorrow morning I will blanch it and fill my dehydrator trays. I plan to dry the leaves separately. They are really good when crumbled and used like dry parsley.
This past Saturday David and Staci took the kids to an apple orchard near their home. Apple orchards around here are more than just orchards. There was horseback riding for the girls and a farm animal petting zoo for the younger set, along with other kid-related activities.
And then they went apple pickin'. David brought me a big bag of apples. I can't remember what variety they are, but he said they are a good all purpose apple.
I was going to make applesauce, but these are such nice, firm apples that I think I will can apple slices instead. The next time the kids are here, we will open a jar or two so they can see how good they taste. They have already learned how to can tomatoes and salsa and pasta sauce and chili sauce and pickles by helping their Dad. Maybe next year they would like to learn to can apples with their Grandma.
What a fantastic celery crop. Your family should be sooo proud.
ReplyDeleteApple orchards are the same way here. They have hay rides, horseback riding, hiking, fishing, and always a big store that sells all kind of fruit and fruit products. My wife and I usually go to one in the next county this time of year and shop.
ReplyDeleteAnon...I was really surprised. I had no idea that celery would even grow here. They did a good job with it.
ReplyDeleteHarry...I suppose the orchards are pretty much the same all over. The kids sure have a good time. There are some really good apples grown here. The ones they brought me are beautiful and will can up nicely without getting mushy.
ReplyDeleteYou should dry some of the apples to use in cooking. Apples and oatmeal in the morning sounds good. You are a busy lady.
ReplyDeleteRob...I dried apples last fall and still have quite a few on the shelves. But I am completely out of canned apple slices and applesauce, so I will can these and hopefully get my hands on some more for the applesauce. I like the dried apples for baking. They work well for that and for oatmeal.
ReplyDeleteThose really are nice looking apples. I just moved into a new property to me this past spring and I have planted a small orchard, but it will be several years before I start getting fruit. However, my closest neighbor has several apple and pear trees and doesn't do anything with them so he offered to me as much as I wanted. I was able to can up many quarts of pears and my wife has put up many bushels of apple pie filling as well as much fruit to eat fresh.
ReplyDeleteThankful for any free fruit I can get.
Jim...Wow! How generous of your neighbor. Free is the very best price, isn't it. The summer a year ago my oldest son found a good sale on both peaches and pears at a small store near where he lived. I canned several cases of each then and still have a lot left. When I was growing up, we had a small orchard. There were only two or three trees that had good apples plus a crab apple tree that had lots of apples. My mother and I canned applesauce and pickled crab apples and apple jelly, and made and froze countless apple pies. I can't imagine having fruit trees like your neighbor and not making use of the fruit.
ReplyDeleteI should comment that my neighbor is also new to his property and as he is fairly well off financially, doesn't feel the need to use what he has. That's okay with me as I appreciate the free fruit. I will take several bottles of pears and apple filling to him though to express my appreciation.
ReplyDeleteJim...I guess that is a common occurence, where those who are well off would rather just go buy what they want rather than use what they have. That works out well for you and your wife, though :) That is a nice gesture to give him some of the canned fruit from his trees. Many just take but don't think about giving back. That speaks highly of you.
ReplyDeleteVicki - If you place the root end of a celery plant in a bowl of water it will grow into a plant on your kitchen windowsill. Fresh celery whenever you wnat / need it :)
ReplyDeleteDani...Seems I learn something new every day. :) I'll give it a try. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteVicki, you can also put Romaine lettuce ends in a dish with water and it will grow, too! I do plant them in a small pot once the roots develop. Just enough for one sandwich or side salad at a time! Your celery looks lovely, how nice to have it. I think it gets too hot here in NW Texas to plant celery outside and not have it die in the summer.
ReplyDeleteHappy dehydrating! Blessings!
CottonLady...I'll have to try rooting celery and lettuce. That's about the closest thing to a garden I can have here.
ReplyDeleteI thought celery needed a warmer climate, but my son said he just planted the seeds in the ground and watched them grow! I got 10 dehydrator trays full of chopped celery and when they are dry I'll dehydrated the leaves. I love the dried celery, especially for soups.