The Sandbox

[Bowsnbucks]

Can Do Bur !!

 

[sandbur]

I used dolgo rootstock this year, and my fastest growers have been whitney crab, Golden Hornet, and Kinder Crisp (I will call it a crab). These three have done better than my grafts from one year ago on B118. The Sln/Antie are in second leaf and also a bit slow, but starting to grow.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I started the new thread over in the fruit tree section.

 

[sandbur]

Home on the Range,

 

[Satchmo]

Amazing how much personality some deer seem to have, even if it's just a photo. You can almost see the attitude.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Nice to see the young ones !! Sign of improvement and good things to come.

 

[sandbur]

I feel the Haralson is a better deer tree than the Haralred. Here is a Haralson. It might hold fruit a bit later, also.

 

[sandbur]

Not far from the Haralson, I grabbed a rake, fertilizer, and seed. Got in a quick travel lane/foodplot before a down pour.

 

[sandbur]

Mostly rye and oats and then threw out a few handfuls of radish and turnips.

 

[sandbur]

I put in the last rye/oat plots in the woods. Done for the year.

 

[sandbur]

Three crab applesauce is on the stove.

 

[sandbur]

Next step should be too find someone with an apple press!
Can I put the juice in a distilled water gallon jug and freeze it? How full so the jug does not break?

 

[wiscwhip]

Being diabetic, I want to start making my own apple sauce(it's my favorite way to eat apples other than pie) to cut back on the corn syrup they so love to use in store bought products. How much sugar do you typically add to your sauce and are their sweeter tasting apples that would require less refined sugar that could be used? Of course Fuji would be on that list, maybe Honeycrisp as well, but any others I should look into? I would like to try making some sauce with some Pitmaston Pineapple, but I have never seen them for sale, likely because they are not commonly grown.

 

[SD51555]

Being diabetic, I want to start making my own apple sauce(it's my favorite way to eat apples other than pie) to cut back on the corn syrup they so love to use in store bought products. How much sugar do you typically add to your sauce and are their sweeter tasting apples that would require less refined sugar that could be used? Of course Fuji would be on that list, maybe Honeycrisp as well, but any others I should look into? I would like to try making some sauce with some Pitmaston Pineapple, but I have never seen them for sale, likely because they are not commonly grown.

I'm a fan of naturally sweet apple sauce. I've used Connel Red and those were my favorite that I've tried to date. I let my apples sit for a while before I make them into sauce. Then I run them through my meat grinder after only being washed, cored, and quartered. Then the juice and the pulp separates somewhat and a guy could split up the jars a little between sauce and juice.

 

[wiscwhip]

You could use Stevia to sweeten instead of sugar

True and I have thought of that as well, just haven't pulled the trigger on that experiment yet.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Whip - I make my own sauce every year. No sugar. I use a mix of 3 apples usually - Macs, Northern Spy, and Ida Red. If I can't get enough Northern Spy, I substitute Cortland for them. I cook with the skins on and run the cooked mash thru one of those cone-shaped sieves with the wooden " masher " that you rotate by hand. Great tasting sauce and it doesn't need sugar. Or any other sweetener. FWIW. :)

We haven't bought " store " applesauce in years !! I make a BIG batch and freeze it.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Bur - Are those big crabs in the pot Chestnut ?? Do you ever mix crabs and regular apples to make sauce ??

 

[wiscwhip]

I don't care for Mac's at all, but I'm sure I could sub something else in place of those. I might have to try a mixed batch of Fuji, Gala, and something like Honeycrisp, Ambrosia, or Jonagold.

 

[sandbur]

Bur - Are those big crabs in the pot Chestnut ?? Do you ever mix crabs and regular apples to make sauce ??

The big crabs are chestnut and we make most of our apple sauce from that. This is an off year for dolgo, but dolgos make a great red sauce and we only got about 3/4 kettle of dolgo sauce.
We freeze the apple sauce without sugar.
Most often my dessert is apple sauce and Equal mixed in a large glass of milk. Add some nut meg, cinnamon, or vanilla if you wish for variety.

I have red barons that are ripening and falling on the ground, also have Hazen doing the same. I might try a batch of them for apple sauce.... my mother in law likes the hazen for apple sauce.
But when I walk around the yard, I always stop at the chestnut crabs or stop at the handful of them on the back field. No other apple compares to them in my climate at present.

I guess I need to try sauce from some of the bigger apples to see if I like it.

We cook our apples seed and all and run them through a Foley food processor.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Whip - I've never eaten a Fuji, Ambrosia or Jonagold. I see them in the groc. stores around here, but they're usually stored in warehouses for a while. I don't want to make a judgment on THOSE apples. If I could get them fresh from the tree, I'd at least get a good flavor profile. Store Gala apples are horrible here - no taste. My wife and I like the blended, multi-apple sauce. The Ida Reds are great for giving some " body " to the sauce, and have a real good taste.