Windfall

My neighbors down the way let me pick up their windfall apples for my turkeys. There were probably between 75 and 100 lbs of apples. I am hoping the apples will help finish the turkeys this year. Last year our first turkey was a little on the dry side. We slaughtered the first about mid September as a test bird. Given that turkey had virtually no fat, we started adding cracked corn to their grain ration. It had the desired effect, the subsequent turkey's were much more moist. This year I am hoping we can fatten the turkeys on apple, at least in part. Apples are a crop we have on our land and our neighbors. And I hope apples add something special to these turkeys.

Last year was our first with turkeys. We did ten, mostly for ourselves. This year we have twenty, enough to sell some. They are looking pretty good, we'll probably be able to slaughter a few by October. The plan is to have one or two on the table for our harvest party in October.

A woodstove warms you three times

One of my son's great loves is apples. He is 2-1/2 and says "aaple?" sweetly and innocently. As if he can't remember what an awful mess we find in his diaper after a day of too much aaple.

But dried apples seem to help the problem. At least they slow him down enough that he doesn't end up eating a whole apple. Or two.

And the apples from our tree are getting soft. Drying apples is yet another thing our glenwood does well. There's something really pretty about a string of apples drying over the stove.

My wife cooked us a pork dinner on the stove the other night. It's tricky getting the stove top hot enough to boil the potatoes without overheating the oven and burning the roast, but she did a great job. It was a Loin End Roast and it is one of the best roasts we have done. It was tender and flavorful with a little crispiness on the outside that we like so much.

We were also happy about how close to home the food was. The potatoes were from our garden, same with the leeks and carrots. Milk for the potatoes from our goats. Pork from a local farm where we buy whole pigs. I think the only thing that came from away was the mushrooms.

A man said a fire warms you twice, once when you cut the wood and once when you burn it. I think I would add to that a cook stove warms you three times, for the hot meal that comes off it. and if you really want to get into it, again for the leftovers a day later.

Apple Picking

This is the Apple tree that came with the house I bought...

The farmhouse we live and work in was built in 1893 and the family that built the house produced cider from their orchard. This is the last tree I have left on my land from them. It's a very old tree and it doesn't produce every year. But this is a good year.


We picket about 40 pounds today. They aren't super pretty. They've got some lumps. But they taste pretty good. And they are ours.

A gratuitous picture of the boy being cute

And with the wife...

I was hoping someone out there could help me identify the variety of this tree. Any guesses?

Are there other aspects of the tree that would help identify it?

After picking apples this afternoon and blueberries on Saturday, my wife suggested pie for dinner. Sometimes you just have to say what the heck....