I am sitting in the kitchen listening to one of my favourite Italian songs- Via Con Me by Paolo Conte. This song makes me feel like I am ankle deep in a european daydream. It seems like the perfect soundtrack to my day. A day of cooking and canning all of the glorious apples that my mother, my daughter and I gleaned from a neighboring farm.
Flashback a week: I was sitting and explaining the art of gleaning to a new friend that my husband and I were visiting. We were dining by lamp light in one of the "off the grid" cabins at the Tuonela Wilderness Resort discussing an old abandon blueberry farm and all of its goodies. I remembered a great french movie on gleaning that I stumbled upon a few years ago. It was then that I decided to start a gleaning revolution right here in Cape Breton.
Alright, maybe not a revolution, but perhaps a keen awareness and possibly a system to get everyone started.
When we arrived back from our mini vaycay there was a message on our answering machine. Our friends at Feywood Grove had heaps of apples that had been blown to the ground, courtesy of Hurricane Bill. Now that is what I call auspicious!!
So now here I am. Sitting in my not so european kitchen, inhaling the sweet smell of early autumn apples, waiting for the apple butter to be ready.
I just finished canning my very first batch of natural apple pectin. I am pretty excited to see how it turns out. The advantages of having your own pectin vs. using store bought is you don't need to worry about the boiling time- and if you need more you can just add more. Not to meantion a large discount in price. Nice.
It is neat to think that from the kindness of a friend came an afternoon of harvesting with 3 generations of my family, 2 big bags of apples that would have otherwise been taken back by the earth, and a cupboard full of apple butter and pectin.
The Gleaners and I is the French documentary that planted the seed in my mind. And from there it has grown, and will hopefully keep growing unit Cape Breton has it's own gleaning community.
My first step toward getting more fruit? I have put in a request with my Cape Breton Freecyclers for their extra fruit. (I am yet to hear anything)
Next I may design a little website and contact the farmers market- we'll see.
I found a great recipe for pectin at a website called Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. here is the link just in case anyone is interested:
http://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/03/09/homemade-pectin/
Flashback a week: I was sitting and explaining the art of gleaning to a new friend that my husband and I were visiting. We were dining by lamp light in one of the "off the grid" cabins at the Tuonela Wilderness Resort discussing an old abandon blueberry farm and all of its goodies. I remembered a great french movie on gleaning that I stumbled upon a few years ago. It was then that I decided to start a gleaning revolution right here in Cape Breton.
Alright, maybe not a revolution, but perhaps a keen awareness and possibly a system to get everyone started.
When we arrived back from our mini vaycay there was a message on our answering machine. Our friends at Feywood Grove had heaps of apples that had been blown to the ground, courtesy of Hurricane Bill. Now that is what I call auspicious!!
So now here I am. Sitting in my not so european kitchen, inhaling the sweet smell of early autumn apples, waiting for the apple butter to be ready.
I just finished canning my very first batch of natural apple pectin. I am pretty excited to see how it turns out. The advantages of having your own pectin vs. using store bought is you don't need to worry about the boiling time- and if you need more you can just add more. Not to meantion a large discount in price. Nice.
It is neat to think that from the kindness of a friend came an afternoon of harvesting with 3 generations of my family, 2 big bags of apples that would have otherwise been taken back by the earth, and a cupboard full of apple butter and pectin.
The Gleaners and I is the French documentary that planted the seed in my mind. And from there it has grown, and will hopefully keep growing unit Cape Breton has it's own gleaning community.
My first step toward getting more fruit? I have put in a request with my Cape Breton Freecyclers for their extra fruit. (I am yet to hear anything)
Next I may design a little website and contact the farmers market- we'll see.
I found a great recipe for pectin at a website called Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. here is the link just in case anyone is interested:
http://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/03/09/homemade-pectin/
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