Sweet homemade apple cider

When the weather begins to cool down and the foliage on the trees begin to change color, it is time to make homemade apple cider or purchase it at your local orchard. The term apple cider means "unfiltered, unsweetened, non-alcoholic beverage made from fresh ripe apples and nothing added."

The type of apples you use will determine the color and flavor, and produce a tangier/less tangy taste to the cider. The opaque color of the cider will be determined by the particles of apple solid found in suspension after crushing the apples. Filtered apple cider will be less tangy in taste due to less apple pulp in the juice. Untreated apple cider is usually produced locally and available at the orchard only--as it will have a limited shelf life and does not keep well even under refrigeration.

Apple cider has been around for centuries and is still an important industry in agriculture but the methods of production and preservation have changed a great deal over the years. You have everything you need to make apple cider in your kitchen today. A sharp knife to cut up apples in quarters and remove the core to make the process easier--and it produces less waste. Keep the skin on the apple. Use a food processor or blender to crush up the apples, and use some cheesecloth to filter the liquid and the fine pulp into a container to store the cider you have made. The finer you chop the apples, the more juice you will produce. Chill and enjoy.

What apples make the best cider and how do these apples affect the taste of the finished product? 'Red Delicious,' 'Fuji,' 'Golden Delicious,' 'Baldwin,' 'Cortland,' 'Macoun,' and 'Rome' will make a sweet-tasting cider. 'Granny Smith,' 'Macintosh,' 'Jonathan,' 'Gravenstein,' 'Winesap,' 'Imperial,' and 'Rhode Island Greening' will make a cider with a more tart taste. The best tasting cider will be produced if you're able to mix different varieties of apples in the blend. If possible, use red, green, and yellow apples for the best taste. Avoid bruised or damaged apples. You will need about 3 dozen apples to make a gallon of apple cider.

Before you cut apples for crushing, be sure to wash them properly to remove any soil or pesticide residue. If you're using organic apples, be sure to wash well to remove soil that will otherwise end up in the cider after crushing. Spread the cheese cloth in a large container and add pulp. Squeeze as hard as you can to force the juice out of the pulp to make your cider. Fresh squeezed cider will only last 7 days in your refrigerator, as there are no preservatives in it. You can also add different spices to the cider to give it additional flavor. Try lemon peel, clove, nutmeg, and ginger, depending on the taste you desire. It will taste best fresh from the squeezer but if you want to keep it longer you will have to pasteurize it by heating it at 160 degrees, and then it will last for up to three weeks.

If you want to make apple juice you will have to filter more and remove all solids and pasteurize it to keep it fresher longer--up to 3 weeks. Also vacuum sealing of the juice will also keep it fresher longer.

In 2001 new regulations were passed by the FDA requiring that all cider sold directly to the public and produced at farm stands, apple orchards and the like for direct sale can be natural and without preservative but must be treated to the new HACCP principles to reduce possible pathogens. This pasteurization process will result in some change of the sweetness and flavor of the cider. Unpasteurized cider is only sold on-site at the orchard. Because it is not pasteurized, naturally occurring yeast in the cider is not killed and the cider will begin to ferment in just a few days, so it must be consumed in 5 days or less. This cider will begin to become carbonated within a week even if refrigerated and become so-called "hard cider" as it ferments. Sparkling cider is cider that carbonation has been added to, from a machine such as a Soda Stream (used to make carbonated water). Mulled cider is heated just below boiling with cinnamon, orange peel, nutmeg, and clove. Enjoy your favorite type of cider while we still have fresh apples. Enjoy!

Pecan trees are the only native major nut trees that grow wild in North America. They are also considered the most valuable nut tree in North America for the nuts they produce. "Pecan" is an Algonquin word used to describe all nuts that require a stone to crack. The nuts were used by colonial residents because they were easy to shell--and for their great taste when eaten raw or when used in cooking.

Native Americans used the pecan as a major food source, because they kept well all through the winter months when food got scarce. Many Native Americans cultivated the pecan tree for food sources during hard times. Fermented pecans can create an intoxicating drink called "powcohicora." The pecan tree is a species of the hickory tree. It grows wild from Illinois to Missouri and south to Georgia, Texas, and Florida. Pecan trees will grow 60 to 100 plus feet tall and spread 40 to 75 feet wide.

The leaves are pinnate, with 9 to 15 leaflets that grow 2 to 5 inches long and 2 inches wide. The flowers the tree makes are wind-pollinated and resemble pendulous catkins that grow 7 inches long. Both male and female flowers are produced on the same plant. The pecan fruit, being a member of the hickory family, is not a true nut but technically a "drupe" (a fruit with a single stone or pit surrounded by a husk). The husk is oval in shape, 1 to 3 inches long and 1 to 1.5 inches wide. It will start off green in color and mature when it turns brown. At this time, it will split into four sections and release the thin-shelled nut. This nut is edible and has a rich buttery flavor. It can be eaten raw or used in cooking. The wood of the pecan is still used in furniture making today, wood flooring and for flavoring meat and fish when used in a smoker. In the late 1800s, pecans were grown commercially and today 80% of the world's pecans come from the USA.

Pecans are hardy and can live for more than 300 years. Pecans were first planted on Long Island in 1772 and they were soon planted in gardens along the Atlantic seaboard--after George Washington planted a small orchard in 1775 at his home in Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson in 1779 at his home in Monticello. As the settlers moved to the Gulf Coast, they brought with them the pecan tree to plant in their gardens. In the early 1800s the French and Spanish colonists began to export pecans to Europe and the West Indies. The tree became a source of commerce for early colonists and a new industry was born in America--pecan production. In the Gulf, the pecan tree became more valuable than cotton for the nut it produced. In the early 1800s, a discovery of grafting pecan buds from superior trees to average trees helped to create more productive trees. Production increased on average trees, increasing the amount of trees planted for nut production all over the South.

Pecans are a great source of protein and unsaturated fats and, like the walnut, are rich in omega-6 fatty acids. Pecans can lower the risk of gallstones in women. The antioxidants and the plant sterols in the pecan help to reduce high cholesterol. The University of Georgia has confirmed that pecans contain plant sterols which are known for their cholesterol-lowering ability. Pecans may also play a role in neurological health. Eating pecans daily may delay age-related muscle nerve degeneration, according to a study conducted at the University of Massachusetts. This Thanksgiving, make the pie that comes from our native American tree, the pecan.

Now you know why cranberries from Cape Cod to Washington State, apples from around the country and pecans from our native forest of the south and eastern seaboard are used to celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. Native berry--the cranberry, native nut--the pecan and native fruit--the apples. The Pilgrims did find a land of plenty in their search for religious freedom in the New World.

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours.

 THE HISTORY OF WILT-PRUF PLANT PROTECTOR

Just after World War II ended, US building construction came alive once again. Homes were built to help returning service personnel. With the buildings came landscaping. Whether it was winter or summer, the weather was always a factor. But horticulturists knew that some plantings would not make it through the hot or cold windy weather and drought that was destined to arrive. A gardener by the name of Dr. Luther Baumgartner developed a chemical mix that he felt would reduce evaporation from foliage. Luther experimented with his invention at a nursery in Hawthorne, NY and it worked. He was able to get a well known Chemical Co. to bottle his formula which he called Wilt-Pruf. He sold his new product to his neighborhood nurseries to help them protect their plantings. Wilt-Pruf became successful almost overnight, so Dr. Baumgartner sold his Wilt-Pruf to a company in Connecticut who was familiar with the lawn and garden distribution process.

The chemical formula being used back then was a bit difficult to use for several reasons. It was sticky, difficult to clean up, could not be frozen, and had a limited shelf life. A company in Pennsylvania produced many agriculture sprays using pine resin as their base material and they felt they were a natural to make Wilt-Pruf. After extensive experimenting and testing, Wilt-Pruf was now ready to be produced, bottled, stored, and shipped from this company in Pennsylvania. Not only was Wilt-Pruf a very useable garden spray, but Wilt-Pruf also boasts being organic, biodegradable, and non-hazardous. It has an indefinite shelf life and is not damaged by freezing.

Now that Wilt-Pruf was in demand throughout the country, a distribution system had to be determined. New ownership was necessary and the product was sold to its present owner over forty years ago. Sales representatives were hired and lawn and garden distributors were solicited to sell Wilt-Pruf to garden centers and other retail outlets.

 Now Wilt-Pruf was entering a new era. Gardening was growing by leaps and bounds. Wilt-Pruf has been accepted nationally as a much needed plant protector during periods of water stress. It is being distributed by some of the country's largest lawn and garden distributors as well as many highly professional smaller garden supply stores. Wilt-Pruf is currently in demand overseas with customers in England, Belgium, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and South Korea.

Wilt-Pruf spray dries to form a clear transparent and flexible protective coating without interfering with plant growth or materially affecting respiration, osmosis, or photosynthesis. Ultraviolet rays from outdoor daylight react with our film polymer which produces a continuous flexible film which forms a coating similar to having numerous bed sheets on a bed. When the top sheet is removed there are still many more sheets left. The same phenomenon is true with Wilt-Pruf. As the outside layer wears off with the sun, wind and rain and powders away, another layer has formed. This process continues until all layers have worn off which takes three to four months and sometimes longer depending on climatic conditions. Wilt-Pruf is the only horticulture anti-transparent that has the ability to provide this long lasting protection during severe periods of water stress.

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