The apple harvest is at hand.
It's been a good year for apples, and that has meant my afternoons are spent making and canning applesauce.
I'm made applesauce two different ways in the past. The first is to quarter the apples, simmer them till tender, then run them through the food mill. But then I learned how to make vinegar, and changed my prep method to save the peels and cores for making apple cider vinegar.
The peels and cores go into a glass gallon jar, covered (submerged) in water,
and allowed to ferment.
After a couple of weeks I'll strain off the new vinegar, jar it, and lid the jars to let it ferment a few weeks more. It will keep until we use it. The leftover peels and cores are fed to the goats.
The peeled and cored apples are simmered with a bit of water until soft.
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| Apple chunks simmered to softness with a cinnamon stick. |
Once the apples are cooked, I can either puree them in the blender for smooth applesauce, or mash them with a potato masher for chunky applesauce.
The apple puree is scraped into another gallon jar. I work on this several hours every afternoon and when I have a gallon's
worth, I sweeten if needed and add water or juice for applesauce consistency.
Then I water bath can it in quart jars.
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| 2026's first batch of canned applesauce. |
Elderberry harvest is in progress as well, and the first of the muscadines are beginning to ripen. Cheesemaking continues, although production is slacking off. Busy days ahead.
What's everybody else up to? Staying busy, or staying cool?
© Aug 2026 by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com
16 comments:
How fantastic that you grow your own apples for applesauce! I didn't realize ACV only took 2 weeks to ferment before it is finished. The apple tree is the gift that keeps on giving!
I get what I can in the garden and by 11, I'm back inside. Puttering and doing a few small things is just as satisfying as doing bigger projects. Those will be saved for cooler weather. Bee well!
Daisy, apple and pear trees were the first perennials we planted when we moved in here. It took several years to get a harvest, but it's been great! We don't get a consistent harvests from year to year, but are always thankful for what we do get.
The two weeks is before straining out the apple bits. I let it continue to ferment after that, and that's when it develops the mother.
I'm a morning gardener too! Although these days that amounts to picking in the morning for afternoon preservation.
I didn't realize apple cider vinegar was so simple! Noted for future use, thank you.
Liz, it's very simple! And it can be made from whole apples or cores & peels like I do. It doesn't necessarily have the 5% acidity that commercial vinegar does, but it's great for salads, salad dressing, or to add a dash to a glass of water.
I can applesauce all the time but I usually do it in pint jars.
Peel and core the apples. Most times I use two varieties, one sweet, one tart. Chunk the apples into a slow cooker. No water, no sugar. Set it on high for four hours. Do not take the lid off to stir until it’s really bubbling around 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Sometimes it’s done early. I puree mine in the blender before canning. I cook two batches and reheat it on the stovetop to can. This way I get a full canner of pints.
Katie, sounds like a very good method. I used to can in pints, but figured out we can go through a quart easily, so with quarts I save lids! My pizza sauce is still canned in pints.
I had never thought about vinegar, Leigh. What a great way to use a "second harvest"!
Unfortunately, since we no longer have the old apple tree on the farm, I haven't been able to put up applesauce in a few years. In years past though, I always ran the apples through my crank peeler/corer and then either cooked them down like you do or dehydrated them for just snacking. It never occurred to me to just cook them down as is and run them through the food mill. But I had never thought about how vinegar is made and now, when I do get enough apples on our new trees to preserve, I'll likely have to try my hand at making vinegar!
We had the best cucumber crop I have ever raised in my life. I'm still getting cucumbers every two days and it is already closing on mid-August. Unheard of for here. Besides though, I am preserving a lot of okra and japanese peppers. In fact, I have so many of the latter, that I am giving up and just going to let them be for the rest of the year. I haven't been able to give them away, mainly because I think people assume they are spicy hot due to their shape when in fact they are mostly mild like green peppers. I just finished curing our potato crop and moved it down to our basement along with our onions and garlic. We just harvest our garbanzo beans which was pretty meager but then it was our first time so not surprising. Really all we have left are our bitter gourd crop, parsnips which we are eating from fresh but leaving until fall to sweeten up before freezing and sweet potatoes which look extremely healthy this year. We also have a watermelon plant with an abundance of fruit on it but they aren't yet ripe enough to pick yet.
TB, yes, multiple uses from one thing. Waste not, want not!
Wow, Ed, it sounds like you've had the best garden ever! All your prep care for the new garden spot has really paid off. Here's hoping for many more years of the same.
Sounds like I'm the only one here to do raw-pack applesauce! I just core, cut out any bad spots, and puree (with a bit of water if necessary) with or without cinnamon, no sweetener added. We go through several dozen quarts a year, mostly eaten on homemade whole grain toast and peanut butter, a fast, simple, and nutritious meal. Our garden is giving us a steady supply of cukes and zukes now, with only handfuls occasionally of green beans (poor germination this year) and a steady dribble of cherry tomatoes and strawberries. The first of my beets will be harvested soon for our favorite raw grated beet/carrot/apple salad, and I'm waiting on eggplants and sweet peppers to grow enough to harvest.
Instead of making vinegar, my grandmother made apple butter with her peelings and cores. I tried it with the apples I got after our fruit trees it was delicious.
Michelle, I'm so glad to hear how productive your garden is. Mine has been taking a break after our hot spell, but I'm hoping for a second burst of produce soon.
Do you can your applesauce or freeze it? I think you're the only one I've heard of so far who makes it from raw apples.
Judy, now that's interesting. If I ever don't need vinegar, I'll give that a try!
How do you cure potatoes
I can my applesauce which of course cooks it, but I hope that including the peels and only cooking it once preserves more of the fruit's nutritional value.
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