Canning: Carmel Apple Jam

I’ve been saving apple skins and cores in the freezer. My plan was to make Apple Peel (Scrap) Jelly but I didn’t want to waste the flesh clinging to the skins. I found a recipe for Carmel Apple Jam at Canning Homemade through the Safe Canning Recipes Blog that looked more interesting.

Carmel Apple Jam

Preparing the apple.

Ingredients:

6 cups diced peeled apples
½ cup water
1 package powdered pectin
2 cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Making apple sauce from frozen skins.

Directions:

Preparing the sugar and spices.

Cook apples and water over low heat until soft. Stir in pectin and bring to a full rolling boil stirring constantly. Stir in sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg. Return to a full rolling boil and boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and skim off any foam. Pour hot jam into hot sterilized jars leaving ¼-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath. Yields 7 half-pints.

My Approach:

Cooking the jam with pectin.

Each time I peel apples (all types) I soak the scraps in a solution of citric acid powder and water to prevent browning. Before freezing I remove any seeds.

Filling the sterilized jars.

When I had enough, I put the peels in a saucepan with half a cup of water. I let them simmer on low for an hour covered and then uncovered until the water evaporated and they were mushy.

I processed the softened scraps in a food mill. The result was a thin applesauce. I added one diced cooked Granny Smith apple for texture.

Using my single jar water bath.

I made a half batch following the recipe except I increased the cinnamon. I love cinnamon.

I’m very happy with the results. The taste is rich and not overly sweet. Next time I’ll use two diced apples to go with my scraps. I’ll also cook the apple cubes longer and mash them to a smoother consistency.

Carmel Apple Jam topping on my yogurt.

Carmel Apple Jam is good on biscuits, toast and as a topping for yogurt and ice cream.

Do you have any favourite recipes for apples or apple scraps? -- Margy

Winter Garden Wonders

This is the first year that I've actively done winter gardening.

Winter crops in the floating garden.

I've cleaned out all of the containers on the decks, but the raised beds on the garden float are still producing.

Some sections are resting until spring.

Yesterday there was a break and I had some sun and dry weather to go out to work in the soil. After being stuck indoors for almost a week, it was wonderful.

I cleaned out the hoop tunnel and worked up the soil.

At the back of the garden I still have carrots, beets, Brussels sprouts and kale.

In the front are broccoli, thyme and rosemary.

And there are signs of spring. The garlic and daffodil bulbs are starting to sprout.

We haven't been to the grocery store in over a week due to stormy weather and lingering winter colds.

These fresh winter garden vegetables make our meals from storage staples healthier and more appealing.

Do you winter garden? What are your favourite plants to grow? -- Margy

Winter Power Solutions

We use the sun as our primary source to generate electricity.

Winter Solstice sunrise and sunset.

During winter, it can be problematic. On the shortest day we only get two hours of direct sunlight.

A foggy sunset at Hole in the Wall.

On top of that we get stretches of cloudy weather. Even when the weatherman promises sun, it often turns foggy. So we use several winter power generation alternatives. One is wind. When we get storms it helps charge our battery bank.

Thermoelectric power generation is common in industry. On a small scale, it's more experimental. We tried a unit made in West Virginia, but there was limited success. I still think it's a great idea for woodstove heated homes.

A thermoelectric generator using woodstove heat to create electricity.

Our fallback is a 1000 watt Yamaha generator. It's fuel efficient and relatively quiet. On cloudy days we run it in the evening for five hours to directly power electric devices such as computers and a small television to display movies. 

A fuel efficient and quiet Yamaha 1000 watt gas powered generator.

At the same time it tops off our two battery banks to keep them in good shape and provide us with power for the following day.

The cabin battery bank in its protective storage box.

Our most important winter power solution is to minimize our use of electricity. We monitor our batteries carefully, and switch everything off when levels become low. Being off the grid means we are responsible for meeting our own needs. It also means there are no unexpected power outages during winter storms. I like it that way.

You can read more about float cabin living by selecting Float Cabin Living and Float Cabin Construction in the topic list on the right side of this page.

You can also read about our off-the-grid lifestyle in Wayne's Coastal BC Stories series books including Up the Lake, Farther Up the Lake, Off the Grid and Off the Grid: Getting Started. All books are available in print and e-book formats from most online book sellers. -- Margy

5 Favourite 2017 Powell River Books Posts

Come along on a year-end tour
of the five most popular
2017 Powell River Books posts.

My Powell River Books blog is where I share posts about off-the-grid float cabin living. Looking back at 2017, here are some of the most popular posts. Click each title to read the entire post.

Compost Quick -- I have a chicken wire compost barrel where I use put kitchen scraps and garden clippings from spring to fall. Then I bury it in a pit to complete the process over winter. The soil increases the size of my cliffside potato patch.

Off the Grid Living -- Wayne and I live away from town and take care of our own utilities with solar, wind and a generator for electricity, hand pump for water, propane for the stove and refrigerator, and a compost toilet.

Powell Lake by Barge and Quad -- We use a barge to take our quads on camping trips around Powell Lake. We didn't have a place to store our bikes at the cabin. The barge does that and provides us with a unique means to explore.

Stocking Up the Woodpile -- Our Kozi woodstove makes it possible to live off the grid in all seasons. To keep it fed all winter long we have to fill the woodshed in summer and fall. A generator run log splitter sure beats an axe.

Homemade Garlic Dill Pickles -- Living off the grid has inspired me to learn new sustainability skills like canning. I put up what I grow in my float garden and deck pots. Wayne loves my homemade dill pickles on his BBQ hamburgers.


We hope you enjoyed the tour. You can read more about our off-the-grid lifestyle and adventures in Wayne's Coastal BC Stories series of books and e-books. Go to PowellRiverBooks.com for more information and ordering details.

Want to see a review from my Margy Meanders blog? Check out my 5 Favourite 2017 Margy Meanders Posts. Hope your 2017 was as eventful as ours. Give us an update. -- Margy

Merry Christmas from Powell River Books

Dashing through the waves
In a red Hewescraft boat
O'er the lake we go
Smiling all the way.

Horns on work boats blare
Making us aware
What fun it is to bounce and glide
Heading up the lake tonight.

Oh, up the lake, up the lake
In a wake of mist and spray
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a red Hewescraft boat.

Up the lake, up the lake
To our cabin in the Hole
Oh what fun it is to be
In our cabin on a float.

Merry Christmas
from
Wayne and Margy
Powell River Books

PowellRiverBooks.com

Float Cabin Steel Anchor Cable Repair

Living in a float cabin is wonderful. Each day brings a new experience, some good, some not so good.

Pulling the broken cable and tires from the water.

While we were away, a strong November wind storm broke two of our cabin's 3/4" steel anchor cables to shore. One was a back-up cable, but the other was a critical link with tires in the middle used to dampen the cabin's movement during heavy storms.

The anchor cable broke at the cliffside connection point.

Cables rust over time and wear, especially at connection points. In this case, the cliff end of the cable separated.

The rusted cable attached to the tire "shock absorber."

Wayne and John hauled the broken cable and its steel belted tires up onto the cabin deck for repairs.  That took a lot of muscle and a well positioned pipe pole.

Grinding through the damaged cable.

The only way to remove the damaged cable was to grind if off. Then a new cable was wrapped around the tires and attached with heavy-duty cable clamps.

Wrapping the new replacement cable around the tires.

The next step was to lower the tires down to lake level.

Lowering the tires down to rest on float logs.

The tires rested on two float logs while John and Wayne used the tin boat to take the cable out to the cliffside anchor point.

The repaired cable and tires ready for reconnection.

When the connection was complete, John pull the tires back into the water so they could help our float cabin ride out the next windy storm.

Here is a video of the tire shock absorber in action.

You can see why it's a critical part of our anchoring system. -- Margy

9 Crops for Winter Gardening

Winter Gardening

In June the Powell River Garden Club invited Cathy from Mother Nature to give a presentation on fall and winter gardening. It was very timely, because it was the last club meeting of the season and preparation for cold weather gardening needs to begin during summer.

Winter harvest of kale, beets and carrots.

I learned that it's not necessary to let your soil rest during winter as long as you replenish it in spring with compost and other essential nutrients. I really like going to Garden Club. I learn new things to make my small garden more productive.

Two weeks ago I shared how I'm using covers for containers on my cabin deck to increase the season for greens. Click here to read that post.

Here are some additional winter crops I'm growing in my raised bed floating garden.

Beets and carrots remaining in the ground.

1. Beets left in the ground. Beets planted spring through mid-summer develop before the cold arrives and will maintain their size. Even with some freezing temperatures, my beets remain in good condition through February. I grow Detroit Red Beets from seed.

2. Carrots left in the ground. As with my beets, I plant one crop in spring and one more in mid-summer. Mounded with soil to cover the I plant carrots in  I grow Scarlet Nantes carrots from seed because they are short and

Dwarf Green Curly Kale.

3. Kale left growing. My favourite is Dwarf Green Curled Kale. It's compact and grows well in a raised bed. Spring plants last all winter. It tastes even better after the frost arrives. Stems benefit from staking during winter storms. 

4. Chard left growing. Like kale, chard planted in spring continues to grow through winter. It's quite tolerant of mild freezing conditions.  I like Rhubarb Chard with it's bright red stems and large green leaves.

Broccoli, chard and perennial rosemary.

5. Broccoli left growing. Last spring I bought Broccoli sets and the plants have been giving me florets ever since. They're slowing down now, but will have another spring burst before going to seed.

6. Purple Sprouting Broccoli planted mid-summer. A Garden Club member brought seeds to a meeting. I started the them in mid-summer. This variety is taller so I have staked them to withstand winter storms. They will produce in late winter and early spring.

Brussels sprouts starting to form.

7. Brussels Sprouts. This is my second year growing Brussels Sprouts. They will produce sprouts from December to February. The variety is compact but benefits from staking.

8. Perennial Herbs. I grow herbs in deck pots and in my floating garden. I cut my mint back and wait for it to come back in spring. You can't keep a good mint down. My thyme, sage and rosemary continue to provide fresh herbs throughout the winter months without covering.

9. Planting Garlic. Fall is a good time to plant garlic. This is my first year trying it. I created space by picking kale and carrots at the end of one of my beds. The garlic cloves will remain in the soil for sprouting in early spring. When it comes time for new garden planning and planting I'll know this area is taken.

The winter float garden.

It's important to get your seeds or seedlings planted early enough to allow them to grow and mature before the first frost arrives in your area. After that, plant growth will slow down. In my area, early August is about the last opportunity to get things going. Another tip is to pick cold tolerant varieties.

Do you have a winter garden? What kinds of things do you grow? -- Margy