Boiled cider

Apple harvest time is here and I’ve recently discovered some great sounding doughnut recipes that call for “boiled cider” as one of the ingredients. Boiled apple cider is quite expensive to buy so I thought I’d make my own. I know it takes a lot of apple cider to produce just a small amount of the boiled stuff (sort of like making maple syrup) and that’s okay. My question is this: After I’ve boiled it down and I’ve put it into sterilized jars, do I have to keep it refrigerated, or can I can it so it has a longer shelf-life? I’m thinking the acidity and sweetness should help to preserve it after canning, or am I incorrect about this?

Julie Covieo
Bay City, Michigan

Yes, you can can it if you have enough. You will process it the same as if it were apple juice. I’d probably can it in half-pints for convenience as it IS time consuming to make and you wouldn’t want to lose some sitting in the fridge after opening. — Jackie

Hopi Pale Grey squash not producing

We have missed your daily emails! Hope you are recovering well from your gall bladder surgery. We were disappointed that our Hopi squash did not do well at all this year! Last year they were huge and delicious. I don’t know what we did different but the vines just seemed to dry up before the squash had any size at all and had no vine to grow from. Please make sure I am still on your daily email list as I haven’t seen any for over a month or so.

Beverly Scherer
Anna, Illinois

I’ve been blogging right along Beverly. You should contact our webmaster@backwoodshome.com regarding the email situation. It’s too bad your squash didn’t do well this year. Our solution to most any problem around here is “Mo’ poo poo!” (More manure!). Squash is a very heavy feeder and benefits from lots of rotted manure around and under the plants. Not only does this feed the plants, making them tremendously strong, but it keeps the roots from drying out in hot, dry weather. Try again next year as Hopi Pale Greys are VERY hardy and are usually VERY rampant! — Jackie

Larger hoop house

I thought about you a lot this past weekend as I knew you were getting freezing temps and probably would lose much of your garden. I remember you mentioned you were building a large hoop house. Did that ever get off the ground? If so, what is inside and did it survive? Any pictures of the project? May you heal quickly and have a great fall.

Deb Motylinski
Cadiz, Ohio

Will got the first larger hoop house framed but we had 17 inches of rain, plus more on and off all spring so he never got the “skin” on. I don’t think it would have helped unless we heated it as we had temps down to 27 degrees all night. Stuff froze under plastic. BUT we still have tomatoes that were protected by their plants that didn’t get frozen so we’re still harvesting. I’m slow as I can’t (not supposed to) lift anything heavier than a gallon jug of milk for a month. (8 pounds!) We’re pecking away at what’s left and there’s still a lot: carrots, potatoes, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, some corn and a lot of tomatoes, plus squash and pumpkins. So we’re fine. I will shoot you a photo of the hoop house frame. We decided to wait to cover it till next spring to “save” the plastic. It’s guaranteed for 4 years. And as we went from rain, rain, rain to dry and hot this spring, the covering just didn’t happen.

I’m healing quickly and feel better every day. — Jackie

6 COMMENTS

  3. Jakie, welome to the world of hoop houses!

    Just so you know, my hoop house will keep frost-tolerant plants alive when it is 5 above outside. I took heed of what Eliot Coleman in Maine does, and I throw 3 layers of plastic on my growing beds, with something to keep the plastic from touching the leaves. The earth acts as a heat sink and the 3 layers of plastic provides enough dead air space to keep the heat in.

    The plants do not GROW but they stay alive and healthy, so the ground has to be planted during the summer. Beets did the best for me: I picked the greens all summer and when the frost finally killed the last of the beet greens I harvested the beets. I also had good fortune with spinach, carrots, and green onions but the beets lived for perhaps 4 weeks longer than they did.

  4. In the late 70’s we made donuts to sell in our apple orchard. We substituted apple cider (fresh) for the water. They were really really good.

  5. We reduce our apple cider (and tomato juice for that matter) in our food dryer. It is delicious. We get about 3/4 pint out of one gallon of cider. We use it for pancake syrup. The tomato juice becomes paste, of course. Cheers on the healing front!

  6. My 12 x 24 hoop houses are still going here in the copper basin of alaska after three 27/28 degree freezes. We use small tank top propane heaters and only light them when it gets down to the mid thirties with it getting colder. I think this would work down to the löw twenties but is nolonger cost efective once it stays cold during the day.
    Howard

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