Step 1: Wash and cut up the fruit of choice, remove pits and seeds and crush the fruit using a potato masher. Measure the pulp and then put it into a heavy bottomed pot.

Step 2: Measure out half as much water as there is fruit pulp to the pot. Cook this over a low flame, and stir constantly until the fruit becomes soft.

Step 3: Remove the fruit pulp and put into a strainer or colander. Press firmly through to get rid of the skins and any tough pieces. Take this strained fruit pulp and put it through a blender or food processor until it is a smooth puree.

Step 4: Pour the pulp back into the original pot and add ½ cup of sugar per cup of fruit pulp. Return the pot to the stove and put on low flame.

Step 5: While stirring the mixture constantly to prevent scorching on bottom of pan, continue cooking on low until it becomes thick and glossy.


Canning Your Fruit Butter













Pour into hot sterilized canning jars and leave ½” of space at the top.
Put into a hot water bath in your canner and cover the jars 1” about their lids-Process for the following altitudes.

15 min. (pints), 20 min. (quarts)--> sea level -1,000 ft. altitude
20 min. (pints), 25 min. (quarts)--> 1,001 - 3,000 ft. altitude
20 min. (pints), 30 min. (quarts)--> 3,001 – 6,000 ft. altitude
25 min. (pints), 35 min. (quarts)--> For altitudes above 6,000 ft.

Freezing Your Fruit Butter
Pour into a freezer safe container, and let it air cool first. Seal with a lid and put into the freezer, leave some room for this to expand. Make sure that this fruit butter is heavily sweetened, or it may mold in as little as two weeks when removed from the freezer and used-even if it is kept refrigerated! But if you have a family with a healthy appetite then you should have nothing to fear.

Fruit Butter Recipes:

Apple Butter

8 cups pureed cooked down apples
½ tsp. cloves
½ tsp. allspice
2 c. brown sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
Grated rind of one lemon

Mix all of the above ingredients together and spread in a shallow baking pan. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F, and bake while stirring occasionally until it becomes thick (approx. 4 hours). Pack into hot, sterile canning jars. Process in a hot water bath for the length of time mentioned above depending on your altitude. This makes 2½ pints.

Old Fashioned Apple Cider Butter

Boil 6 cups of apple cider in an enamel or stainless steel pot. (You can also instead boil down 12 cups of cider until it gets to 6 cups, to make the batch extra red). While the cider is boiling, peel, core, and quarter slice about 10 lb. of apples. Add these apples to your boiling cider. Reduce the heat and cook slowly until the apples become soft. Push this mixture through a colander to remove hard bits. Put your mixture back into the pot and add 1½ c. of brown sugar, or more depending on how sweet you want it. Add to this ¼ tsp. allspice, ½ tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. cloves, and a pinch of salt. Continue cooking your butter over a low flame while stirring non-stop. Don’t stop cooking this down until the cider and your apples no longer separate when spooned onto a plate. It should be a thick uniform mass. Pour into appropriate containers whether you are planning on canning or freezing. See above instructions for both.


Chokecherry-Apple Butter

Take 4 c. mashed apple pulp and 2 c. of seedless chokecherry pulp. Mix together evenly and bring to a boil. Stir constantly to prevent scorching. Add sugar to your taste and ½ tsp. of almond extract. Cook down until smooth and velvety-Process either by canning or freezing. See above.


Peach Butter

Take 7 lb. of whole peaches. Scald them, peel, remove the pits and cut up. Cook in ½ c. of water over a low flame slowly until they become very soft. This will take you about 3 hours. Then sieve the pulp to get out any hard bits. Add to this 1 ½ c. brown sugar to taste. Can or freeze, see above.


Apple-Plum Butter

The ratio of apples to plums should be 2:1 or 3:1. Cut up the fruit and cook with just enough water to keep them from scorching on the pots bottom. Push the pulp through a colander to get out the hard bits. Return mixture to pot and add sugar to sweeten to your tastes. Continue cooking until the butter becomes nice and thick. Process as above.

Getting Yeast


Most yeast is bought in the store in single foil envelopes. Make sure that you double check the expiration date on the back. Yeast is a living thing, and so it too only lasts for so long.



Bread yeast is not the same as beer yeast so don’t hatch any plans on starting your own homebrewery extravaganza. You will instead make something truly disgusting and lose a considerable amount of friends.
If you are feeling adventurous, you can grow your own yeast for baking with a sourdough starter. (See Chapter on sourdough breads for starter recipe)



Storing Yeast

For long-term storage, keep your yeast in the freezer. For short-term, the refrigerator is best.

Testing Your Yeast Beforehand

Before you waste your entire afternoon getting elbow deep in gooey dough that won't rise , test your yeast before you start.
Take the yeast packet and mix it with warm water and a little sugar (yeast beasties food) and wait a few seconds. If you see that it starts bubbling, then eureka! It’s alive! If nothing happens, then toss out the yeast, and start with a fresh batch.

Proper Temperature for Yeast

When using yeast, do not exceed water temps of 110-115 degrees F. Yeast as I mentioned before, is alive, and boiling water or too hot of water will kill it and your dough will not rise.

The Way of the Yeast

As yeast grows in your bread bowl, it is consuming sugar and producing alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. The alcohol bakes off in the oven, while the carbon dioxide gas leaves your bread loaf porous and light. Do not let the yeast sit for too long while you wait for your dough to rise, as in hours and hours and hours, or wild yeast will take over and start to work in your bowl. This will give the dough a sour taste.

Tips for Making Great Yeast Breads

1.Warm up all your ingredients before combining- *Do Not Overheat Yeast*

2. Dissolve the dry yeast in water only, do not substitute for any other liquid. Stir the yeast in the water thoroughly until dissolved, and then add some sweetener- this will activate the yeast. Now you can add your remaining ingredients.

3. Before you start baking, make sure the kitchen is nice and warm so the dough rises nicely. Do not place your bread bowl to rise on top of the hot oven or any place with too much heat or the yeast will die and the dough will not rise.

Cold Kitchen Cheats: You can boil water in a tea kettle or large pot on your stove. When finished boiling, the steam vapors will warm up the air in the room, place your bread bowl close to the kettle and its steam to help your dough rise quickly in cold temps. Also, preheating your oven early will warm up the kitchen air and make your dough rise well.

4. More sugar equals better yeast activity.

5. Whole wheat breads will take longer to rise because they are more dense.

6. Knead your dough until it is smooth, elastic, and no longer sticky to the touch. Then test to see if it is ready by imprinting a finger in the dough. If the dough snaps back quickly it is in the proper state for the first rising. Cover your dough in a greased bowl. Place it in a warm but not hot place and let rise. Punch down dough after it has doubled in bulk. The reason for punching down is that on the first rising, the dough is full of air and will make your loaf have large air pockets when baked. Punching down and allowing a second rising makes the dough more uniform and better in quality.

7. Shape your dough into rolls or bread size and place in well greased pans. Cover with a light cloth. Now it is ready for the second rising to double bulk in the pans. When risen, place in preheated oven to appropriate temperature for your recipe and bake for the allotted time.

Need to Knead


Most people never try to bake their own bread because they are too intimidated with the kneading process. I remember watching my mom knead bread dough every couple of weeks to make her famous home-made bread that we all craved fresh out of the oven.

I was always watching and trying to memorize her movements- she made it look so fluid and easy. My own learning method happened years later when I first tried to bake a loaf in my Brooklyn loft. It was awful- I added too much flour so it was dry, tasteless, and could have doubled as a weapon.

The best way to learn is through trial and lots of error. But we all encounter it, so do not be discouraged. Try, try and try again if necessary. Just don't be a sucker and buy a bread machine. It takes all the fun out of baking, and you look like you are 4 years old using an easy bake oven.

To get started, take your well mixed bread dough and place it on a floured counter top or bread board. The dough will be sticky so coat your hands well with flour too to prevent gumming up. Now take the left side of the dough with your left hand and the right side of the dough with your right hand. Fold the sides in with one sweep simultaneously, and press them into the middle of the dough while pushing the dough away from you. This constant motion of squishing the outside of the dough edge into its middle is the kneading process. What you are doing is removing all the large air bubbles in the dough. If left in, your dough will expand, and the large air bubbles will pop and your lovely bread loaf will collapse into a pile.

The key is that as you are kneading, only add just enough flour as needed, very, very gradually. This should be only added when the dough gets sticky and sticks to your hands or too much to the counter top or board. Do not over flour or your dough will get too dry. This is a common mistake that novices make. The goal is to add the least amount of flour that you can to make a loaf.

Once you feel the dough is smooth and elastic and no longer sticky it is ready. Press a couple fingertips lightly into the dough to make a depression. The dough should snap back up into place like a rubber ball. Your dough is now ready for the first rising.

How to Shape a Loaf

1. Flatten your dough out into a rectangle shape on the counter.

2. Carefully fold the dough into thirds while simultaneously pressing out any air bubbles. Seal the seams well.

3. Fold up starting on the long side. Estimate the loaf size you require by comparing it to your pans.

4. Pinch the long seam together and also the ends of the loaf.

5. Put your loaves in greased pans and let rise covered with a towel for its 2nd rising. (The second rising is always the fastest.)

Yeast Bread Recipes

Best White Bread
Ingredients:
1 c. Milk
6 Tbl. Sugar
2 tsp. Salt
6 Tbl. Butter/Marg.
3 c. lukewarm water
2 pkg. dried yeast
5 c. flour, plus extra for kneading

Directions:

Scald milk until just boiling lightly. Add butter to the milk and stir until melted completely. Let this cool until lukewarm. In a large bread bowl add 3 c. lukewarm water and dissolve the yeast in it. Now add in the milk mixture. Gradually stir in the flour and mix in thoroughly. Add more flour gradually as needed until you have a workable dough to knead with. Turn the dough onto a floured board and start kneading. Keep gradually adding more flour as you need it until dough is elastic and not sticky.

Wash out the mixing bowl and grease with veggie oil. Put dough back in bowl, cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place to double bulk. Punch dough down. Grease four bread pans with shortening. Cut dough into four sections. Fold each over, seal, and shape the four loaves. Place the loaves in the pans, cover again with a towel and let rise for the final time to double bulk. Bake in 400 degree F oven for 30 min.

Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients:
3/4 c. Milk
1/3 c. Butter
1/4 c. Sugar
1 Tbl. Salt
1/3 c. Molasses
2 Tbl. Dry yeast (or 2 pkgs)
1 1/2 c. Lukewarm water
5 c. Whole Wheat Flour
White Flour

Directions:

Scald milk until just boiling. Add butter to the hot milk-let melt down completely. Add to this the sugar, salt and molasses. In your bread bowl, dissolve the yeast with the lukewarm water. Once milk mixture has cooled, add this to your bread bowl. Now add the whole wheat flour and stir until smooth. Next add gradually some white flour until the dough reaches a kneadable state. Turn the dough onto a floured board. Knead and gradually add more white flour as needed until the dough is no longer sticky and it is smooth and elastic. Grease two bread pans. Let dough rise in a greased bowl until double bulk. Punch down. Divide dough in half, shape into loaves, and place in bread pans. Cover with cloth and let rise second time to double bulk. Bake in oven at 400 degrees F for 30 min.

Oatmeal Bread
Ingredients:

2 Tbl. Yeast
1/2 c. Lukewarm Water
1 1/2 c. Boiling Water
1 c. Oatmeal
1/2 c. Molasses
1/3 c. shortening
2 tsp. Salt
6 c. White Flour
2 Beaten Eggs

Directions:

Mix yeast in lukewarm water till dissolved, set aside. Mix boiling water with shorteing to dissolve. Then to this add oatmeal, molasses, and salt. Let this shortening mixture cool to lukewarm. Add yeast mix to it. Now stir in 2 c. flour and the beaten eggs. Beat together until smooth. Add remaining flour gradually. Grease top of the mixed dough still in bowl and cover and refrigerate overnight. Next day shape dough into 2 loaves and put in greased pans. Let rise to double bulk. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 min.

Baked Doughnuts
Ingredients:
2 pkg. Yeast
1/4 c. Warm Water
1/2 c. Milk
1/2 c. Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Salt
1/3 c. Shortening
1 tsp. Nutmeg
4 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Scald milk, add sugar, salt, and shortening to milk. Add 2 beaten eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and flour. Knead dough, adding more flour as needed. Let dough rise in greased bowl bout an hour until it is double in bulk. Turn dough onto a floured board. Roll out with rolling pin until 1/2” thick. Cut with a doughnut cutter and lift onto a greased cookie sheet. Brush each doughnut with melted butter. Let the doughnuts rise to double bulk again. Bake at 425 degrees F for 8-10 min. Brush with more butter and then dust with cinnamon and sugar.

English Muffins
Ingredients:

1 pkg. Yeast
1 1/2 c. Lukewarm Water
3 Tbl. Sugar
1/2 c. Powdered Milk
1 tsp. Salt
1 Beaten Egg
3 Tbl. Butter
4 c. Flour
Cornmeal

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water in a bread bowl. To this add sugar, powdered milk, salt and the beaten egg. Melt the butter in a small pan on the stove. Let cool and add to yeast mixture. Add flour gradually stirring until smooth. Oil a griddle and test temperature by sprinkling with water. If droplets skitter around it’s ready. Scatter lightly some cornmeal on the griddle, form the dough into patty shapes and fry like a pancake. Turn each patty over to cook the other side.

Bagels
Ingredients:
8 c. Flour
1 Tbl. Salt
1 Tbl. Sugar
2 pkg. Yeast
2 c. Lukewarm Potato Water

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in potato water. (Potato water is the starchy water left after boiling potatoes). Add remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. Knead dough on floured board about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl and let rise to double bulk. Punch dough down. Pinch off sections of dough to make ropes 6” long and 3/4” wide. Dampen the ends of each rope and press lightly together to make a bagel shape. Take 1/2 gallon of water and set to boil on stove. At a rolling boil add 2 Tbl. Sugar to water. Drop bagels into the water one at a time. After they rise, turn them over for 1 minute. Take the bagels out and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 10-15 min or until golden brown.

Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
1 pkg. Yeast
2 Tbl. Warm Water
1 c. Boiling Water
2 Tbl. Shortening
3 c. Flour

Directions:

Dissolved yeast in warm water. Pour boiling water over shortening in a bread bowl. Let cool. Pour yeast solution in the bread bowl and add to this 1 1/2 c. flour. Mix till smooth. Add remaining flour. Grease 2 pizza pans. Divide dough in half and spread on pans. Cover with light cloths and let rise for 2-3 hours. Bake until just about done in oven. Take pizza dough out and spread sauce and favorite toppings, put back in oven and finish baking.

So you decided to plant all kinds of fruit trees and berry bushes on your property, and maybe you got a tad bit carried away. An acre of blueberry bushes is great if you plan on selling them. 

What isn’t great is when 3 people are supposed to consume 5 tons of it in 1 month. You will come to hate the flavor, you will despise the color, and you will start to wear tinted shades so even the blue sky doesn’t make you gag.

What you can do in the event that your harvest is plentiful and you are running out of ways to add blueberry to everything and anything you cook, is to turn that problem into preserves. Turn those quarts and quarts into something you can enjoy spread out over time and toasted bread.

What’s the difference between Jelly and Jam?

I personally didn’t know there was a difference- I thought that their meanings were synonymous and that by using the different names it pinpointed whether you came from say England or the US-like the difference between our cookies and what the Brits like to refer to as biscuits. But there IS a big difference. 

Jelly on the other hand is a 1:1 ratio, of sugar to fruit, but it is completely dependent on the levels of pectin, acid, fruit and sugar to make the process complete. Jelly is also clear in color because the juice has been strained away from the fruits pulp. This juice is what is then thickened. Making jelly is more than just cooking some fruit down- it is a chemical process.

What is Pectin and How is it Used?

This is the secret weapon in making jellies. Pectin is created naturally in some varieties of fruits’, especially the tart flavored under-ripe ones. When it is heated, it starts to jell up from the combination of the acid with the sugar of the fruit. 

How to Make Your Own Homemade Natural Pectin

Apples are usually naturally rich in pectin- the more sour the apple the better, but ripe apples have adequate amounts too. You can make your own pectin at home by using the skins, cores, whole apples, or just its pulp.

Natural Pectin Recipe

    1. Boil 2 lb. of apples with 4 c. water for approximately 45 minutes

    2. Take the resulting mash of apples and drain through a cheesecloth, don’t add pressure

    3. Boil this juice that you retrieved for 15 minutes-Can it, to store it properly, if you aren’t     using it readily

    Note on Use in Jellies: Use a cup of the apple pectin you brewed per 1 cup of pectin-weak     fruit juice. When making jellies, the portions should be the combination of pectin plus        fruit juice ratio mentioned above, plus adding ¾ cup sugar per 1 c. liquid.

A Fool-Proof Test For Pectin

If you are nervous about trying to make a jelly with a new type of fruit, and that it won’t thicken up properly, you can use this old time favorite method to know if there is enough pectin in this kind of fruit beforehand.

Put 1 T. Fruit Juice in a glass container. Add to this 1 T. alcohol. Mix evenly together. If there is enough pectin present, the juice will start to glob up in a jelly-like consistency that you can scrape up easily with a spoon. If nothing happens, you will need to add additional pectin to this particular type of fruit jelly.

Other Sources of Pectin

If you are short on pectin in a recipe, you can add sour apples, currants, cranberries, lemons, crabapples, sour plums, green gooseberries, and loganberries to thicken things up. These are all high in pectin naturally.

Ripe apples, oranges, sour cherries, grapes, blackberries and grapefruit have about an average level of pectin, and can also be added.

Important Note On Altitude and Jelly Making

Depending on where you are above sea level will change the length of time you will need to cook your jelly down. When you are above 6,000 feet the rule of thumb is that you will need to cook your jellies as much as 3-4 times the length of time that the recipe calls for. *See further below for the times, altitudes, and temps to cook your jelly*

USDA Instructions or Jelly Making Without Adding Commercial Pectin

Combine a mixture of ¾ ripe fruit with ¾ under-ripe fruit. When trying to determine what your fruit will yield in juice, 1 lb. of fruit makes 1 c. of clear juice. A trick to add natural pectin to your batch is to add the skins and cores when cooking the fruit down.

Wash the fruits thoroughly to remove dirt, bugs, pesticides, etc from them. Cut the fruit up into smaller pieces and if you are cooking berries, crush them. Add water as needed. Put the water and fruit in a large thick-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. 

Once you have extracted all the juice you need for your jelly recipe, combine it with the appropriate amounts of sugar, and lemon juice if needed. Stir until the sugar has fully dissolved and let it continue to boil until the jelling starts.

Jelly Temperature Test

Using either a candy thermometer or a special jelly thermometer, boil the jelly at the following temperatures in correlation with your designated sea level.

220 degrees F – Sea Level
218 degrees F – 1,000 Ft.
216 degrees F – 2,000 Ft.
214 degrees F – 3,000 Ft.
212 degrees F – 4,000 Ft.
211 degrees F – 5,000 Ft.
209 degrees F – 6,000 Ft.
207 degrees F – 7,000 Ft.
205 degrees F – 8,000 Ft.

The Spoon Jelly Readiness Test

To know whether your jelly is ready to be canned, take a cold metal spoon and dip it into your mixture. Raise the spoon up away from the steam of the saucepan and turn it so that the liquid runs off the side. When the syrup forms 2 drops that flow together and either sheet or hang off the edge of the spoon, your jelly is done.

If for some reason this test shows that your mixture is too thin, the best way to remedy the situation is to add some gelatin to it. Re-boil your non-jelling jelly and add 1 package of plain gelatin and stir in to fully dissolve. Note: 1 package of gelatin solidifies 4 cups of watery jelly.
Once your jelly is ready to be canned, skim off the foam on top and pour it into sterilized jars. To sterilize your jars properly, put them open side up on a rack inside a large canning pot with hot water (not boiling!) that comes up 1” above the jars. Boil the jars for 10 minutes to kill off any bacteria.

Remove and drain the jars and fill with the jelly. Fill your canner pot half way again with water and preheat it to 180 degrees F. Load all of your sealed jars into the rack inside your canner and add water to them until it is 1” above their tops. Once water comes to a rolling boil, lower the heat so it is still boiling but more gently. Process all your jellies and jams in half-pint or pint jars for the following times according to your altitude.

5 minutes- 1-1,000 ft.
10 minutes- 1,001-6,000 ft.
15 minutes- above 6,000 ft.

Once the processing time is over, remove the jars with a jar lifter so as to not get burned, and carefully place the jars on a kitchen towel or a cooling rack. Let them air cool for 12-24 hours. Remove the top screw lids, and check the lid seals underneath to make sure they are fully sealed. Jelly and Jam are best if consumed within a years’ time.

NOTE ON JELLY/JAM MAKING: Don’t use a quart jar to make more jelly- it won’t jell up. Also on the same note, don’t double up a recipe. Paraffin wax sealing is not recommended anymore by the USDA. It is not always reliable as a seal and often times the jelly starts to mold. But people still use it to this day for jelly making, so if you do, it is at your own risk.

Paraffin Wax Seals

The benefit of using paraffin wax is that you can use any glass jar to make jelly. It makes your operation more cost effective, and when you are done using the paraffin tops, you can collect them, wash them off, and keep them to be re-melted the next time you make jelly.

You melt down the paraffin wax and add a ¼-1/2” layer to your already cooled down and set jelly. Be especially careful of any jellies you are making that have a low sugar content, as they are at more risk to mold. But my mother made wine jelly this way for decades and we never had any issues with molding. So be on the lookout!

How to Make Your Own Jelly Jars

Jelly Recipes Without Pectin

Apple Jelly- Add 1 c. of water per 1 lb. of fruit. Let this simmer for 25 minutes before extracting any juice. For every 1 c. of juice add ¾ c. sugar. (Optional: Add 1 ½ tsp. lemon juice. For every 4 c. of juice, your jelly should yield about 4-5 half pints.

Crab-Apple Jelly- Add 1 c. of water per 1 lb. of fruit. Simmer 20-25 minutes before extracting any juice. For every 1 c. of strained juice add 1 c. of sugar. For every 4 c. of juice, your jelly should yield about 4-5 half pints.

Blackberry Jelly- Add 0- ¼ c. water per 1 lb. of fruit. Simmer 5-10 minutes before extracting any juice. To each 1 c. of strained juice add ¾ - 1 c. sugar. For every 4 c. of juice, your jelly should yield about 7-8 half pints.

Grape Jelly- Add 0- ¼ cup water per 1 lb. of fruit. Simmer 5-10 minutes before extracting any juice. For every 1 c. of strained juice add ¾ to 1 c. sugar. For every 4 c. of juice, your jelly should yield about 8-9 half pints.

Plum Jelly- Add ½ c. water per 1 lb. of fruit. Simmer 15-20 minutes before extracting juice. For every 1 c. of strained juice add ¾ c. sugar. 4 c. of juice should yield you 8-9 half pints.

Making Jams Without Adding Pectin

Pick only fruits that have ripened fully. Clean them completely under cool water, do not soak! Remove any stems, skins, and pits if any. Cut them up into pieces and crush them. For berries, just remove any stems if still attached and smush them down. The tiny seeds in berries are fine to keep in your jam, but you can strain them out through a sieve if they are too abundant.

Basic Jam Recipes

Take 4 c. berries of fruits cleaned, cut and processed as mentioned above. Add to this 3 c. of sugar. Boil this mixture down for about 10 minutes, or until the resulting product has boiled down by ¼. Remove from heat and test your jam to see if it has jelled enough. Take a couple of drops of the jam and drop it in a shallow saucer filled with cold water. If it appears jelled enough, put in jars. If it is still too watery, you will need to boil your mixture down more. To pack your jam into jars, pour the contents into hot sterilized jam jars. Put on a hot lid and ring and screw it down as tightly as you can. Let the jars air cool and check the next day to see if it has sealed properly.

Berry Jam: Take 4 c. crushed berries, add to this 4 c. of sugar. Boil down and process as mentioned in the Basic Jam recipe above. You should get 3-4 half pints.

Apricot Jam: Take 4-4 ½ c. crushed apricots. Add to the fruit, 4 c. sugar and 2 T. lemon juice. Process this as mentioned in the Basic Jam recipe above. You should get 5-6 half pints.

Peach Jam: Take 5½ -6 c. of crushed, pitted, peaches. Add to this 4-5 c. sugar and 2 T. of lemon juice. You should get 6-7 half pints.

Blueberry Peach Jam: Take 4 lb. of ripe peaches, and wash, pit, and then chop them up. Wash and sort out 1 qt of blueberries. Mix the fruit together in a heavy bottomed pot with 2 T. lemon juice, and ½ cup of water. Let this all simmer until the fruit becomes nice and soft- about 10 min. Tie 1 stick of cinnamon, ½ T. cloves, and ¼ T. allspice in a cheesecloth bag. Drop the bag into the pot. Next add to the jam mixture 5½ c. sugar and ½ tsp. salt. Boil this rapidly. Using a candy thermometer, bring the mixture to 8-10 degrees above the boiling point of water. Remove the pan from the heat and skim the foam off the top, and remove the spice bag. Pour the jam into hot, sterile canning jars and screw on hot lids. For long-term storage process in a water bath for 10 minutes. This makes 6 half-pint jars.

The following recipes are for commercially packaged pectin to be added to make them jell up. A lot of times, there are recipes included on the box of pectin that you buy.

1. Beets: First cut off the tops of each of your beets, leaving about a 1” stub. Don’t cut off the tip of the root. Pack them in sand, sawdust, moss, leaves, or plastic bags. They should last you for about 2 months in your cellar.

2. Broccoli: Cut off the central head, wrap each head in plastic and keep in a very cold spot in your cellar, as close to 32 degrees F as possible. The relative humidity should be pretty high, around 95%. The broccoli should last in storage for about 1-2 weeks.

3. Cabbage: Pick your cabbage when the heads are green, firm, full, and solid. Pull up the plant root and all, and trim off any loose outer leaves. You can store your cabbage in several different ways in your cellar. You can either put them directly on a shelf, or pack them in hay or newspaper, or you can hang them suspended from the ceiling by their roots. They should last you about 1-2 months in storage.

4. Chinese Cabbage: Choose from your garden the most solid heads that have reached their fullest maturity. The outer leaves will wilt in storage but the inner head will remain nice and crisp. You can either pack them in hay or you can pull up the plant roots and all and replant in boxes with soil in your cellar. Make sure you water the roots every now and then to keep them moist. This should last you about 3 months in storage.

5. Carrots: Pull up and trim off the tops of each carrot. Pack in sand or sawdust in crates, or you can replant in boxes of soil. Water the roots occasionally. When harvested in the fall, the carrots should last until May at least.

6. Cauliflower: Pull up the plant roots and all. You can store by either replanting in soil, setting directly on shelves, or hanging by roots from ceiling. This plant should last in storage about 2-4 weeks.

7. Celery: Dig up the plant with its roots intact and replant in boxes of soil or sand. Keep the roots moist but try not to get the stalks or leaves too wet as they could start to rot. Celery needs cold temps close to 32 degrees, and high humidity around 95%. They should keep in storage about 1-2 months.

8. Collards: Keep the leaves stored in perforated plastic bags in a damp area of your cellar. They should last you about 1-2 weeks.

9. Cucumbers: Keep the cukes in perforated plastic bags at about 45-55 degrees F. The humidity should be around 80-90%. They should last about 2-3 weeks in storage.

10. Eggplant: Don’t keep in too cold temps, as this will cause the eggplant to spoil. 50-60 degrees F with 80-90% humidity will keep it the longest possible. It should last you 1-2 weeks in storage.

11. Endive and Escarole: Don’t tie up in bundles, or the leaves will start to rot. Replant these close together in boxes of soil or sand.

12. Garlic: Harvest your garlic before the bulbs burst through their papery outer layers. When you see the leaves of the plant starting to turn yellow, that is when you can check to see if the garlic is ready to harvest. When you see that the leaves have become dry and crumbly, then you can dig them up. Clip off the roots as close to the bulbs as you can, and dry the garlic in a well ventilated space. Trim the tops to about 1” in length, unless you want to make garlic braids to hang up multiple bulbs together. Store the dried garlic in paper bags in a cold and dry place in your cellar. They don’t like moisture, or they will start to rot! Garlic is a long keeper, it should last in storage till well into spring.

13. Jerusalem Artichokes: Store these in damp sand in a cold area of your root cellar. They are thin skinned, so too much air exposure will cause them to shrivel up. Properly stored these will last you about 1-2 months.

14. Kohlrabi: Pack in damp sand or sawdust, keep at temps around 32-40 degrees F, with 90-95% humidity. These will last several months in storage.

15. Leeks: Dig up the plant roots and all and replant in a box of soil or sand at a temperature in your cellar of 32-40 degrees F.

16. Onions: Pull up the onions when you see that their skins are starting to dry up and are poking out of the soil. The day you do this should be nice and sunny and dry so you can start drying them outside right away. Spread them out on newspapers or screens in the sun to cure for about 3-7 days. Cut off the tops of the onions leaving a 1” stub. Continue curing in the sun for about 2-3 weeks. Store in mesh bags or slatted crates in a cool and dry place in your cellar. Ideally they like temps of anywhere between 32-50 degrees F, and 60-70% humidity.

17. Peppers: Pick before the frost hits, leaving the stems on the peppers. Hot peppers must be pulled whole and dried in a warm area, not in the cellar. Once they are thoroughly dried out you can store them at temps of 50 degrees at about 60-65 % humidity. Dried hot peppers will last about 6 months in storage. Normal peppers should be stored in perforated plastic bags in your cellar at temps around 45-55 degrees F. Too cold temperature will cause them to decay. Use the red peppers first in your winter cooking as they will be the first to spoil if left too long in storage.

18. Potatoes, Sweet: Don’t dig these up too early, leave them in the ground until as last as possible as they reach their growing peaks between September and October. As soon as the frost has killed off your vines, get them out of there quick. If left in the ground more than a day after the frost has wiped out the vines, it causes the potatoes to taste off. Be careful when digging them up to not bruise or cut them with you shovel. Lay out some newspaper outside and dry them in the sun to make the dirt easier to brush off. Next you need to cure the sweet potatoes. To do this you need to expose them to warm temperatures 80-85 degrees and high humidity of around 90%. A trick to handle this if you live in a cooler region, is to dry them in front of a campfire or fireplace and drape a damp well wrung out towel over them. The time they need to cure is anywhere from 10-14 days. What the curing does is toughen its delicate skins, and make the starches turn to sugars, and closing up some of the nicks and cuts the potatoes may have. Once the curing is complete, wrap each sweet potato in newspaper and store in crates or baskets in your cellar. Sweet potatoes need a dry storage space, 80-85 % humidity, and temperatures around 50 degrees. A unheated room in your house works fine, if your cellar is too cold. You can also pack the sweet potatoes in sawdust in boxes, making sure they are not touching each other or the sides of the box. These will last all winter long.

19. Potatoes, White: It’s best to only use your 2^nd potato crop for cold storage in your cellar, so that the temperatures are cool enough to store them the longest. If you do harvest your first crop during the summer and want to be able to store them, the root cellar has to be at a temperature no higher than 60 degrees F. Warmer temps in storage cause the potatoes to sprout, rot, or dry out. So if you get the temperature right for this early harvest, you can keep them for about 4-6 weeks. For the 2^nd or late crop, the temps in the cellar need to be at 36-40 degrees F, with 90% humidity. This will allow you to store your potatoes for use all winter long and into the springtime. Before you store your potatoes away, there are some steps you need to follow first. The potatoes need to be cured in a dry place out of the sun, rain and wind. The temps for curing should be around 60-75 degrees F. Let them cure for about 1-2 weeks until the skins toughen up and the nicks on their skins have healed over. Make sure that when they are put in your cellar that they are in a dark cold area. Light streaming through a basement window could cause them to sprout-so the darker the better. Keep you potatoes in small mounds instead of one giant pile to allow air circulation to get around each potato to prevent condensation and spoilage.

20. Pumpkins: Pumpkins get about the same storage treatment as squash does. But pumpkins have thinner skin so they will need a little more humidity in the air, around 70-75%. Make sure that when you are harvesting the pumpkins that you don’t break the stems off. They keep better with them on. Store in a cool place, tucked under the staircase to the basement or cellar, or on shelves. Be careful piling in crates as the stems could break and bruising could occur.

21. Winter Radishes: Trim off the tops of the radishes as close to the top of the plant as possible. Store them as you would your carrots, either in boxes of soil, or layered in sawdust, sand, or moss. They need to be kept damp and cold, so covering them is absolutely necessary. When stored in the fall these should last up until February.

22. Rutabagas: Keep them moist and stored in damp sand, sawdust or moss. You can also apply beeswax on them to prevent moisture from escaping their skins, causing them to shrivel up. They should last 2-4 months in storage in your cellar.

23. Soybeans: For fresh use, keep the soybeans in their pods and store them in a cool dry place at 35-40 degrees F, with 60-70% humidity. You can also dry your soybeans for storage.

24. Squash: Test your squashes by scratching them with your fingernail. When you can’t leave a mark, that means their skins have hardened enough and they are ready to be picked. Same as for your pumpkins, do not break off the stems, leave on or the squash will not last long in storage. If some happen to snap off by accident, cook those first, or coat the stems spot with beeswax to prevent it from rotting. After you pick the squash you need to cure them. The only exception to the curing process is Acorn Squash. They like low temps and should not be cured at all. The others should be left in the sun or kept near a warm spot like your fireplace, for about 10-14 days. This will cause the squashes to lose more moisture in their skins, toughening them further. Store them in temps around 50-65 degrees and around 60-70% humidity. Store on shelves, or in a single layer on newspaper or hay. Do not put in piles or they will bruise.

25. Tomatoes: Harvest your late tomatoes while they are still green, a dark green shiny color. Keep in storage in your cellar at temps of around 55-60 degrees F. Too cold will halt their ripening process completely. This temp will just stall the ripening for several weeks until you are ready to use them. You can also pull up the vine plants whole with the green tomatoes still on them and hang them in your cellar. There are still nutrients and vitamins in the vines that make the tomatoes last longer and ripen up. Make sure the vines are completely dried or they will rot. At best your late tomato crop brought to ripen indoor slowly should last you about 4-6 weeks.

26. Turnips: Store these the same as carrots and radishes- in damp sand, sawdust or moss. Make sure you cut off their tops as close to the plant as possible.

The old-fashioned yet timeless scarecrow makes an excellent defense against birds of all types. When you are making your own for your garden, make sure that the figure is able to sway slightly in the wind (to look like it’s alive), hang shiny foil strips from it’s sleeves to be the hands, and make the face out of an aluminum pie tin. 

Also it is a good idea instead of just planting one seed, to plant 3 in each hole-One for the ground, one for the bird, and one for the bug. They also sell now netting that you can either throw over your fruit trees or that you can stretch across your veggie rows.

Oh Deer

This was my parents’ greatest garden nemesis growing up. Deer are pretty enough to watch when they are grazing on the lawn in the morning or early evening, but if you see them one day slowly destroying your pea patch, you suddenly get a craving for some Bambi Burgers.

What my folks did was to get electric fencing and put that around both their large garden beds. The only downside is that you have to remember to turn it off before you go into weed or pick some veggies and it will obviously cause your electric bill to go up.

To avoid the cost and getting zapped, a simple fence will do the trick, as long as it is high enough to prevent the deer from jumping over it. Around your garden's edge sink in heavy sturdy poles and stretch 4' tall fencing (chicken wire works well) around the perimeter.

Make sure the wire goes all the way to the bottom to prevent smaller rodents like rabbits and squirrels from getting in. You can even attach to the top of your fence some barbed wire to prevent any Olympic high jumping feats.

You’d also be surprised what you can use both cheaply and effectively to prevent deer from demolishing your vegetables. Some examples are human hair, human urine (have the husband and boys take a leak around the perimeter for fun), rotten eggs, park the dogs outside, or simply spray their favorite garden snack with some hot pepper spray.

Gophers

Besides destroying your lawn with their tunnel network and making riding the lawn mower both bumpy and futile, they also managed to find a way to make your life a living hell by finding their way into your garden.

You could go the route of trying traps, poison bait and gases. Your local gardening store will have these, but I don’t like to use anything that could accidentally kill the good animals that mean no harm or the house pets.

Another option is digging down 2’ around the entire perimeter or your garden and sinking into the ground a “wall” of hard plastic.

Castor beans work great, they are poisonous so gophers avoid them at all costs. Try planting them between your rows or plants if you have a serious gopher problem and are out of options.

You could avoid these critter problems by just getting a young hungry cat that you keep outdoors, like a barn cat, where it gets most of its food from hunting. Also, you can spread some poison, but again be careful where you put the poison so it doesn’t kill something else by accident.

Moles

These furry creatures like to make their tunnels close to the surface. You can recognize their mounds by the volcano shape with the hole in the center. Like gophers, they will avoid castor beans because they are poisonous, so interplant those between your veggies. 

There is another plant they hate, called the Mole Plant (Euphorbia lathyris). This plant self-seeds the next year, making your life a little easier. Also, castor beans, even if you take the plant out of the ground, the mole-repelling effect lasts for quite a bit of time afterward.


These cute and cuddly pests hate two plants, Alliums and Mexican Marigolds. Plant lots between rows. Also like the fencing mentioned above, make sure that if it’s chicken wire it’s small enough so they can’t squeeze through and straight to the ground so they can’t wiggle underneath.

Raccoons

These are tricky to prevent getting into your crops. They love to climb up trees, fence posts, anything really, to drop in and eat your plants. One thing that does attract them is compost heaps.

So make sure yours is tightly covered with a lid or has been recently turned over with the soil on the top and the kitchen scraps buried below. No scents are key! Also if you do have a big raccoon problem in your area, don’t put your compost near your garden. Keep it a safe distance away. 

They are also excellent diggers, so it is a good idea to dig down a couple feet around your perimeter and sink the chicken wire in.

Snails and Slugs

These slimy fiends are easy enough to prevent. You can save your eggshells from the kitchen, crush them to a fine powder, and sprinkle them in your garden beds where you find most of these slimy things.