Winter
for many gardeners is a necessary quiet season and period of rest after
the active outdoor spring-summer-fall months. December, although busy
with shopping and holiday celebrations, is the perfect month to dream
about spring gardening and enjoy the respite.
One of the ways I
gather information and inspiration is to listen to garden podcasts. It
is an easy and relaxing way to pass the time while cleaning seed trays
or watering house plants.
Listening
to podcasts is an easy and relaxing way to pass the time while cleaning
seed trays or watering house plants. (Provided by Betty Cahill)
The
podcast world is dynamic, with many offering accompanying videos to
view (stream) on social media sites. They can be almost as useful for
some gardeners as a trowel.
The same rules apply to podcasts as
any online gardening tips: There can be anything from exceptionally
credible, science-based facts to opinionated, untested, “advice.”
Regional garden podcasts often focus on plants and soil conditions that
are specific to their locations; However, most of the nationally
recognized garden personalities often include Western U.S. plant-related
information.
Podcast hosts are generally funded by companies that
sell products and services, so expect brief commercial breaks. A tip:
Download the podcast to your phone and listen while wearing portable
headphones or hands-free ear buds.
The list of garden podcast
topics is extensive. Some podcast personalities take gardening questions
and may have topic-specific expert guests. Other podcasts cover
seasonal topics, including everything from rock gardening to birding
(the sky is literally the limit).
Some of the most popular garden podcasts in 2024 were “The Joe
Gardener Show” with Joe Lamp’l; “Let’s Argue about Plants” from Fine
Gardening Magazine, with editors Danielle Sherry and Carol Collins; “A
Way to Garden,” with Margaret Roach; “Garden Basics” with Farmer Fred
(Fred Hoffman); and “The Beet: The Podcast for Plant Lovers,” with
Kevin Espiritu.
Some of my favorites are the British podcasts,
even though our growing conditions and plant choices can differ. You’d
be surprised at how often they have similar plant ailments and garden
pests to our region of the country. The Brits not only have great
accents, but also their pet names for certain plants like “veg” instead
of vegetables is endearing. My two favorites, which are also in many of
the top garden podcast lists, are BBC Radio Ulster’s “Gardener’s
Corner” with David Maxwell and BBC Radio 4’s “Gardener’s Question Time”
with Peter Gibbs.
Wishing everyone a merry and bright holiday season and
splendid New Gardening Year. Thank you for “tuning in” to my garden
articles all these years. More to come in the New Year.
Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in the Rocky Mountain Region.
If you're like me you take your online internet searches with a grain of salt and have been since dial up replaced high speed. Clicking, navigating and moving a mouse to find a garden related website or "surf the web" are as common and easy today as putting on your garden clogs. Thank goodness.
What makes the internet more fun and educational for a gardener is when a new website is found that covers the soup to nuts about your love of fill in the blankplantor garden topic. Perusing garden websites will never replace the action and satisfaction of being in the garden planting and toiling, but it sure can help pass the winter months.
Rose shrubs are one of my favorite fill in the blank plants. Recently the Denver Rose Society introduced their brand new, much improved website. Find it HERE.
Wow was all I could say when I first opened the link and began scrolling and clicking on articles and information faster than downing a cool glass of water on a hot August day.
The site is beautiful (it would have to be wouldn't it with the subject of roses ... yea baby). What I especially like is finding everything needed on the homepage and easily being able to pick and choose where to click next. You will find out exactly who, what, where and why in one convenient scroll.
Find out for yourself right now, here's the link again - the Denver Rose Society.
Congratulations and great job Kelly S. and all the member volunteers who made it happen.
Mulch can guard against soil heaving (rising up from the roots),
from temperature fluctuations, and prevent soil erosion where there is
open soil like the vegetable garden. (Betty Cahill, Special to The
Denver Post)
In
a gardener’s mind, going back to standard time means getting the
outdoor chores finished earlier in the day, before the sun goes down.
That’s typically not a problem, unless snow gets in the way.
Here
are a couple of November ideas that will help your trees and other
plants get through the winter with less stress, plus an easy outdoor
container planting idea that you will thank me for next spring.
Tree wrap warmth
Giving
trees a leg up with an insulation wrap of protection around the trunk
each fall is worth the 10 or so minutes it takes to do. (Betty Cahill,
Special to The Denver Post)
The Denver area has
well over 200 sunny to partly sunny days all year — with few complaints
from Coloradans. Trees, on the other hand, from fall to spring can
experience sunscald and frost cracks from sunny days with warm daytime
temperatures followed by cold nights. This condition can be damaging for
young and newly planted deciduous trees, including oak, maple, linden,
willow, honey locust and fruit trees. Thicker bark insulates older trees
so they are less prone to winter sun and temperature-related issues.
Over
the winter months, sunscald can result from the cells in the young tree
tissue warming up during the day, usually on the south and southwest
side of trees. At night, or with quick, cold temperature changes, the
cells can freeze and die, resulting in tree injury. Frost cracks can
happen when the tender bark freezes and thaws with temperature changes,
leading to bark cracks and splitting. These conditions may harm the
tree’s future health and its ability to ward off disease and pest
insects.
Giving trees a leg up with an insulation wrap of
protection around the trunk each fall is worth the 10 or so minutes it
takes to do. Keep this up for the first three or four years of a tree’s
new life.
Use a wrap designed for trees available at your local
garden center and online. Start wrapping at the base of the tree,
overlapping 33% with each turn, so there aren’t gaps that can cause it
to sag and fall away over the winter. Wrap up to the lowest branches of
the tree. Secure the top with flexible ties or tape, avoid attaching the
tape to the actual tree bark.
Remove the wrap in April, keeping it on longer than that may
contribute to harboring insects or disease. (Wrap left on too long can
also girdle the tree, which is never good.)
Mulch matters
Another
plant protection and insulation recommendation over the winter is using
mulch around new perennial plants, trees and shrub roots, and bulb
plantings. Mulch can guard against soil heaving (rising up from the
roots), from temperature fluctuations, and prevent soil erosion where
there is open soil like the vegetable garden. The best time to apply
winter mulch is after the ground has frozen in the fall, or if the
ground doesn’t freeze then after several nights of temperatures below
freezing.
There are many options for mulch: grass clippings, chopped
leaves, weed free straw, wood mulch, arborist wood chips and pine
needles. Apply to a depth of 2 to 4 inches. Keep all mulch materials a
few inches away from the base of woody plants to prevent moisture from
being too close to the trunk. Mulch can be removed once consistent
warmer temperatures remain in spring.
Hyacinth heaven scent
Place
an arrangement of hyacinth bulbs (or other bulbs of your choosing) on
top of the potting soil pointy side up. (Betty Cahill, Special to The
Denver Post)
For indoor hyacinth color and
fragrance next year, use one of your favorite outdoor, easy-to-move
decorative containers, or a soft-sided fabric one that fits inside a
container. Fill the container with fresh potting soil, leaving a few
inches at the top. Place an arrangement of hyacinth bulbs (or other
bulbs of your choosing) on top of the potting soil pointy side up. Add
more potting soil to cover the bulbs and water the container well.
Sink
the container in a raised bed or ground-level soil. (Squirrels
generally do not go for hyacinth bulbs.) Use critter repellent or an old
window screen or wire over other bulbs they do like, such as tulips,
for anti-squirrel insurance.
Sinking the container in soil
protects it all winter from being exposed to freeze/thaw cycles, which
can damage the bulbs. In 16 to 18 weeks after the required cold
temperatures that hyacinths need, remove the container, brush back a bit
of the topsoil, clean the sides and bring it indoors, where the bulbs
will bloom in a couple of weeks and pleasantly waft the house with
fragrance and joy. Keep the soil moist, not soggy, when the container is
indoors.
If you prefer not planting the bulbs outside in a
container, keep them consistently chilled at 40 degrees for three
months. After that time, pot them up and enjoy spring’s arrival in your
home.
Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in the Rocky Mountain Region.
I’m not referring to our four-legged furry friends after their morning
patrol of the yard.
“Boxelder bugs are a little creepy and seem to appear out of nowhere” says
Alison O’Connor, Colorado State University Extension Specialist Horticulture in
Larimer County, “they like to wander into living rooms to get warm when fall
weather starts to cool. They just want to survive through the winter.” The good
news is that “they don’t bite, they are just a nuisance.”
Let’s look at boxelder bugs (Boisea trivittata) up close, their
host trees and some recommended control methods that may help get you through
their season of annoying behavior.
What are Boxelder Bugs
It is easy to collectively call any insect a bug, but technically there
are bugs that are called true bugs. One big distinction of true bugs to other
insects is their specialized mouth part for eating. True bugs, like boxelder
bugs have a long beak shaped
like a needle. This is technically called a proboscis, which acts like a straw allowing
them to pierce, then suck juices out of plants and animals (you’re reading and
thinking, great … just in time for Halloween).
Even though many true bugs including boxelder bugs are considered
pests, there are a third of true bugs that are superheroes in our landscapes as
they prey on other pest insects. Other beneficial bugs include damsel bugs, bigeyed bugsand assassin bugs.
Boxelder bugs can be found throughout the western states. Their life
span is about one year. They are oval shaped, about ½ inch long, black brownish
in color with red stripes on their thorax (central portion of the body) and
wing margins. Their body is also bright red. Boxelder bugs lay rusty colored
eggs on female boxelder trees (Acer negundo) in spring and again in late summer.
The small nymphs hatch from the eggs in about two weeks; they are also bright
red in color.
Nymphs and adults feed on leaves and soft seeds of female boxelder
trees, (Acer negundo) and sometimes ash trees (Fraxinus) and maples (Acer spp).
Feeding happens all summer, and surprisingly they mostly do not do great damage
to their host trees. If bug numbers are excessively high tree leaves can curl
and prematurely drop.
As cooler fall weather approaches boxelder bugs begin to aggregate in
warm areas like south and west facing buildings, houses, the base of their host
tree, firewood piles, landscape mulch and rock walls. A noticeable odor can
occur when groups of boxelder bugs gather and if and when they are crushed.
Photo by Nancy Downs, Colorado Master Gardener, Denver County
Not all boxelder trees attract the bug. One popular male boxelder tree
cultivar is called ‘Sensation’ and does not produce seeds, so it is not attractive
to boxelder bugs. Plus its fall leaf color is an attractive red.
Boxelder Tree Identification
Photo by Nancy Downs, Colorado Master Gardener, Denver County
Box elder trees are native to Colorado and many other states. They are
fast growers, rounded to irregular shaped, growing up to fifty feet tall. They
are tolerant of heat, drought, cold, and wet conditions, they can certainly
take tough CO growing conditions.
Boxelder trees are prolific in the metro area, especially older
neighborhoods. Female trees produce small green-yellow flowers in spring. The
best way to identify them is to examine their leaves and seeds on female trees.
Notice the leaf arrangement. Boxelder tree leaves are compound in structure,
meaning there are three to seven leaflets attached to the mid-vein, plus the
leaves are opposite each other along the branches. The fruit, called winged
nutlets, ripen in August to September and shed through the fall and winter
which often lead to more boxelder trees.
Photo by Nancy Downs, Colorado Master Gardener, Denver County
Boxelder Bug Controls
The first and most obvious control the bugs is to keep them out of
homes and buildings by making sure outside cracks around windows, doors,
crevices and any possible openings are repaired, sealed and caulked if needed.
If they get inside they are easy to remove and toss. I use a tissue to grab and
crush them. A mild soapy water spray can be used on them too which makes for an
easy clean up.
Natural enemies of boxelder bugs are not dependable. Rodents may eat a
few but the red coloration and taste when crushed make them a last resort, same
for birds.
“Use of chemical sprays in homes is risky and not recommended,” says
Alison O’Connor at CSU. Boxelder bugs will not breed inside homes or cause
damage other than possibly leaving a little stain on surfaces. Just remove them
when seen. Also, “boxelder trees do not require spray controls either since
tree damage from bug eating is mostly minimal.”
I notice that groups of boxelder bugs congregate in a sunny mulch area
on the southwest side of our yard so I hose down the mulch every few days and
drown them. Also be sure to clean up leaves and yard debris around homes to
prevent them from nesting through the winter.
Garden
Friend - I thought you
might like to read my recent garden article that ran in The Denver Post on preserving the garden harvest. The article is co-authored with my editor Barbara Ellis. A fun project!
One
of my favorite childhood memories is the attention I got from my mom
when I wasn’t feeling well. She’d keep me home from school and feed me
comfort food. This included her chicken soup and buttered toast,
followed by preserved peaches. That fruit went down so smoothly that any
ache was immediately soothed, and all but guaranteed a speedy recovery.
Jars of Palisade peaches, fresh out of the canner. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)
Memories
of her canning efforts are etched on the front burner of my brain: her
stern scooting of me and my older sister out of the kitchen so we
weren’t harmed by hot jars and sticky stuff. She stored the canned goods
on a long, rough-hewn shelf in the basement next to assorted garden
tools and seed-starting containers. I still dream about the perfectly
aligned, incandescent jars of canned peaches, tomatoes, pickles and, in
some years, sweet cherries from the Flathead Valley in northwest
Montana. — Betty Cahill
A preserving primer
Preserving
home-grown food never goes out of style. There’s “renewed interest in
preserving since so many people took up gardening in 2020,” according to
Laura Griffin, county extension specialist for Colorado State
University in Pueblo. Plus, with the closeness of grocery stores,
farmers markets and seasonal farm stands, you don’t have to travel far
to find home-grown produce to preserve without the effort of growing it
yourself. The hardest decision to make is what vegetable and fruit you
wish to preserve and the best method within your time and budget to
preserve them.
Griffin’s advice is to “follow tested recipes
explicitly for the highest quality and safe outcome, and if you have any
questions to reach out to a Colorado State University Extension Office
to speak with a food science and human nutrition extension agent for
answers.” (Check out CSU’s website Preserve Smart for methods to preserve many kinds of food.)
Another
great resource is Ball Corp., a longtime go-to for food preservation
information. Staffers there recommend using Ball’s canning books
published in 2016 and beyond for the newest and latest safety and
home-preservation methods and recipes, or go online for up-to-date
information.
The best results in preserving come when fruits,
herbs and vegetables are harvested at their peak. Toss or compost any
that are damaged, bruised or over- or under-ripe. If the fruit or
vegetable doesn’t taste good after harvest, the flavor won’t improve
after the preservation process.
Preservation methods
Besides canning (water bath and
pressure), common ways to preserve food include freezing, fermenting,
drying, pickling and making them into jam or jelly.
Freezing
vegetables is an easy preservation method. The general rule is to
blanch them first, which means to immerse washed vegetables briefly in
boiling water. Blanching helps prevent loss of color, texture and
flavor. Times vary per vegetable. Once blanched, plunge them into cold
water to immediately stop the blanching process, drain and place in
labeled freezer bags.
Vegetables that can be blanched and frozen include beans
(green, snap, wax, lima, butter, pinto), cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels
sprouts, peas, carrots, kohlrabi, rhubarb, summer squash, sweet corn,
tomatoes and peppers. Be sure to fully cook beets, pumpkins, winter
squash and sweet potatoes before freezing.
When I don’t have time
to use the water bath canning method for my home-grown tomatoes, I
blanch and freeze them in heavy-duty, gallon-sized plastic bags.
For
fresh fruits: Wash, stem, dry and freeze on cookie sheets first, then
store in freezer bags. Try blueberries, blackberries, huckleberries,
elderberries, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, currants and
rhubarb.
Drying or dehydrating removes moisture
from food so bacteria, yeast and mold won’t grow. Food dehydration
equipment and ovens are most often used. The short list of foods that
dry well include apples, peaches, pears, tomatoes, grapes, plums and
herbs.
Fermentation is where fruits or vegetables
are cured in salt or brine for a week or longer to help the food
produce lactic acid, which preserves the food and serves as a probiotic.
Canning. Water
bath canners are made of either aluminum or porcelain-covered steel and
are used directly on stove-top burners. The newest canners on the
market are free-standing, electric stainless steel with built-in heat
sensors. Either works well, so choose which canner suits you.
An electric water bath for canning. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)
The
preserving process of water-bath canning is to force air out of the jar
and create an environment to keep out microorganisms that cause food
spoilage. It is recommended for high-acid foods including tomatoes,
pickles, sauerkraut, peaches, pears, apricots, plums, lemons,
gooseberries and blackberries.
New canning research indicates some
foods are less acidic so additional acidic ingredients should be added
(lemon juice or white vinegar; see individual recipes). Laura Griffin
points out that “white-flesh peaches, because of their lower acid level
compared to yellow-flesh peaches, should be frozen for safe preservation
instead of water bath canned.”
Pressure canning uses a heavy
metal kettle with a lockable lid. The canners are used to process
low-acid foods to destroy harmful bacterial spores that are present.
Low-acid foods include okra, carrots, beets, turnips, green beans,
asparagus, lima beans, peas, corn, meat and fish. Weighted gauge and
dial gauge pressure canners are the only pressure canning equipment
recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dial gauge pressure
canners need to be tested for accuracy every year. (Contact your local
Colorado county extension office for this service.)
Pickling.
Home canning to make pickled foods has been a traditional way to
preserve food for thousands of years. Pickling is a broad term for many
types of fruits, vegetables and meat that are preserved by immersing
them in a solution made of water, vinegar, salt and spices. This
pickling brine solution creates an acidic environment that prevents the
growth of bacteria, which makes the food stay fresh and tasty for a
longer time. Commonly pickled foods include cucumbers, peppers, green
beans, onions, eggs, okra and radish. Watermelon, peaches, nectarines,
chutneys and relishes can also be pickled.
Pickling cucumbers
using a hot-water canner is good to try when preserving for the first
time. My nephew Joe, who lives in Montana, was interested in pickling
his own cucumbers after trying his grandmother’s pickles. “Nothing
compares to home-grown flavor, and it is not too complicated,” he said.
Recipes for the brine can vary, but he always adds fresh dill, cloves,
white onion and pepper corns. (See one recipe from Ball below.)
Supplies to pickle garden cucumbers. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)
Grow
your own pickling cucumbers, which have a thin skin so the brine is
better absorbed. Or find a farm stand or farmer’s market with pickling
cukes, which should be refrigerated when purchased to keep them fresh
until processed. Popular pickler varieties are Excelsior, Bush, Calypso
and H-19 Little Leaf.
Ears of Colorado’s famed “Olathe Sweet” sweet corn. (Bill St. John, Special to The Denver Post)
In
the past, as I planned my Thanksgiving menu, I’ve often lamented not
freezing any of that Olathe sweet corn from the summer for my favorite
corn pudding recipe.
But this year, I’m ready. Using the
guidelines from “Keeping the Harvest,” by Nancy Chioffi and Gretchen
Mead (Storey Books), I shucked and blanched fresh Olathe corn ears for
11 minutes in boiling water, then cooled them immediately in cold water.
After draining well, I cut the kernels from the ears, packed them into
plastic bags, then labeled and froze them. Come on, November. — Barbara Ellis
Serves 12. Source: Southern Living magazine.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
6 large eggs
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup salted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons canola oil
6 cups fresh corn kernels (from 8 ears, see note)
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
2 tablespoons (or less) fresh thyme, divided
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together flour, sugar, baking
powder and salt in a small bowl until blended. Whisk together eggs,
cream and melted butter in a medium bowl until blended.
Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add corn
and onion, and cook, stirring often, until onion is softened, about 5
minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon thyme.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir flour
mixture and corn mixture into egg mixture. Spoon into a 13-by-9 (3
quart) baking dish, and bake in preheated oven until set and golden
brown, about 40 minutes or more.
Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon (or less) thyme.
Note: You can use kernels that you froze from fresh ears during the
summer, frozen shoepeg corn from the freezer aisle, or petite white
canned corn (but use higher quality if that’s the only option). This can
be made ahead. Bake as directed, let cool, and then cover and chill up
to two days. Reheat covered with foil.
Hays House Peach Pie
Amy Brothers, The Denver Post
Hays
House Peach Pie from Hays House restaurant in Council Grove, Kan., on
August 18, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. Palisade peaches from Colorado’s
Western Slope are typically in season from late July through September.
This
is my go-to summer pie, one that my book club pals and friends clamor
for each August, when peaches start to come in from Palisade. I’ve also
made it in the winter, using peaches that I’ve canned. The color isn’t
as vibrant, but it’s still amazing. (We’ve run this recipe before, but
it’s worth telling you about it again. It’s that good.) Serve with fresh whipped cream or Cool Whip. — Barbara Ellis
Ingredients
For the crust:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
For the filling:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dry peach gelatin
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup liquid (peach juice plus water)
1 or 2 drops almond flavoring, if desired
7 or 8 peaches
Directions
Mix dry ingredients together. Add melted butter.
Press into 9-inch pie plate and up sides, but not onto rim.
Bake crust 15-17 minutes at 350 until toasty brown. Remove and cool.
Peel and slice the peaches.
In a medium saucepan, mix sugar, gelatin and cornstarch. Add the liquid (peach juice and water). Boil 3-5 minutes.
Mix the liquid with sliced peaches and put into pie shell. Chill.
Top with whipped cream.
Kosher Dill Pickle Spears
Home-grown pickles in brine, waiting to be sealed and canned. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)
When
canning pickles, the whole process of sterilizing the jars, cleaning
the two-piece caps, cutting the cucumbers, heating the pickle mix and
water bath canner took less than two hours. Loading the cucumbers and
the liquid into the jars took a few minutes more. Be sure to use a
clean, damp paper towel to wipe off any liquid from the jar rim and
threads before capping. Check the lids the next day for a good seal (the
center of the lid won’t flex at all). If they are not properly sealed,
eat the pickles right away, and refrigerate spears not eaten and use
within a few days. There are many brining spice mix recipes out there;
my nephew Joe always uses fresh dill, cloves, white onion and
peppercorns. — Betty Cahill
This recipe is for “a classic pickle with big flavor and plenty of crunch,” according to Ball. Source: Ball Mason Jars. Yield: about 4 pint jars.
Ingredients
2½ pounds 3- to 4-inch pickling cucumbers
2½ cups water
2 cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup pickling salt
Ball Pickle Crisp (available at most supermarkets and WalMart)
4 cloves garlic
4 small bay leaves
12 dill sprigs
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
4 small hot peppers (optional)
Directions
Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until
ready to use, but do not boil. Wash lids in warm soapy water and set
aside with bands.
Wash
cucumbers and hot peppers in cold water. Slice 1/16 of an inch off the
blossom end of each cucumber; trim stem ends so cucumbers measure about 3
inches. Cut cucumbers into quarters lengthwise.
Combine water, vinegar, sugar and salt in a small stainless saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat to simmer.
Place
1 garlic clove, 3 dill sprigs, ½ teaspoon mustard seed, 1 bay leaf, 1
red pepper, and Ball Pickle Crisp (if desired) into a hot jar. Pack
cucumber spears into jar, leaving a ½ inch headspace. Trim any cucumbers
that are too tall.
Ladle
hot brine into a hot jar leaving a ½ inch headspace. Remove air
bubbles. Wipe jar rim. Center lid on jar and apply band, adjust to
fingertip tight. Place jar in boiling-water canner. Repeat until all
jars are filled.
Water
must cover jars by 1 inch. Adjust heat to medium-high, cover canner,
and bring water to a rolling boil. Process pint jars 15 minutes,
adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat and remove cover. Let jars cool 5
minutes. Remove jars from canner; do not retighten bands if loose. Cool
12-24 hours. Check lids for seal, they should not flex when center is
pressed.
Tips:
Pickling cucumbers are small, crisp, unwaxed, and needn’t be peeled.
Wide-mouth jars aren’t essential for pickles, but they do make for
easier packing.
Home-grown blackberries can be frozen and used in pies or made into jam. (Getty Images)
Blackberry Pie
I’ve
been growing blackberries for years. Even though the yield isn’t what
it used to be, I still manage to freeze a couple of quart bags of
berries each summer to use in this pie (or for blackberry jam; see
recipe at kraftheinz.com). I got this pie recipe from neighbor Joyce,
who loved it so much that it became part of the cookbook compiled by her
large Iowa family. You can use your own crust recipe, but this one from
Betty Crocker is the bomb. — Barbara Ellis
Ingredients
For the crust:
2 2/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter-flavored Crisco shortening
7-8 tablespoons cold water
For the filling:
4 cups blackberries (frozen OK)
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons cornstarch (or more if thawed berries are too watery)
3 pats butter
Vanilla or berry ice cream for serving (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 425.
Defrost 4 cups frozen berries in the microwave, 50% power for 4-6 minutes (adjust for your microwave).
In a medium bowl, mix sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch. Add berries, partially frozen. Set aside.
Make the crust: Mix flour and salt, then cut in Crisco. Add cold
water 2 tablespoons at a time. Roll out bottom crust into 9-inch pie
plate. Add berries and top with pats of butter. Roll out top crust,
cover and seal edges. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 30 minutes. Cover
crust with foil to prevent burning and bake for 10 more minutes.
Grape Jelly
Concord grapes hanging from vines. Juice them and make grape jelly that lasts all year long. (Getty Images)
Concord
grape vines meander along the south side of my Congress Park home. LOTS
of grape vines. Even after the squirrels have had their way with them,
there are still enough berries left to make several batches of grape
jelly.
I use a stovetop juice steamer to get the liquid out of
those sweet little gems. Many grape jelly recipes call for adding water
when using store-bought grape juice, but with fresh grapes it’s not
necessary. We’re using the traditional water bath canning procedure
here. (Be careful not to burn yourself with that scalding jelly.)
After
it sets, store the jars in a cool place. Best if used within a year. Or
fancy up a few of the little darlin’s and put ’em in a cute basket.
Voila! Christmas gifts for the neighbors. — Barbara Ellis
Makes about 8 half-pint jars. Source: Sure-Jell and food.com. (Find lots of recipes for fruit jams and jellies using Sure-Jell at kraftheinz.com.)
Ingredients
5 cups grape juice (from about 3 1/2 pounds of ripe Concord grapes)
1 (1 3/4 ounce) box of Sure-Jell pectin
1/2 teaspoon butter or margarine
7 cups sugar, measured and set aside
Directions
Make the grape juice using clean washed grapes (pick out leaves and
stems before juicing). If not using a juice steamer, slip skins from 3
1/2 pounds of grapes. Mix grape pulp and 1 cup cup water in saucepan.
Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 5 minutes. Press
through sieve to remove seeds.
In large pan, bring 5 cups of grape juice, fruit pectin and butter
or margarine (to reduce foaming) to a full rolling boil for 1 minute,
stirring constantly.
Stir in sugar all at once, and bring back to a full rolling boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat. Skim off foam with metal spoon.
Ladle
immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of tops.
Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands
tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner.
(Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if
necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 minuites or
longer. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely.
After jars cool, check seals by pressing middles of lids with finger.
(If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is
necessary.)
Label and store in a cool place for up to 18 months.
