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Published: October 8th 2009
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Sadly, this is my last post regarding the Androscoggin Apple Co in Maine as I left there on Sunday. I have to back track a bit to catch up on my last week there. Most of the week (Monday-Saturday!) was spent making applesauce. We collected about twenty bushels that we (eventually) made into applesauce by the end of the week. Making applesauce is a looonnnngggg process, not only because of all the steps involved, but because of the amount of apples that had to be processed. I can’t even imagine doing it in a good harvest year, it would take months! My description isn’t exact, but should give you an idea of what we went through/
To make applesauce:
1. wash the apples to remove any grass, dirt, bugs, etc
2. run them through the crusher part of the antique press
3. bake the crushed apples in large pans in the oven for about 3 hours
4. scoop the baked apple chunks into the robot-coupe (an amazing machine that separates the skin, seeds and other junk from the good apple parts, spitting out applesauce into a bin and the junk into a separate bin)
5. bake the apple sauce in
large pans for another 2-4 hours until it reaches a temperature of 185 degrees or more
6. Scoop hot applesauce into hot jars, seal and box the jars!
The applesauce is heated in order to kill any bacteria that make be lurking in the sauce and so that when it is jarred, the heat self-seals the jar. This prevents any icky fungus, etc from growing in the sauce before you buy it, so it can sit on the grocery shelf for a long time without going bad. Same concept as a hot water bath, but different method.
Allen and I have had to tweak things a bit as we went along- changing temperatures, cooking times and processing methods, but by Saturday we really had an efficient system. We brought our ipods into the cider room to share our music which, thankfully, made the day a little more entertaining, despite the ENDLESS washing of dishes and cooking of apples. In the end, we made raspberry applesauce, blueberry applesauce, and regular, of course - All jarred and boxed and ready for Allen to sell to local stores and markets. When I left on Sunday Allen was super cool to send
me away with one jar of each type of applesauce we made, five half gallons of cider and five jars of raw honey from his bees!
Tuesday we also drove down to the Yarmouth area to pick up the jars from the bottle factory. We walked around in there while they were getting the order together and watched the conveyer belts carry plastic milk jugs, either labeling them or cutting them. This bottle factory makes plastic and glass bottles and jars for many of the smaller farms in the New England area, mostly dairy it seemed to me from reading the labels.
Thursday afternoon, after spending the morning making applesauce, I had some time off to myself. The kids were still at school and everyone else had errands to run or things to do, so I went for a run on the trails behind the house. I put the dogs in their orange vests (to warn hunters that they aren’t deer!), put on my ipod and sneakers and we headed out. The trails behind their house run for miles and are privately owned, so not much of the public explores there. The dogs had a blast, of course,
running like maniacs through the woods, and were a great motivation to keep me running and prevent me from getting lost. The run was awesome and got even better when I ran into a clearing that had a HUGE, pristine lake. The reflection of the mountains and trees was on the water and it was seemingly untouched, despite being on one of the main trails. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera to take a picture, but pictures probably wouldn’t have done it much justice anyway.
Saturday afternoon the whole family and I headed over to the JED collective (www.jedcollective.org) for their annual garlic gathering/apple cider party. I suggest you check out their website to understand what the collective is. This was my first experience outside of the farm with other WWOOFer-like people/places, and I was impressed. The collective is made up of young people and families working together to cultivate the land and live together in a way that is positive for them and the environment. I was impressed at how organized the house was, even with at least a dozen people living there. There were charts and boards outlining everyone’s chores and the guidelines to living there. A
house with that many people could easily be chaotic, but it seemed to all flow very nicely and give off good vibes. I imagine some of the places I may encounter on this trip will be more like a collective than a family farm, but we’ll see.
Sunday I woke up early, packed the car, and left Greene. I was sad to go. After two weeks I felt pretty comfortable at the house and with everyone and would have been happy to stay- and even come back next year if they need me and I’m available. The first farm was definitely a positive experience and set my expectations high for the sorts of great things I will encounter in the future. I am very grateful to Allen and Jenn and their family for being so welcoming and providing me with such a great experience. I hope they continue to allow WWOOFers to their farm, and wish them a great harvest next year, fingers crossed.
Sunday day was spent hanging out with Fran in Portland. I keep hearing amazing things about Portland, but I have to say I wasn’t blown away. The food we ate was delicious, and the
city was pretty cool, but it reminded me a lot of Newport (not in a bad way, just a familiar way). It was nice to see Fran, though- yay Fran!
Sunday night through Tuesday morning I spent at my aunt and uncle’s house in Portsmouth, NH. Portsmouth was on my to the next farm in NH, so it was a welcome stop along the way. They live in a really cool condo overlooking a huge draw bridge and are steps from downtown. I hung out with them, walked around town, went shopping for work gear at the Kittery outlets, and just relaxed. It was great to see some family along the way, sleep in a real bed….and do my laundry! Thanks Mimi and Rick, xoxo.
Tuesday I arrived in Plainfield, New Hampshire at the Home Hill Inn. There are several other WWOOFers here and I’m still getting my schedule worked out and figuring out what sort of work I can do here, so I’ll update everyone on that in my next entry.
Also, I have started the Twlight series. I finished Twilight and am almost done with New Moon (Thanks to Jenn who gave me books 1-3
Bribing the sheep with grain back to their pasture
The sheep ran up the hill and had to be coerced back with grain. Oh sheep. They were fun to walk with though, baa-ing the whole way. for the road!). I understand everyone’s obsession with them and look forward to seeing the movies. xoxox
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Bruce
non-member comment
So fun to hear what you're up to ...
It's so fun to hear what you're up to!