Pineapple, pectin and preserves

     There is more than one way to preserve fruits and vegetables.  Canning is the first method to come to mind. I picked up a $1.99 pineapple at the grocery store, (because I can't wait for the garden produce!), added three cups of sugar, some water and ended up with twelve half-pint jars of pineapple preserves.  I didn't add pectin.  I don't need to.  There's plenty in the fruit itself.  

     I checked the discount grocer price of a 1/4 pint jar of pineapple preserves.  They want $2.99.  So, the math is....at grocery store value, my preserves would cost $96!  Preserving fruits and vegetables yourself, even if you are purchasing the raw materials at retail, are less expensive than the ready made finished product.  So, what's the difference between store bought and mine?  

     Labeling, Price, Color and chemical preservatives.  Mine have NO chemical or other added preservatives, the lower price of bulk buying, the color natural preserves should be instead of a hollywood version requiring food coloring and I label them with a sharpie.

         While I was stirring pineapple chunks in it's own syrup, I got to thinking about other methods of preserving fruits. I have a pineapple plant in a decorative container in the garden.  Last years' pineapple has long been picked and gone, but I noticed this year, there are two stalks coming out.  I have a total of three pineapple plants and expect at least four of my own pineapples to preserve.  

Fruit Leather Recipe, How to Make Fruit Leather | Simply Recipes

www.simplyrecipes.com

I came across a recipe for fruit leather and I am going to try that next. 

Don't forget the dehydrator!  Pineapple chips are like candy chips.

     Also, as a side note:  I started cooking the pineapple after work.  When I finished filling the jars, there was some syrup left over.  That syrup went straight to the fridge for pancakes I feel I should have this weekend.  

     What was left in the pot after I poured the plain syrup into a jar was some cooked down pineapple debris and syrup.  I put it into the pan with the pork chops for tonight's dinner.  (Don't judge me!)  It tasted like a glazed ham!

This article from The Examiner gives eight easy recipes and instructions for multiple preserving methods.
http://www.examiner.com/article/preserve-pineapple-at-home-by-drying-pickling-canning-or-freezing
Paste the address into your web browser and get a quick course in saving pineapple.

     

Car Prep

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     The first step in car prep (or shall we just call it auto prep to include jeeps, trucks and SUVs?)  is to maintain the vehicle at it's optimum manufacturers recommended standards.  
     Check all fluids regularly and get on a schedule of regular oil changes.  
     Now, is a good time to learn to do it yourself.  If you don't have that technology, acquire it.  You can enroll in a local vocational class, read a book or take in a few videos from YouTube.com.

How To Change Your Oil (Full) - EricTheCarGuy

 

EricTheCarGuy  ·490 videos 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgtUDTFxOkQ

     Ask an expert friend or family member to guide you through it the first time to be sure you get it right.  The first time you succeed and realize how much of your money is still in your pocket, you may be encouraged to do it again, regularly.  Check antifreeze in the radiator and replenish or replace as suggested in the owner's manual.  If you cannot find your owner's manual, go to the maker's website and get the information there. 

     Also check brake fluid, transmission fluid, steering fluid and fill your windshield washer reservoir.  Gas it up, and you are ready to prep the trunk.

     My sister is such a girlie girl, that I sometimes worry about her.  We were talking last week and she mentioned the sad state of her hurricane supplies.  A single wind up flashlight for three people!  Seriously?   Just one!  Canned foods but no heat source.  Great you're going to eat from a can of spaghetti for two days and a single flat of water?  You are killing me!!!  I mean who raised you, yuppies?

     In the middle of my rant at her I listed car prep.  What if you are ordered to evacuate and you have no gas, and the car over heats because you never check your fluid levels?  Well, she told me her car was prepped.  I have the pictures here to prove it.  She really had given auto prep some thought.

     First, she organized her trunk and secured an auto emergency kit with battery cables, a tow rope, flashlight, first aid kit, basic tools, flares, glow sticks, fix-a-flat, and a small emergency how-to manual.  Well, good for her! I was so very proud!

     Next, she packed a pretty bag with more emergency supplies.  These are the personal supplies like feminine hygiene products, first aid kit (more band-aids), peroxide, shampoo, bug repellent, mouth wash and another small led flashlight.  I checked it.  She put batteries on her shopping list!  

      As we talked she asked me how I came to know all she needed and how to pack it and why are you taking pictures of my stuff?   I told her, you know me.  I know it all....read my blog and try to get up to speed!

      She is on a good start but not quite there.  She had two flashlights and didn't think to check for batteries.  You know, they don't come included with purchase in all models!  She is such a girlie girl!  

      Beside the basic first aid kits you can purchase, remember to add medication for headaches, pain or allergies.  Disinfectants such as hand sanitizer and wound wash should be included.  

      Add a tarp, a blanket and a towel, a pair of scissors and a good knife, some rope, a change of clothes and you will be in a better place.  

      What do you need in your part of the world?  Pack what you need.  Is it more water? more blankets? more food? tire chains? spare parts? prescription medications in a bug out bag near the car keys in the home?  pet supplies? Baby wipes or diapers? Pack what you need.

Prepare your auto.  It is your work vehicle, pleasure vehicle and your getaway vehicle.

Garden Tour

For the sake of privacy and security, I won't mention the city, but, there was a great Garden Club garden tour I was able to attend this weekend.  The tour was open to the public and a great way to introduce the community to the Garden Club and it's mission while also inspiring community spirit and fellowship.  

     The gardens were volunteered and hosted by individual homeowners.  Each homeowner presented their garden with their own personal flare.  One gardener had visitors sign in.  One gardener, took regular circular tours with 8"x11" photo print outs of the fruits that were not in season or the blooms in full bloom.  One gardener insisted you walk her yard on your own to discover the secrets hidden there.  All the gardeners were available to answer questions and no one held back on their tricks of the trade or 'secrets'. 



Everywhere there was a garden, there was an idea to take home.

Two gardens featured hydroponic that are actually stacked drip systems.  One used soil, the other a perlite growing medium with a fish emulsion pumping through the system.   Both ladies were growing two hundred plants in a space 18" x 10 '.

vertigro.com/‎

bananas and blueberries
 in mushroom compost

compost by the truckload

     We have had trouble with our blueberries growing in our sandy Florida soil.  They will survive in amended soil for a time then, suddenly fail.  answer...plant them above the soil in mushroom compost.  This gardener even named her local outlet for buying mushroom compost.  A little research online shows me this growing material is available through garden centers, landscape resource outlets, mushroom growers and even excavation companies.

papaya, collards, tomatoes, cucumber, squash, olive trees,
persimmon, peaches and an herb garden in a space twelve by twenty feet

This garden, with fish (koi now and West Nile Perch in the summer) is surrounded by seasonal flowers and room to work in some herbs.  But, in the back yard, there was a garden in a discarded wood pallet, plant tags made from pruned branches marked with a wood burner, fruit trees neatly mulched, tomatoes growing everywhere and a lovely garden featuring an edible but beautiful kale that is nice enough to grow in a front garden.  The gardeners also gave small packets of heritage seeds to everyone who visited to encourage growing non genetically altered foods.  

tin can tinman scarecrow

     Even the art gardens had something to teach a prepper.  For example, nothing is wasted.  Anything can be put to use as something else.  The tinman was a cute use for cans, but the bottles in the photo with the fence are covered with grout and pressed with shiny bits that are pretty but then....they are used as soil retention and borders that also keep in moisture.  The artist also said when the sun hits them, the colored lights dance around the yard and she has no troubles with birds pecking at the fruits or vegetables she's grown in the past.  So, pretty little scarecrows, who knew?

mosaic tiled bottle border