Jamming

Jamming experts Brent Prindle and Joanne Wojtusiak.
Home kitchen jam and jelly makers of the best kind.At the end of the day we would go home with four types of jam and jelly.
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Blueberry Jam
Rhubarb Ginger Jam
Green Apple Jelly


Green Apple Jelly
3 1/3 pounds green apples
4 2/3 cups granulated sugar
6 1/3 cups water
Juice of one small lemon

Rinse the apples in cold water. Remove the stem and cat the fruit into quarters without peeling them. Put them in a pan and cover them with water. When the apple mixture comes to a boil, simmer for half an hour over on low heat.
Collect the juice by pouring the preparation into a fine chinois sieve and pressing lightly on the fruit with the back of a skimmer. Now filter it a second time though cheese cloth, which you have wet and wrung out.

Pour 4 1/4 cups of the juice into a preserving pan with the lemon juice and the sugar. Bring to a boil, skim, and continue cooking on high heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Skim again if necessary. Return to a boil. Check the set. Pour the jelly into jelly jars and seal.

This jelly is used as pectin for low pectin fruit.


Ginger Rhubarb Jam

4 cups diced fresh rhubarb
3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine rhubarb, sugar, ginger and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Let stand until sugar is moistened by juices, about 20 minutes. Place over medium-high heat and cook, stirring, until thick and clear.
Skim off foam. Ladle into hot sterilized canning jars and seal immediately.


Blueberry Jam

Blueberries are low in acid and equal amounts of blueberries and sugar will not set without added pectin. Pectin packages contain recipes that are really sure fire and easy to follow. The one on the Ball powdered pectin product follows:


4 cups crushed blueberries (use a potato masher)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 package of dry pectin
4 cups sugar

Combine blueberries and lemon juice and gradually add pectin. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Add entire measure of sugar and stir to dissolve. Return mixture to a rolling boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and skim off foam. Ladle into clean, warm jars taking care not to spill any jam on rim.Place hot lid on top and apply ring, but not too tightly. Turn jars upside down for 5 minutes to seal. Turn right side up and check for seal by pressing down on the lid, there should be no give.



According to Joanne there are three must have books.

It was a lovely day and much was learned by all.

Jam Session

EGG-sperience Chickens

That yummy looking chicken on your dinner table? Did you ever wonder were it came from? Well we did and now we know.

First it's a little baby fuzz ball that comes in the mail. You can get mail order chicks from Murray McMurray and many other hatcheries The post office is always very eager to get them to you and will probably call repeatedly until you pick them up.
When you get them home you need to put them in a draft free box. They should have a light for warmth. Food can go on the floor for the first couple days. Water can go in jar lids. After about two days you'll need to start using feeders and waterers.
And in a few weeks they get big enough to go outside. Once they are ready to go outside there are many different styles of chicken coops to keep them in.
These are Buff Orpington pullets

and these are white broilers the same age.They are the same age but the broilers are much bigger then the layers because they are bred to grow big and fast. We would recommend that you raise a heritage breed like Kosher Kings. You can get Kosher Kings from Clearview Hatchery in PA 717-365-3234. The standard white broilers have all sorts of problems like they are prone to heart-attacks and leg issues.


If you don't like reading about slaughtering then don't read any farther.


After we had walked around and seen the set up for the live chickens we got ready to kill, pluck, gut and dress. You shouldn't feed your chickens for 24 hours before hand. When you go to bring your bird to where you're going to kill it, pick it up by its feet so the blood goes to its head and it doesn't struggle.

Then you hang them up by the feet against a flat surface. Another way that works really well is an up-side-down old traffic cone with the end cut off.

First you open the beak and then you stick your knife up through the roof of the mouth and twist it. Then you slit the bird's throat and let it bleed out.

You need to hold the bird still after you have killed it until its death throws have stopped.
If you're using cones you don't need to worry about this.

Once the bird is dead it's time to pluck it.
We scald them first so the feathers come out easier (it also makes the bird stink wretchedly, but it really helps with the feathers so it's worth it). The water should be about 180F. It helps to put some dish soap in to break the natural waterproofing on the bird's feathers. They're done when you can pull tail and wing feathers out. If you scald them to long they start to cook and then the skin rips when you are plucking.



Now it is time to clean and dress them.

The first step is to take the head off.
You cut a ring around base of the head cutting through the muscles and tendons. Then you grab the head and twist it off. DO NOT try to cut the bone. It kills your knife.

Once the head is gone next comes the feet. You put the bird on its back. Then you take one of the legs and bend it backward so you can see the joint. You'll see two sets of two round lumps and you cut right in between them.
The joint will separate, so you don't need to cut the bone.


Next flip the bird back over onto its front. Then slit the skin on the neck starting from in between the wings.

Use your fingers to separate the skin and gland from the neck and then the glands from the skin.
Then you make another ring like the one you made to remove the head at the bottom of the neck. Once again NO CUTTING BONE. And break and twist the neck off.

While the bird is on its front it's time to remove the oil gland.
They are on top of the tail.

Now it is time open the cavity. Flip the bird onto its back. You make a small cut across horizontally and then use your fingers to finish it. Be careful not to cut the intestines. Then you cut down and around the anus in a horseshoe shape.
Next you reach in with two fingers and loosen every thing from the top of the cavity.
Once everything's free from the top you reach forward to the front of the cavity. You'll feel a small hard lump. It's the heart. Grab around it and pull.

Everything should come out.


After all the guts are out you can pick out and save the heart, liver and gizzard. When taking the liver remove the gall bladder. Do not break it!! It will taint the meat and make it bitter.

The only thing that won't come out are the lungs. You need to reach back in and get them. The lungs are attached in the front of the cavity on either side of the backbone. Use your fingers in a hooking motion and they should come out.

That should be everything, just check and make sure. Then hose the bird out well.

Keep the bird in you frig at least 24 hours before you cook it.

Yummy dinner!

Organic Gardening

At 10:30 a group of back yard gardeners gathered in the Local Farm barn. With excavations underway we felt and smelt four different kinds of soil.
Then we put a blend of the four in pots. A little sand on the bottom for drainage and then the dirt.
After we a filled our pots we went over to a table on which Debra had three plants for us.

Monarda

Lemon Balm
Wooly Mint
Each family could take one or two of each.

After we had our plants we put a few leaves of lemon balm and mint into jugs of cold water so that by lunch we would have a cold refreshing tea.


Then we trekked out to the garden.
Debra had cold-frames set up with Mitzuna, Chamomile and Borage growing in them, we could take one or two of these as well.

Debra has cleared her garden using various methods, where the cold frames are she had kept chickens in a coop.

We put out a sheet of black plastic to kill the sod. In the plastic we poked holes and planted baby squash plants.
After that we went back to the barn and had a lovely lunch.

When we were done with lunch we went back out to the garden and planted some seeds.
A friend is raising young plants for sale and brought the back of her car full.



Dear Friends:

We have many plants for sale this season. Click on our website for a list of plants.

www.perryhillfarm.com

Perry Hill Farm grows plants very differently. Our seedlings are grown in our own compost, made from our organically fed livestock's manure instead of a sterile potting mix. Our soil is not tilled, which is better for the environment. Our produce is grown in permanent raised beds and is co-planted with mutually beneficial plants. We have a garden insectary, which is small garden plot of flowering plants designed to attract beneficial insects. Those beneficial insects devour many common garden pests. This natural approach, combined with co-planting is Perry Hill Farm's safe alternative to pesticides.

We want to make gardening easier for you. Each plant is grown in a CowPot ready to be put into the dirt. No need to pull the plant from the pot to disturb it's roots....you plant the whole thing! CowPots are made nearby in Connecticut and of course, the plants are grown right here at Perry Hill! For more information on Cow pots please see link at the bottom of this email.

Pricing:

Large six packs of plants are $4.49 each.

5" pots are $3.99 each

Our main goal for the farm is environmental stewardship, while producing organically grown food and plants. We do not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers and use sustainable practices. We have signed the NOFANY farmers pledge and we are working towards our certification with the USDA. Many of the plants are open-pollinated heirloom varieties and the seeds were purchased from Turtle Tree Seeds or High Mowing seeds. All of the purchased seeds are certified organic and even some are bio-dynamically certified. A few of the plants were propagated at Perry Hill Farm.

Call or email me to arrange to pick up the plants. vharkness@perryhillfarm.com 845.877.7021

CowPots

From CowPots website:

Created by two ingenious dairy farmers, CowPots are a revolutionary pot made with 100% renewable composted cow manure. CowPots are manure-fiber based seed starter pots, which allow for unrestricted root growth creating stronger, healthier plants. These earth-friendly “pots you plant” are an exciting high-performing alternative to plastic and peat pots.

The CowPot manufacturing process removes all weeds, pathogens and odor. All that’s left is the natural fiber and goodness of manure: the perfectly plantable pot!

Please feel free to pass on this email. If you wish to not receive anymore emails from Perry Hill Farm, please let me know.

Here's to a great gardening season!
Vicki



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