Land of Fruits and Nuts – Day 9 – What the heck am I doing and cookbook porn

Okay, so today I woke up and wondered what the heck am I doing with 6 acres of land covered with fruit trees and vegetables and other stuff. How am I going to do something with the bounty? The avocados hanging on the trees mock me. We can’t sell them at a Farmer’s Market unless… [Continue Reading]

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Land of Fruits and Nuts – Day 8 – Sweet Marmalade

I’m still trying to use the oranges that are hanging on – the end of the season’s crop. I’ve got fresh blooms and new fruit starting, but we haven’t harvested all of this year’s crop. Mostly because it is all just a little too overwhelming here on our farm. I mean really, I’m a suburban… [Continue Reading]

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Land of Fruits & Nuts – Day 7 – Taking a Canning Class and More

Before I get too far along in my adventure here at the Land of Fruits and Nuts, I wanted to share information about a class I took at the Institute of Domestic Technology, rediscovering the future of home economics. I took Foodcrafting 101. We learned a Twenty-One Hour boule recipe (delicious), how to make fresh… [Continue Reading]

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Land of Fruits and Nuts – Day 6 – Loquat Jelly

As I explained in my prior post, I had tons of loquats and wanted to use them for something, anything really. I stumbled across a recipe for loquat jelly, and was determined to make it. The day before (Day 5 if you are keeping track), I made loquat juice by de-seeding the loquats, boiling them… [Continue Reading]

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Land of Fruits and Nuts – Preserving the Harvest – Day 5 – Loquats & Loquat Jelly

It is May 6, 2013, and loquat trees hang heavy with fruit in Southern California. Driving home from picking up my kids from after school care, we pass 6 or 7 trees in our relatively short drive just covered with fruit – trees that are in the area between a house and the sidewalk. It… [Continue Reading]

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