Farmerwife, As I read back through your posts, I get the impression your Dad is worried about insect problems from the unmanaged trees, which is why he wants them removed. You mentioned his reason for removing them was not aesthetics. If this is the case, I think he's made this a bigger issue in his mind than it really is. Sure there will be more insects affecting the apples vs. if they were sprayed, but I don't think there would be more insects in an unsprayed apple orchard vs. an unsprayed pasture. If you could at all talk him into it, I simply don't see any downside in just leaving the trees as they be, as an unmanaged orchard. In fact, there could be plenty of upside benefits in leaving the trees. Potential increases sales value of the home and property. Potential part-time or full-time business opportunity for another family member, or potential buyer. Most people would recognize a quick turnaround to renovating an abandoned dwarf apple orchard, vs. planting one from scratch. As much as I am reluctant to mention it, your father is nearing the end of his life (statistically speaking). The property will likely soon pass on to other family members. I believe it will be more valuable as it is, instead of bulldozing the trees. He may be quite surprised how well some of the trees do without any care. Below is a link Milehigh posted on another thread. It is a video of another pretty much abandoned orchard. There are still plenty of edible apples on the abandoned trees. Perhaps your Dad could be inspired to keep his trees from watching this man's story. If you can't talk him into keeping his trees, at least go as slow as possible in helping him destroy his orchard. Give him the maximum amount of time to change his mind. Here is a link that might be useful: PBS video of Nick Botner (86 yrs. old) and his apple orchard

Oh yes, this is a great thread, LOL. Let's see, I made some completely tasteless corn and black bean salsa, the beans just seemed to absorb everything and it tasted like eating paste or cardboard. Anyway, it was a bad idea. My pickles are always soft, except Linda Lou's sweet pickle chunks. And, as Readinglady pointed out, everyone doesn't like the same things. I don't care for dill or sour pickles at all, but Dad loves 'em, so I make them. One batch, every year. The remainder of my cukes become sweet relish and those sweet pickle chunks that I love. My worst canning experiment wa the mincemeat. Yes, the real stuff with beef and "2 pounds of suet". It was mincemeat like Dad remembered all right and every bite would coat your mouth with that lovely layer of tallow. Ewwww. It was awful and I could feel my arteries slamming shut. I've never made a spaghetti sauce that my girls liked as well as they like Prego, but that's them, LOL. I think the roasted red pepper spread needs some hot peppers, it's too bland without them. I made some really good kumquat chutney but can't figure out how the heck to use it all up, it just doesn't "go" with a lot of things. Then there was the dandelion wine..... Annie

Lots of great comments from everyone ... to which I'll add my own two cents ! 'Tradition' - indeed I learned about canning and preserving ( and many many other things ) as a young girl, spending lots of time with my own grandma. Now I am 'passing on' those canning and preserving skills ( and hopefully many many other things ) to my grand-daughter ! 'Food Quality' - Living in upstate NY, up until a few years ago there were commercial vegetable farmers offering all sorts of top quality locally grown vegetables at reasonable prices ... to the point where it was hard to justify 'growing your own'. However, in the last few years, between low priced Chinese / Vietnamese / Mexican produce sold by WalMart and FDA food safety traceability compliance issues for the commercial vegetable farmers, the farmers have switched to growing cow corn for ethanol refineries and soybeans for biofuel. What remains of 'locally grown' produce now carries an Organic label and sells at ridiculous prices. Thus today if you want to obtain 'quality' produce at affordable prices the only remaining option is to 'grow your own'. And canning / preserving what you have grown is an essential part of that 'value' equation. 'Rising Food Prices' - this summer's drought conditions are just a small part of the overall food price situation ... which is driven by global commodity prices for corn / soybeans / wheat / sugar etc. Speculator money has increasingly been flowing into commodities as a 'hedge' against EuroLand economic problems, US money printing etc., and prices for basic foods have already risen a LOT. However, food processors and food retailers have been reluctant to 'pass on' these cost increases to retail consumers for fear of 'sticker shock' ... meaning that the food processors and food retailers have been taking a hit to their profit margins. The point is being approached where the food processors and food retailers MUST pass on higher basic food / ingredient costs if they want to stay in business ... meaning that significant additional retail food price increases are already in the 'pipeline'. And obviously the higher that retail food prices rise, the easier it is to justify growing and canning / preserving your own high quality foods.

Hello Lissa, Welcome to the forum. I think you'll like it here. I hope your family's pressure canner is usable. Most pressure canners have long, long lives. It's just a matter of checking and sometimes replacing an inexpensive part or two, as long as it's a common brand. I included a link to Bejay's earlier post. She was asking about citrus pectin, but I provided a comparison to apple pectin, which is more common. Certainly you can make your own. Apples are easily available and make excellent pectin stock. Some people make a strong stock; some make apple jelly, which can then be used as regular jelly or can be used with other fruits to help them jell. If you look around the forum you'll find lots of interesting threads. When you have a question, just ask away. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Using and Preserving Natural Pectin