How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew (8 page)

Step 1:
Select your seeds. Chives, cilantro, dill, oregano, basil, lemon verbena, marjoram, plus all the Scarborough Fair types (parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme) will thrive on a sunny windowsill.

Step 2:
Sow your seeds. Grab as many tiny flowerpots (or even two-ounce plastic cups with drainage holes poked in the bottom) as you have seed types, label, and fill with new soil. (A loose mixture of peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite, often sold in garden stores as “potting mix,” works well.) Soak your soil thoroughly with warm water. In each pot, sprinkle a few seeds, cover with a quarter inch of soil, give it a gentle pat, and say a few kind words. Then set your pots in a shallow tray partially filled with warm water, and let them sit there for a few minutes until the top layer of soil looks wet.

Step 3:
Get your germination on. Turn each pot into a mini greenhouse by covering its top with plastic wrap, secured with a rubber band. Set your pots in a warm spot, like on top of the fridge (it doesn’t necessarily have to be bright), and watch for sprouts. It may take up to four weeks. Until then, always keep the soil damp by
periodically setting your teensy pots in a shallow water tray. When the top layer of soil looks wet, remove the pot from the tray.

Step 4:
Let the sun shine in. Once you see some sprouts, hoot and holler and dance around. Then remove the plastic, move your pots to your sunniest windowsill, and watch your herbs grow, watering (enough so that it runs out the bottom) whenever the top layer of soil feels dry to the touch.

Step 5:
After they each sprout about a half-dozen leaves, repot your healthiest herbs in bigger containers, or in a window box—anything with drainage will do. Water and mist your plants whenever the top layer of soil is dry. Just don’t overdo it. If your herbs sit in water, they’ll rot.

Step 6:
Within six to ten weeks, your herbs will be bushy, the leaves will be plentiful, and you can start harvesting! Lick your chops and pinch off the tips for use in your favorite dishes or teas.

• If you’ve got a few more bucks to spend, well, fancy you! Buy herb seedlings from your garden store and skip steps 1 through 4.
  

• Mint and oregano tend to be a little pushy, those jerks, so keep them planted in their own containers or they may take over your entire garden.
  

• Not sure which window is sunniest? Choose the one that faces south. Second best: the one that faces east or west. North-facing windows show the least love.
  

• Harvest your herbs in the morning for best flavor. Don’t feel bad about it, either. Pinching off leaves will only help more grow.
  

• Is your garden too prolific? First, yay you! Second, harvest your herbs, rinse them in cold water, and chop them up. Then put them in an ice-cube tray, filled with water, and freeze. Transfer herb cubes to ziplock bags and store in the freezer until you’re ready for use. (If you’re freezing mint cubes, try plunking them directly into your mojito!)
  

Step 1:
Pick some apples. The sweeter, the better. (Think Fujis and Golden Delicious.) You’ll also need a few lemons, or lemon juice.

Step 2:
Fire up your oven to 140 degrees (or the lowest heat possible), and wash your apples.

Step 3:
Mix equal parts lemon juice and water, and then peel, core, and slice your apples into ¼-inch-thick sections. Dunk your apple slices in your lemon water and let them soak for 5 to 10 minutes. It’ll help preserve their color.

Step 4:
Drain your apples and place each slice about ½ inch apart on a cake rack set on a cookie tray (or, if you don’t have a cake rack, just a cookie tray), and pop them in the oven. Set your timer for 5 hours. (Thicker slices may take longer.) Halfway through, ask yourself, How’s about them apples? Peek in the oven and check their progress. Flip each slice. And if some are drying faster than others, rotate the trays or shift your oven racks to help evenly distribute the
heat. You’ll know your apples are done when they’re dry and bendy, but not brittle.

Step 5:
Let your apples cool, and then throw them in a jar, seal it, and let it sit for a few days, so any remaining moisture will spread out between slices. Shake daily to prevent sticking. (If your jar gets wet, repeat step 4.)

Step 6:
Pasteurize your apples by tossing them into ziplock bags and storing them in the freezer for 48 hours. That’ll remove any excess moisture and—brace yourself—help kill any fruit fly eggs that may be hanging around.

Step 7:
Remove from freezer, and store in a cool, dark place. Your dried apples will be good for 6 months to a year, and eating them will make you feel smart.

• For an added kick, sprinkle cinnamon on your apples before drying.
  

• No lemons? You can also soak your apples in vitamin C–rich orange or pineapple juice to prevent browning.
  

• If you dry apples on a cookie tray, be sure to flip them a few times, so air can circulate around both sides.
  

• If you have a few days and the temps are in the upper 80s or higher, dry your apples in the sun. Set them on a wooden rack or a raised stainless-steel screen (so air can circulate), cover them with cheesecloth (to keep bugs off), and put them on your sunniest windowsill. Take them in at night, and repeat until dry.
  

Step 1:
Round up your supplies. You’ll need: a water-bath canner (basically a giant pot); two more big pots (one for jars, one for produce); a wire jar-rack (which prevents jar rattling and breakage); a jar-lifter (or some tongs); and enough 1-quart Ball jars, gum-sealed lids, and rings to hold your harvest. (Jars and rings can be reused but lids cannot.)

Step 2:
Wash and warm your jars by running them through the dishwasher, or rinsing them with soap and water and heating (not boiling) them in a big water-filled pot (not your canner) on your stove top. (Your jars don’t need to be sterilized because once you pack them, you’ll boil them for more than 10 minutes.) Prepare your lids according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (Some will ask you to heat them, too.)

Step 3:
Prepare your produce, using the instructions. Add lids and tightly screw on the rings to secure.

Step 4:
Fill your canner with enough water to cover upright jars by at least 1 inch, place a lid on the canner, and bring the water to a boil.

Step 5:
Once the water’s boiling, remove the lid, set your filled jars in your jar rack, and submerge them in the canner. If the water does not cover jar tops by at least 1 inch, add more
boiling
water. Your jars must
always
be fully submerged, or the contents may spoil. Boo! Replace the canner lid.

Step 6:
While maintaining a vigorous boil, set a timer for the appropriate length of boil. (See “Details, Details” for produce-by-produce recommendations.)

Step 7:
Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and wait 5 minutes. Then remove the jars from the canner using a jar-lifter or tongs.

Step 8:
Allow the jars to completely cool in an upright position for 12 to 24 hours. Remove the ring on one, hold your breath, and check the lid’s seal by pushing on its center. If it pops, the seal is no good. Either replace the lid and boil again within 24 hours, or store in the refrigerator and eat within 2 days.

Step 9:
Store in a cool, dry, dark place, away from sunshine and hungry thieves. Most canned fruits and veggies will last at least a year.

Apples:
Wash, peel, core, and slice apples. (Nineteen pounds fills seven 1-quart jars.) In a large pot, add 2¼ cups sugar to 9 cups
water and bring to boil, stirring constantly until the granules dissolve. Boil the apples in syrup for 5 minutes. Pack the slices and syrup into hot, empty jars, leaving ½ inch space at the top. Seal and boil for 20 minutes.

Peaches:
Peel, halve, and pit peaches. (Seventeen and a half pounds fills seven 1-quart jars.) Add 2¼ cups sugar to 9 cups water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the granules dissolve. Add the peaches and boil for 5 minutes. Pack the hot peaches in hot, empty jars, and cover with syrup, leaving ½ inch headroom. Seal and boil for 25 minutes.

Tomatoes:
Remove skins and halve, or if small, leave whole. (Twenty-one pounds fills seven 1-quart jars.) Pack in jars. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice to each jar and fill jar to within ½ inch of the top with boiling water or hot tomato juice. Remove any air bubbles with a plastic spatula. Seal and boil for 45 minutes.

Berries:
Eat your strawberries fresh (or turn them into jam). They’re too low in acid to can without a pressure cooker. For any other kind of berry, wash and remove stems. (Twelve pounds of berries fills seven 1-quart jars.) In a large pot, add 2¼ cups sugar to 9 cups boiling water, stirring constantly until the granules dissolve. Add ½ cup syrup to each hot, empty jar; pack with berries; then top off each jar with more syrup, leaving ½ inch space at the top. (To preserve berries without sugar, replace syrup with boiling water.) Seal and boil for 20 minutes.

• To prevent fruit from browning after cutting, soak in 1 gallon of water mixed with a teaspoon of ascorbic acid or spritz with lemon juice.
  

• To remove skins from tomatoes and peaches easily, first submerge them in boiling water for 45 seconds and then plunge them into ice water. The skin’ll slide right off!
  

• All the fruit here is packed in light syrup. To make the syrup less sweet, add 1¼ cups sugar to 10½ cups water. To make it even sweeter, add 3¾ cups sugar to 8¼ cups water.
  

• All boiling times are good at sea level. If you’re above 1,000 feet, add 5 minutes to your boil. Above 3,000 feet, add 10. Above 6,000 feet, add 15.
  

• For recipes, how-tos, and basically everything you could ever want to know about canning, visit the National Center for Home Food Preservation at
  www.uga.edu/nchfp/
  .