Week two we focused on raspberries and apples, and on the preserving methods of canning and drying. We noted that drying as probably the first ever method of food preservation.
We took the most wonderful field trip ever to McBride Brier Patch in Mapleton, Utah, where we picked raspberries. The children had So. Much. Fun! I highly recommend this place, except that I'm not sure they're organic, if that's a must for you. The man who runs the patch was so friendly and helpful. He had little tin pails just the right size for the kids. He showed us the best places to pick to get the most berries and to stay in the shade, and to be in a spot where we could pick away and Preston could see us. He also shaved quite a bit off the price of the 8+ pounds of berries we picked. He was good to tell me how much I needed to do a batch of jam. And when we left, he had flowers we could pick for free. (Unfortunately, the flowers did not survive the trip home in the van.) Dallin proclaimed berry-picking the most fun ever and the owner the nicest man ever. Another plus, he had homeschooled grandchildren. :)
We spent one day this week drying apples. I had bigger plans for the apples--we were supposed to make apple butter, but I found I just didn't have it in me for such a big project. And then we were supposed to take the rest of the apples and dry them in the dehydrator, to compare air and heat drying methods. But I haven't had a chance to do that either. So we just dried our apples the old-fashioned way, by peeling and slicing them with holes in the middle, then sewing them in strings.
Finally came raspberry jam, the culmination of our work with harvesting and preserving.
Sugar--gotta have lots of sugar!
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