Thriftism

Follow along to learn how you can easily make your baby's cherry puree from your kitchen. You can choose to steam cherries, boil in a sauce pan or use an instapot.  Cherries are an excellent source of fiber and vitamin C. Adjust the liquid content to suit your desired consistency for your baby. Cherries are great for making a puree that works well for introducing a single food or adding a touch of sweetness to your combined baby food purées. By making your own baby food, you know exactly what goes into it and can avoid preservatives. We are choosing to start adding in purees at 6 months, but talk to your doctor to decide when to introduce foods into your baby's diet.  For our homemade baby food, we are using organic produce to avoid any pesticides or other chemicals being added to our baby's puree. By buying fresh fruit when it is in season, you can save money on your baby food as well as getting the highest nutritional content. Frozen cherries and dehydrated cherri...

Strawberries are great for making a super quick puree that works well for introducing a single food or adding a touch of sweetness to your combined baby food purées. By making your own baby food, you know exactly what goes into it and can avoid preservatives. We are choosing to start adding in purees at 6 months, but talk to your doctor to decide when to introduce foods into your baby's diet. For our homemade baby food, we are using organic produce to avoid any pesticides or other chemicals being added to our baby's puree. Ideally, we would grow our own, but that adds a whole lot of work to this simple process. By buying fresh fruit when it is in season, you can save money on your baby food as well!  Start by rinsing well. If you're not using organic consider doing a short baking soda soak.  Cut off any bruised or overly ripe. You'll also cut off the greens and core the strawberries. Rough chop your strawberries.  Either boil (cook down) your strawberries without ad...

The currants are ready to harvest!  How to Prune: We are going to show two ways to harvest your currants as well as how to save time by pruning or trimming your blackcurrants at the same time as picking currents. We will aim to cut out a third of the growth (the oldest canes), trim any horizontal branches and clear the weakest currant canes. Pruning is necessary to allow space for new growth as well as creating a more productive plant. By cutting out old and weak growth you allow more air circulation and sun which will minimize disease and promote fruit ripening. Be sure to prune late summer through early spring at the latest before new growth appears. This will encourage higher fruit production. Your mature currant bush should have 9-12 canes after pruning is completed. Fruit is produced on canes 1-3 years old, anything older should be removed. Currants can be harvested by cutting from branches, removing single berries, or pruning the cane holding the currants.  When to...

Join us today as we make our own black currant cassis liquor, also know as Crème de Cassis. This is a simple recipe to create a lovely black currant brandy. It is great for using up extra currants or for those with smaller currant bushes that aren’t producing enough for larger recipes. Cassis goes great alone or in martinis and other cocktails. You can also use the brandy soaked berries for a boozy dessert later!  WHAT YOU NEED:   500g black currants (4 cups berries)  500mL brandy (~2 cups)  170 g Sugar (just under 1cup)  Quart jars or other glass storage  Muddler or spoon  Wash berries and remove stems, bugs, or other debris.   Place berries in jar or storage vessel of choice.   Mash with muddler, spoon or any other kitchen utensil.   Add sugar and brandy.   Stir until sugar is dissolved.   Cover and set in sun for 1-4 months.  Shake daily.   Strain fruit out and use in a boozy black cu...