On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 12:13:08 +0000, K wrote:

lloyd writes
Have a few small crab apple trees with a lovely blossom in Spring but
I dread the idea of all the apples falling at the end of the year, so
I cut off many branches to keep them small. However it turns out the
crabs don't drop their apples and the wildlife is having a field day
feasting on them, especially during the snow.

Why do you dread the idea of them falling?

Ignorance. The mess in my oh so perfect garden, oh so perfect world.
But you're right, who cares. I caught on soon enough that this land is
not ours and we should share whatever we have. Now I reap the blessing
of the wildlife feeding to live on what I considered a nuisance. How
blind was I!

Presumably you know that you can make a very nice fruit jelly from crab
apples, to serve with fatty meats,

No meats for me.

or just to eat like jam?

A sweet tooth I have.

Made in the
usual fashion - boil the crabs

How many would you suggest for say, one jar?

till very soft, then strain through a
fine cloth or use a fruit press to extract juice,

Would a juicer do this?

add 1lb sugar for
every pint of juice, boil until a small drop on a cold plate wrinkles
when you push it gently with your finger, then put into jars
immediately.

Thank you for that lovely recipe. This year I shall dedicate one of my
trees to this task and will call it K Jelly. Yum yum.

Two tasks already on my list for this year. Planted toms and crab
apple jam.