Hello All
I have a question and my wife has one.
Her's first; Are there apples with very high pectin content. ?We use the
apples from our Dalgo crab apple tree to make crab apple jelly but the jelly
always is a little soupy for my taste.
The last couple of years we have had a great amount of damage to the
apples on our dozen dwarf apple trees by squirrels. The sprays and soap bars
that I use to lessen dear damage has no effect on the squirrels. Does anyone
have any suggestions to control the squirrels?

Bill

"Bill726" wrote in message
...
Hello All
I have a question and my wife has one.
Her's first; Are there apples with very high pectin content. ?We use
the
apples from our Dalgo crab apple tree to make crab apple jelly but the
jelly
always is a little soupy for my taste.
The last couple of years we have had a great amount of damage to the
apples on our dozen dwarf apple trees by squirrels. The sprays and soap
bars
that I use to lessen dear damage has no effect on the squirrels. Does
anyone
have any suggestions to control the squirrels?

Bill
Apples, particularly crabs, have high pectin content. We had a Dalgo crab
that we used to make jelly and had no problems. Here are a couple of
suggestions. Don't peel. Halve or quarter, discarding stem and blossom end.
Just barely cover with water and cook until soft. Strain in a jelly bag
without squeezing the bag, which results in clouded jelly. Measure out four
cups of the juice and bring to boil. Boil five minutes and then add sugar
(3+ cups depending upon tartness.) Boil rapidly until the jelly sheets from
off a metal spoon (220 F). Remove from the heat and skim off the foam. Fill
jars and seal. You won't have soupy jelly.

As far as the squirrels are concerned, let me know if you find an organic
solution. If all else fails, try a .410 or pellet gun. ;-)

John