Colorado Gourmet: Making Fruit Purees from Fresh-frozen Fruits

Pears and other fruits can be used to make fruit purees.

Many of our best garden fruits ripen in the warm days of summer and early fall. It’s really too hot then to feel like making preserves.  Since we have freezer space, we often clean and core/pit the fruits, then freeze them for later use. We don’t remove the skins; they’ll come off easily when fruits are thawed.  We also cut the larger fruits (like pears) into ½ inch pieces.  That way they are ready for making jam or other preserves. 

Hawthorn fruits

This year produced a bumper crop of fruits in our neighborhood.  As neighbors tend to share, we were blessed with an abundance of plums, apricots, pears and peaches, in addition to our own crab apples, quince and hawthorn.  Many of the fruits this year were small – a challenge for removing the pits before freezing.  But that’s not a problem, provided you want to make juice and/or fruit puree.  

Cooking plums to make plum puree

Just place frozen fruits in a large cooking pot, barely cover with water, then heat to boiling.  After the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook at a low temperature until the fruit is soft, stirring occasionally.

Foley Food Mill

Remove the hot fruit from the stove.  If there’s lots of juice, pour off the juice and use it for making jelly or syrup.  Process the rest of the fruit mixture to create the puree.  For fruits with no/small seeds, we like to process using a Foley Food Mill (above).  This clever device allows you to easily create fruit puree from hot cooked fruit.   It’s also great for making apple sauce, pear sauce and fruit butters. You can purchase a Foley mill from kitchen stores or on-line.

  

Straining plum puree through a colander

If your fruit has large seeds (pits), you’ll need to strain the hot fruit using a colander or large sieve.  Simply push the mixture through the sieve, using a cooking spoon or scraper.  It takes a little work, but isn’t too difficult.  Discard the remaining pits/skins.

Taste the puree.  If it’s too tart for your liking, add sugar to taste.   But, unless you're making fruit leather, we suggest leaving your puree a little tart.  You can always increase the sweetness when using the puree in a recipe.

At this point you can cool the puree and create fruit leather using a dehydrator.  You can also freeze the puree for future use (we suggest freezing in pint-size portions). Or preserve it, using the boiling water bath canning method. 

Plum puree (l) and juice

If canning, return the puree to the cooking pot.  Heat over medium heat until the mixture comes to a full, rolling boil, stirring frequently.  Ladle hot puree into hot, sterilized, pint-size canning jars.  Process in boiling water bath for appropriate time (10 minutes below 1000 ft elevation; add 1 minute for every 1000 ft. above 1000 ft. elevation).  After processing, cool, label and store in a cool, dry place.  Purees will last up to 2 years if processed this way.

Fruit purees are a convenient staple to have on hand.  We’ll share some recipes that use fruit purees next month.

Jars of Apricot, Plum and Quince Purees

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We welcome your comments (below).  You can also send your questions to: monaturesmontrosegarden@gmail.com

Creating Your Colorado-friendly Garden: 4 – Mapping Use Areas (Creating a Bubble Map)

Over the past month you developed a ‘Needs & Dreams’ list that contains all the features and functions your family wants in your Colorado-friendly Garden.   You also defined water goals for your garden.  Now the creative part begins – you get to play around with different ways to fit the functional clusters into the space you’ve got.   One of the easiest ways is to create a Bubble Plan (also known as a Concept Plan or Bubble Map).

A bubble plan is simply a map with functional clusters roughly located by outlines (bubbles) of the areas they will occupy. You can draw your bubble plan(s) on copies of your Base Map 1b (see https://mothernaturesmontrosegarden.blogspot.com/2019/08/creating-your-colorado-friendly-garden.html).  You’ll need several copies as you’ll likely go through several iterations of your bubble plan.  Alternatively, take a sheet of tracing paper and overlay onto a copy of your Base Map.    

Draw bubble outlines in pencil to suggest where the different use areas might be placed.  Be sure to include all the functional clusters you defined last month.   Bubble size should correspond to the approximate size of each functional area.  For example, if you want a play area for children that is 20’ by 20’, draw your ‘play area bubble’ approximately 20’ x 20’.  

Sometimes it’s easier to see what we mean by working through an example. Below is the Base Map for an example small garden.  

Example Base Map - small garden

The homeowners have defined several functional clusters for their Private Areas:

·         Lawn

·         Shady Seating Area

·         Maintenance Area

·         Butterfly Garden

·         Quiet Area

·         Vegetable Garden

Below is their first attempt at drawing Bubble Map.

Example: first Bubble Map draft

At this point, step back from your bubble plan and look at it critically.  The outdoor areas should have a strong relationship with the areas and activities within your home. For example, outdoor cooking areas should be located adjacent to indoor kitchen or dining facilities. Service and storage areas should be located away from main use areas and views from the home – and provide easy access from backyard and front yard if that’s important. Patios and decks should directly tie into main circulation areas from the home.

Your bubble plan also needs to reflect the physical characteristics of the garden site (your site’s ‘assets’).  If you haven’t yet completed a site physical assessment, now’s the time to do so.  We walk you through the process in our September, 2019 postings (Planning Your Colorado-friendly Garden: Site Physical Assessment).  Below are the Physical Assessment Maps for the example site.

Physical Characteristics of the Site

When we compare the first bubble plan with the site’s light/shade patterns and other characteristics (see above) we note a few problems.  First, the Maintenance Area will be readily visible from the house and garden seating areas.  It might be better to move it to the area just south of the garage.  This area is less visible and provides access from both front and backyard.  We’ll have to build a smaller shed – and sell the old one on Craig’s list – but that’s a much better spot for the maintenance area.  

There are also some challenges for the Lawn Area. Note the slope on the South side of the site – a slope that will be difficult to use as a lawn.  If we move the Butterfly Garden Area to the sunny slope, it will provide flowers visible from lawn, patio and house.  Since butterflies – and their host plants - like sun, this is a better location than the shady east side.  If we move the Vegetable Garden to the sunny southwest corner, it will be pretty, functional and also attract butterflies.   You can already envision the lovely flowers and interesting foliage surrounding the seating areas.

The lawn can fill the space between the Shady Seating Area and the Butterfly/Vegetable Garden Areas.   As seen above, this area has a low spot and an area of poor drainage.  We’ll have to choose a lawn grass (or grass-like plants) that can handle these conditions.   Considering all of these insights, we create a revised bubble plan.

Example: second Bubble Map draft

The revised plan has much to recommend it.  The maintenance and vegetable garden areas are close to each other – and right out the kitchen door.  We’ve got areas of sunny and shady seating.  We’ve located our butterfly garden where the butterflies will come and we can watch them.  If we need more butterfly plants, we can also plant the showier ones in sunny areas in the front yard.

Revised Bubble Map better reflects the site's physical characteristics

As seen above, the views looking south will be lovely:  lawn, a flowery slope and attractive views in the distance.  We’ll also get good air circulation with the afternoon breezes.   We do have a visual eyesore (the side of the neighbor’s garage) to the east of the quiet/meditation area.  We’ll need to do something creative to turn that view into something attractive.   But we’ve managed to create an overall garden plan that reflects the family needs and the realities of the site.

In creating your own bubble map, there are likely a number of workable layouts that will accommodate your functional areas.  Some will make better use of space and the physical features of your site.  And some will simply appeal to you more than others.     We suggest trying several different schemes until the best layout becomes evident.   You’ll probably want to work on this over a few weeks, as new ideas may come to you as you work and see other garden ideas.    

Once you’re satisfied with your bubble diagram, take a copy of your Base Map 2 and create a final Use Areas Map.  File the map behind your Functional Analysis Worksheet for reference.  Don’t have a garden notebook yet?   It’s time to start a binder/notebook for your maps, plans, pictures and notes.    We will use these materials in the next sections of this series.

Now is a good time to look at gardening books and magazines for some inspiration.  You don’t need to spend a lot of money; your local public library likely has lots of resources.  Also visit botanic gardens, demonstration gardens and native plant gardens for good ideas.  Get out in nature to see how Mother Nature gardens. Take lots of pictures and notes.  You’re going to be glad you did this (fun) background work when we get to next month’s activities.

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We welcome your comments (below).  You can also send your questions to: monaturesmontrosegarden@gmail.com

Plant of the Month (November) : Japanese Crabapple – Malus floribunda

Japanese Crabapple (Malus floribunda): Mother Nature's Montrose Garden

We mostly feature native plants from the Western U.S. on this blog.  But we’ll occasionally highlight non-native plants with good garden characteristics.  Some of these are legacy plants in Mother Nature’s Montrose Garden; plants chosen by the previous gardener.  One such plant, which attracts lots of fruit-eating birds in fall, is the Japanese Crabapple, Malus floribunda. The scientific name is pronounces MAL (or MAYL)-us  flor-ih-BUN-duh.

Malus is the genus name for the apples, some of which are native to the U.S.  But the vast majority of species are native to Asia.  Japanese Crabapple is native to Japan, which is one of the reasons it appealed to the previous gardener.  It may be a wild species, or may be a hybrid between two other apple species: Malus sieboldii and M. baccata. It belongs to the family Rosaceae (the Rose family). 

Japanese Crabapple (Malus floribunda): growth form

Malus floribunda is a large shrub or small tree. It has a somewhat open form, with arching branches.  It commonly grows to 15-25 ft. tall (4.5 to7.5 m.) and 20-30 ft. (6-9 m.) wide.  Its smaller size makes it a good choice for smaller yards.  It combines many good attributes in a modest-sized package: summer shade, spring flowers and edible fruits.

Japanese Crabapple (Malus floribunda): foliage

The foliage of Japanese Crabapple is fairly typical for the apple species. The leaves are medium to dark green, slender ovate, with serrate edges.   The species is winter deciduous, losing its leaves after the first few good frosts.  The leaf color is not particularly showy (golden), but the red-brown young bark and fruits are moderately so, particularly after leaves are gone.

Japanese Crabapple (Malus floribunda):

attractive in winter

Japanese Crabapple (Malus floribunda): white flowers

The flowers are a major reason why this is a popular garden crabapple. The buds are pink; the flowers begin pale pink and mature to white.  The plant is literally covered with flowers. The species name floribunda means ‘many-flowered’, which well describes this species.

Japanese Crabapple (Malus floribunda):

 typical apple flowers

The flowers themselves are typical for the Rose family: five simple petals and many prominent stamens (above).  The flowers are sweetly scented and attract a range of pollinators, including bees and butterflies. The flowers are among the best in the Malus; this and the interesting growth form earned it the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Japanese Crabapple (Malus floribunda): maturing fruits

Japanese Crabapple (Malus floribunda): edible fruits

The fruits of Japanese Crabapple are small, yellow or red crabapples, about 1/3 inch (1 cm) in diameter.  The fruits are showy only after leaves fall. The fruits remain hard until after a good frost, when they become soft and sweet.  The fruits are small but definitely edible (we often include some in mixed-fruit jellies).  And the fruits are a popular treat for fruit-eating birds like robins and cedar waxwings. Our little tree has been stripped by flocks of hungry migrants in a matter of a few days!   If you want to provide food for hungry birds, Japanese Crabapple is a good addition to your garden.

Japanese Crabapple (Malus floribunda):

 fruit-eating birds love the fruits

Malus floribunda is relatively easy to grow. It tolerates some cold, and is recommended for USDA Hardiness Zones 4 – 8.  It likes full sun and regular water, but is not fussy about soil texture.  It tolerates moderately acidic to moderately alkali soils (pH up to at least 8).

Japanese Crabapple is more resistant than other Malus to the pests and diseases common to the genus.  In fact, it has been used as breeding stock in the development of disease-resistant cultivars [1].   That being said, it is an apple, and subject to some of the usual challenges to apple health.  New foliage attracts foliage-eating insects such as aphids.  Scale insects and mites are also potential problems; these can usually be controlled with horticultural oil.  In areas where they are common, tent caterpillars can also be a problem.

Japanese Crabapple is slightly susceptible to apple scab, leaf spot and powdery mildew and has some susceptibility to fireblight.  For more on pests and diseases, and their control, see ref. 2 (below).

Malus floribunda is often used as a small tree in home gardens. In fact, it was first imported to the U.S. in the 1860’s, and has been used in gardens ever since.  It does well as a street tree, as long as fruits don’t fall on passersby.  It makes a pretty specimen, as both its form and flowers contrast well with surrounding trees and shrubs.

Japanese Crabapple (Malus floribunda):

 provides a contrasting form

  

Japanese Crabapple can be used as a screen or tall hedge plant.  It is amenable to espalier, and can even be used as a specimen for bonsai.  It has a nice natural form, however, and needs little pruning (unless desired).   We’d rate it fairly high as a habitat plant.  It provides pollen and nectar for the pollinators, and cover, nesting sites and food for the birds.  In short, Malus floribunda is worthy of consideration for Colorado gardens (unless you have a natural aversion to apple trees!).

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1.       http://www.plantmaster.com/share/eplant.php?plantnum=25735

2.       http://hort.ufl.edu/database/documents/pdf/tree_fact_sheets/malfloa.pdf

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We welcome your comments (below).  You can also send your questions to: monaturesmontrosegarden@gmail.com