A Time to Reap

Fall is in the air today as I take some time out to relax after what has been a busy week. It is supposed to warm up again for a while but there is a distinct difference in the feel of the wind and just the air outside. I'm not going to lie, I love it! Fall is by far my favourite season and I am never sorry to see it come. In preparation for fall and winter we have begun harvesting our garden and our apple tree. Some of the veggies will still be growing for a bit yet but this past weekend we harvested our apples and then I set to work putting them up for the winter. We were blessed with an amazing bumper crop this year and the final count was amazing! 14 jars of apple butter, 9 jars of applesauce, 3 good sized jars of dried apples, 4 apple pies and 1 apple crisp. And that isn't counting the apples we have been eating or the bag of apples I gave to my Mom. All from one little apple tree! It was lots of work but I know we will be thankful for it all in the middle of winter when we open a jar of wonderful apple butter or eat a warm pie from the oven. I was able to do everything while still following Emma's diet restrictions as well. No gluten, dairy or eggs in the pastry or apple crisp and the only sugar used was a few tablespoons of coconut palm sugar in the apple crisp. It feels so good to know that I am feeding my family healthy wholesome food!
Here is a look at the last few days...

Picking the apples. Of course someone had to hold the ladder to make sure Daddy didn't fall. :)

Emma thought this was pretty exciting to do. For a while...

Then she entertained herself by watching cartoons.

She was my taste tester and she loves eating "cimmanon" off her fingers.

The first of four dehydrators I was able to do.

For a few days the crockpots were constantly going with either applesauce or apple butter cooking away. The house smelled yummy!

 About half of what I ended up with.

The last crockpot full. Emma got in on the last of it all.

My 4 gluten free, egg free, sugar free apple pies.

Last dehydrator full. I showed Emma how to put the apples on the dehydrator and away she went.

We had so many peels and cores after doing hundreds of apples. If only we had chickens!

I wish I had taken a picture of our little tree when it was laden with apples. Some of the branches were touching the ground. What a strong little tree!

"The Lord is good to me and so I thank the Lord

For giving me the things I need

The sun and the rain and the appleseed

The Lord is good to me!"

A little sidenote and update on Emma. It is amazing what going off of foods that are poisoning your system will do! There have been some changes in her for sure and the biggest most noticeable one is her energy. She has so much of it! Yes, she is still napping and still really needs her sleep but when she is awake she is more energetic and chatty and happy and not as clingy. How happy my heart is to see her run around the house squealing. I didn't realize until she started doing that in the last little while how rarely she really did that. Now she is running around and squealing and giggling and just doing what a toddler should be doing. I may need to ask our doctor for energy pills for myself to keep up with her! She was also quite puffy and bloated and that has disappeared. Noticeably. My Mom, who hadn't seen her for a bit, commented on it when she saw her on the weekend. It is such an encouragement to keep on the road that we are on and to keep following this new lifestyle. I have found some great cookbookes and gotten good ideas and it really hasn't been that difficult. We even survived our first birthday party thanks to some cupcakes and "ice cream" that I found for her. I love seeing her so healthy and happy and filled with life!