Got Apples? Here’s What You Can Do with Them
Tips by Sheila Ackers
Farmer Greg asked me what I did with my apples. I told him that after the usual round of pies, crumbles, cakes and chutneys I juice and make cider. From this I make apple cider vinegar, which I dilute and drink to assist digestion and I also use to make other products such as hair rinses and surface cleaner.
Here’s how to make the apple cider vinegar:
- Chop the apples into small pieces, and fill a large crock pot or jar around half full. I leave the skins and cores.
- Fill the crock pot up with water and add 1 tablespoon of sugar per cup of water. Leave a couple of inches from the top and cover with a breathable cloth. Put in a dark place.
- Give the contents a really good stir a couple of times per day for the first week. Bubbles will appear in the first couple of days.
- After the first week, stir every couples days. Your apple cider vinegar will be ready after around four to six weeks.
- Once the vinegar is as strong as you’d like, strain out the apple pieces and bottle the vinegar.
Fun tips:
- You can use the apple cider vinegar as a fruit fly trap if you make very tiny holes in the lid, so they can get in but not out!
- Tip from Farmer Greg & Heidi: Apple cider vinegar is good for your chickens, too! They put apple cider vinegar in their chickens’ water for its health benefits. (For more on chickens, we LOVE the book Fresh Eggs Daily)
To make a hair rinse for strength and shine:
You will need:
- 1 cup dried nettles
- 4 cups of boiling water
- 4 cups of apple cider vinegar.
Brew the dried nettles like tea in a large jug. Give this a good stir, and leave the brew to cool (perhaps overnight). Strain the cold tea off the leaves, and mix together with the cider vinegar. Shampoo the hair and use the rinse to clear the shampoo, massaging well into the scalp and combing the hair through from the roots. Leave on the hair for fifteen minutes or so before rinsing with clean water. Apply a good conditioner, and you are done!