Granny’s sister, Bertha, lived with her mother, husband and son on the family homestead in Gainer, AL. The wooden house was unpainted which was a significant indication of extreme poverty. If an unpainted wooden house wasn’t enough of a tip-off that the people in this house were poor, the presence of the outhouse was certain confirmation. The house had no plumbing. Water was pumped from a well and carried into the house. A curious aspect of the homestead was dirt yards which got swept, regularly, with homemade straw brooms. I haven’t the foggiest notion why sweeping dirt yards was necessary.
The outhouse scared me to death. At times it was necessary to pay it a visit, but the visit never lingered. I suppose, given enough time, folks could get used to the smell, spiders and darkness. But, this little girl never did.
Stationed curiously close to the outhouse was a magnificent apple tree. I don’t know which came first, the apple tree or the outhouse, but the tree was close enough to the outhouse you never got so caught up in picking apples that your nose let you forget about the little wooden building. I wish I knew the variety of apples, for apples trees are mighty scarce in southeastern Alabama. In fact, I haven’t a personal experience with another one in this part of the Deep South.
Aunt Bertha’s husband, Uncle Julian, wouldn’t let her have enough money to buy sugar for apple jelly making. The story behind that story has been lost. The story I do know is that Aunt Bertha would save apple peels for Granny who would fetch them, take them home and make apple peel jelly for Aunt Bertha. I grew up thinking everybody made jelly from fruit peels. I grew up thinking every woman was just like Granny.
Gainer, Alabama may no longer exist. I can only find scarce information about it. The old homestead fell to the ground many years ago. The fate of the apple tree and the outhouse is unclear. Granny’s frugal nature and her love for her sister is very clear.
Y’all come see us!
Apple Peel Jelly
yield: 3 to 4 half pints
To extract juice from apple peels, place them in a stockpot and add water to one inch below the surface. Boil for 20 to 30 minutes, mashing down the peels occasionally. A collander in the stockpot will make straining the juice a little bit easier. Remove the peels and stain the juice through cheesecloth. Store in refrigerator, at least overnight, and strain through cheesecloth again. Straining well chilled juice removes any crystals that may have formed.
My resource for food preservation is So Easy to Preserve published in conjunction with The National Center for Home Food Preservation at the University of Georgia in Athens.
4 cups apple juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups sugar
Sterilize canning jars. Place apple juice in stockpot along with lemon juice and sugar. Stir well. Boil rapidly until the juice reaches a temperature of 220 degrees or 8 degrees above boiling.
Remove from heat and skim foam. Pour into sterilized canning jars. Leave 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims clean. Place on lids and rings and process in a water bath for 5 minutes.
Sue, a Florida Farm Girl says
Oh, you may not be able to find Gainer, or Ganer, on the map, but the community is still there!!! A lot of my family lived in that area and I have a ton of relatives buried at Lime Springs just down the road. Mama made all our jelly, except blackberry, from the peels. I thought that was how it was done, too.
Jackie Garvin says
I’m so happy to hear that, Sue! Granny and Granddaddy spelled it Ganer. I found a town in Geneva County spelled Gainer and figured that had to be it. I really thought Ganer/Gainer was in Coffee County and it may have been prior to the birth of Geneva County.
Joy says
Could you use Sure Gel?
Jackie Garvin says
Joy,
I made some with Sure-Jel and it does increase the yield because you don’t have to boil it for so long which causes evaporation. However, it took it almost a week to jell. I was ready to call it a fail and recook it. So, if you use Sure-Jel, be patient.
sherrie says
love your stories! when I was younger I just couldn’t understand why my friends only visited grandparents once a year. I was w/my Nonnie every other day! I don’t remember her making jelly, but she was a good baker!
precious memories!!!
Jackie Garvin says
Sherrie,
I sure loved being with my grandparents. I do recall going through a phase in my early teen years when I didn’t want to visit them. That phase didn’t last very long, thank Heavens. 🙂
Mellissa Wingate says
Sherrie, I was with my Granny & Papa almost every other weekend. And yes, I would have loved to have been even 1/2 the Granny she was but I think impossible! Her cooking was okay but she could bake & yes it to was old school with little income but we never knew any differance. One thing she would make was a favorite was corn fritters & to this day nobody else will touch, so if I make, I eat it all. So I don’t make too often! lol
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
What a clever use of apple peels. I used to feed mine to the chooks and I could have made jelly!
Jackie Garvin says
Maureen,
I think apple peel jelly is more flavorful than regular jelly.
Shari Keen says
This looks so good. I come from a long line of “jelly makers” but have never heard of Apple Peel Jelly. I’d like to try it. Jackie….you and I share many very similar family stories……it’s just another case of one of us is a Yankee and one of us is a Southerner……same stories with a different “accent”…..
Jackie Garvin says
Shari,
Did you have an outhouse in your past, too? 🙂
Mellissa Wingate says
I personally did not but an Aunt of mine in Warton had a true plantation home & there was no plumbing until approx. 1974?? Yes it was a short visit cause I just knew there was something in there. The home became vacant cause no one in the immediate family wanted due to upkeep so the Registry was going to take as a visitor atraction but when vacant, winter came ? Some transits burned it down. So sad & such a waste. I was the last generation to see it, so sad. I just can’t say it enough. They had one of those 5 second bulls that you had to beat to gather eggs. Loved it!!!
Jackie Garvin says
How sad! Why would someone burn down a grand old home? Such a shame.
Sue Tyll says
Jackie, I grew up in Ohio but I have an outhouse in my past too. My grandparents had indoor plumbing by the time I came along, but they still had the pump in the yard and still used a wood stove to cook on. The outhouse was at my Aunt Bertie’s house.
Jackie Garvin says
Sue,
I’m sure there’s some kind of lessons we learned from outhouses! 🙂
Jude says
Jackie, my Grandparents lived in the same type of house with no indoor plumbing. They had a pump at the end of the porch where they pumped water for the house. There was only a fireplace for heat. The outhouse was near the chicken yard, so there was a double whammy of smells. My Grandmother made her yard brooms from Gallberry bushes. They didn’t want grass because there was no way to keep it cut. It was easier to keep the yards swept and neat looking and also you could see snakes better that way. She made her house brooms from sage brush and she scrubbed her porches with corn husks mops. She made blackberry, huckleberry, and mayhaw jellies and jams. I know life was hard for them, but it was nice time in my life when I stayed with them.
Jackie Garvin says
Jude,
I just loved your description of your grandparent’s abode. Those times were hard for them but life sure was much simpler, too.
Mellissa Wingate says
Jude, I think it was a harder life but you knew what was expected, to have. I too miss those times. I’m in Texas & was born in 1965 so it was astonishing to me that there was still that type of home in working order but it wad old as you would expect. But I loved going there cause it was like a treat to a different time in this country. Please don’t take that the wring way, cause I’m just referencing the home compard to the home I grew up in. This was a quiet bedroom community.
Rachel says
Thanks for the recipe; I enjoyed the background too. I have lived with an outhouse and swept dirt yard in Africa. They swept the yard to keep snakes, ants and other critters at bay.
Jackie Garvin says
Thank you, Rachel.