Apple Pickin' Time

We hope everyone will join us for our next flavorful Pathfinder Produce market at the Village Commons on Thursday, Sept. 25, from 2 to 5 p.m.  We have a great variety of harvest fruits and veggies, all at great prices!

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Apple season is once again with us, and it’s nice to see that some of our local farms still offer you-pick operations. Apple picking can be a fun outing for the family, and it ends with a larder full of delicious fruits that are best eaten fresh. (But who can resist apple butter, pie or other fall delicacies?)

Last year growing conditions for apples were perfect, and we had a bumper crop.  A new website from the state’s commercial growers’ association puts all of New York State’s apple news in one convenient place, and forecasts a crop of 30 million bushels, just slightly under the 2013 harvest.  The growers also indicate this year’s crop will be of very high quality.

Apples are New York’s official fruit, and with good reason. From the orchards of the Hudson Valley, Lake Champlain, and Western New York, our production is second only to Washington State. Historically, many cultivars were started within the Empire State, including 20 Ouncers, which were bred from Cayuga County seedlings and developed in Massachusetts in 1843; Cortlands, developed in Geneva in 1898; and Empires, developed at Cornell University in the 1940s.

Nutritionally, apples are high in soluble fiber, and according to the World’s Healthiest Foods website, researchers found that if test subjects ate a medium whole apple 15 minutes before a meal, they would reduce their caloric intake by about 15%. (This reduction doesn’t happen with cooked forms of the fruit or with apple juice)

WHF adds that apples are also rich in phytonutrients to help even out blood sugar levels by regulating enzyme action on complex carbohydrates, reducing the absorption of glucose during digestion, and stimulating both insulin production and increasing activity by insulin receptors. Whole apples also contain pectin, which interacts with their soluble fiber content; this combination can help lower blood triglycerides and promote heart health.

Some of these health benefits may be shared with organic, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, available at health food stores, and there are those who call on “mother of vinegar” to ward off colds, ease sore throats and lose weight, according to wiseGeek. Specifically, mother of vinegar is a cloudy, film-like substance found in unpasteurized vinegars that looks unappetizing and is removed by commercial manufacturers.  Hippocrates was known to use it in his methods of healing, and Vermont doctor and folk medicine advocate D.C. Jarvis reminded us of vinegar’s benefits in his 1958 best seller, Folk Medicine: A Vermont Doctor's Guide to Good Health.

For more fun apple facts visit the website of the University of Illinois extension service. Until next time, be well!

Lori

Domestic Economy

We hope that you will join us this Thursday, September 18, for another Pathfinder Produce market at our Village Commons from 2 to 5 p.m.  We’re at the height of the harvest, and have a great selection of fresh fruits and veggies for you to try.

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Many of my friends and relatives are proudly sharing their fall harvests on their Facebook walls.  There’s nothing quite as satisfying as freezing or canning your own produce, knowing that you had a hand in growing, preserving, and serving your family’s food each step of the way.  As these friends are saving their harvests, they are also preserving the rich food-ways traditions of our rural fore-bearers.

To me, the photos of tantalizing canned pickles and bright Mason jars full of fruit preserves are beautiful; I’m sure the tastes of these foodstuffs equal their aesthetic appeal.  They certainly bring back fond memories.  I recall tales from my paternal grandmother, who grew an annual garden at the family farm in Sullivan County, and would can everything she could in the days before home freezers were common.
 

Grandma’s stories lead to thoughts of “domestic economy,” a historical term that was used in reference to the theory and practice of household management, especially during the first decades of the 19^th century.  Several famous women wrote books to help others better manage their homes and improve their finances.  Among those dispensing advice were education advocate Catharine Beecher, whose guide, A Treatise on Domestic Economy, For the Use of Young Ladies at Home, and At School, was issued in 1842, was very popular.  Catharine was a sister to Harriet Beecher Stowe, the famed author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and clergyman and reformer Henry Ward Beecher.

Another advice-offering author Lydia Maria Francis Child, who some may know as the author of “Over the River and Through the Wood.”  An avowed abolitionist, women’s rights and Native American’s rights advocate, the prolific Mrs. Child penned two helpful books for the home, The American Frugal Housewife, A book of kitchen, economy and directions (1829) which went through 33 editions by 1855, and The Mother's Book (1831), an early American instructional book on child rearing, that also gained popularity in England and Germany.

During Beecher’s and Child’s era, foods were dried, smoked, salted and pickled to preserve them for winter use.  Probably the two most influential developments in home food preservation were the development of the Mason jar, and the introduction of the home freezer.  The iconic canning jar with the screw lid was patented in 1858 by Philadelphia tinsmith John Landis Mason.  Before then, there were canning jars that used unthreaded lids that had to be sealed with wax.  This process at times allowed deadly bacteria to grow and spoil food (or kill the unsuspecting).  Mason’s invention was an immediate boon to the housewife; and helped keep America’s larder full and safer.

Rural families often used spring houses and harvested ice in the 19^th century to help keep food cold, and then progressed to using ice boxes.  But the real advent of home refrigeration didn’t happen until manufacturers like GE and Westinghouse started to make home electric refrigerators in the mid-1910s.  Home freezers, introduced in the 1940s, were a natural progression, and further assisted families with their food preservation efforts. (Home freezing was made even easier with the introduction of the zipped plastic freezer bag in the 1960s).

Until next time, be well and enjoy the great tastes of autumn!

Lori

Drink Up!

We hope that you will join us this Thursday, September 11, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Village Commons for another tasteful Pathfinder Produce market.  We’ve got the freshest produce around!

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Last week at Pathfinder Village, we hosted a specialized training for care providers, human service agency staff, and family members that focused on providing optimum supports for aging individuals living with intellectual disabilities and dementia.  This new curriculum is being introduced throughout the country by the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices (NTG) of the American Association of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry; Pathfinder Village was honored by being named the first-ever training site.

Although other duties prevented my attending the full two-day training, one of my ‘take aways’ was the importance of keeping seniors hydrated.  According to the website, Medscape: Dehydration in Geriatrics, “There is substantial evidence to show that aging causes changes in body water composition, and that renal function and thirst perception on average decline among older adults. These three factors account for the prevalence of dehydration among the older adult population. In one American study, dehydration was diagnosed in 6.7% of hospitalized patients age 65 and over, and 1.4% had dehydration as the principal diagnosis."

Dehydration is serious at any age, and many studies indicate that most of us do not drink enough water each day.  Certain medications may also affect a person’s hydration level.  According to the website of LifeStyle Options, aging adults may no longer perceive thirst as they once did, or they may feel the benefits of drinking water are not worth the increased need to use the bathroom due to diminished mobility, and others may be self-aware due to incontinence or spilling issues. 

According to the website of the Mayo Clinic, early signs of dehydration include:

• A dry, sticky mouth
• Sleepiness or tiredness
• Increased thirst (this isn’t always present in the elderly)
• Decreased urine output (urine will be concentrated)
• Dry skin
• Headache, dizziness or light headedness
• Constipation

As symptoms get more severe, adults may experience irritability or confusion, excessively dry mouths and lips, non-elastic dry skin, sunken eyes, limited urination, low blood pressure, fever, and a rapid heartbeat and breathing.  Care providers and family members should seek medical assistance if an older person exhibits a series of these signs.  Call 911 if an older person is unable to keep down fluids, develops severe or long lasting diarrhea, or is unconscious.

According to the website A Place for Mom, a practical way to track overall hydration is to check a person’s weight each morning: A body weight loss of 2% may indicate dehydration. To help an older person drink more, LifeStyle Options suggests using closed-top containers and straws for cold drinks to help those who are prone to spills.  They also suggest offering water and other healthy drinks at meals and several times a day between meals, such as flavored waters, herbal teas, seltzers, or fat-free milk.  It is also important for elders to eat high-water content foods like soups, yogurt, and plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Until next time, drink up!

Lori