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I don't remember when I haven't put up food for the winter. Usually, I get the produce for free or little cost. Applesauce this year was made from free apples in the orchard behind our home which belongs to the county historical society. We picked three wheelbarrows full. I also picked at my aunt's home. She doesn't use her apples and was happy to let us have them.
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If you are interested in canning applesauce/apple butter but don't know where to obtain free apples, know that many people who have trees on their property are often happy to have you remove the apples for them. Just drive down the road in the country and you will often see trees laden with apples. The elderly or just plain busy are sometimes overwhelmed with the prospect of cleaning up windfall apples from their grass but don't know to whom to turn to do the job. Windfall apples attract yellow jackets and canadian geese so people are happy to have them picked before the fruit falls. The historical society where we picked this year has one maintenance man who has plenty to do without having to pick up apples before he mows the grass. He was happy to have us pick the trees before everything fell to the ground. After the applesauce was made, I shared several quarts with him in thanksgiving.
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The apples are first washed, quartered and cooked until soft. Then, they are put through a Squeezo machine. The Squeezo is a most helpful investment if you plan to can regularly. It can be purchased for less on eBay or at a garage sale if you are lucky enough to find one. The Squeezo separates the peels, seeds and stems from the apple pulp, which comes out a different chute. Easy peasy! When I first started making applesauce, I used to peel, core and chop the apples which was horribly time consuming.
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Applebutter is simply applesauce which has been cooked down to remove excess water with spices added for flavor. We love it on toast or bagels.
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All in all, we made 99 quarts of applesauce and 25 pints of applebutter, all from free apples.
