Squash & Pumpkin harvest in!
We’ve picked the squash and pumpkins and put them all away in the store. We had our first frost last night. Even though I had picked them all and brought them up to the house, they needed washing. Today was cold, but warm, so this morning I washed them all and this afternoon put...
Continue reading
Checking out the Christmas Trees
Not sure if I have said before, but we have planted up a corner in one of the fields with Christmas trees! 100 were planted 5 years ago, followed by another 100 then another 100. So in theory we should have 300 Christmas trees growing away! Hmmm if only. Unfortunately, I bit off more...
Continue reading
Mincemeat prepared for Christmas!
Going back a few hundred years, mincemeat included meat seasoned with spices. Overtime it has evolved into a seasonal blend of dried and fresh fruit with mixed spices, sugar and fat. The fat is warmed and coats all the ingredients preventing the fruit from fermenting. This year my challenge was to try and make...
Continue reading
Autumn walnuts ripe for the picking
As we move toward the end of October, the weather has been quite beautiful over the last couple of days. When I checked the walnuts a week ago, they showed no signs of emerging from their green shiny casing. Cracking up This week there had been a transformation, the husks had all split and...
Continue reading
Grapes to Raisins
I had a load of beautiful seedless grapes this year. The vines have produced a bumper crop. I thought I would have a go at making raisins. I did a trial batch of one tray, but then decided to fill the drier. The big surprise was the number of grapes it takes to produce...
Continue reading
Bumbling on into Autumn
It was the Autumn equinox yesterday. The bumble bees and other insects are still out and about doing their late year foraging and building up stores for winter. Verbena bonariensis, seems to be a really good flower for pollinating insects. It continually flowers from mid summer all the way through to late autumn. The...
Continue reading
Fox at Night
Caught Mr Fox on camera! But still not caught him in the trap! I have been far more diligent about putting everyone to bed since we lost Mrs Goose back at the end of July. Fortunately, we have had no more casualties. However, the Fox was eating the chicken food (I caught it on...
Continue reading
Nutty September
Just picked my nuts! Well Hazel nuts, the Walnuts will come later in the year. I have planted up a little nuttery (an orchard where nuts are grown) in one corner of our field with cultivated varieties of nuts. Currently Walnuts, Hazel Nuts and Horse Chestnuts. These being my favorite, I probably won’t plant...
Continue reading
Update on Nectarine Jam
So the nectarine jam was not what I would consider a success. I thought it might produce a jam similar to apricot, but it just didn’t have the flavour. The jam tasted sweet with a slight hint of a peachy nectarine flavour. In my opinion, it would have been nicer with a higher acidity....
Continue reading
Nectarine Jam
Oh baby, yes it can be done and produces a tasty jam. Nectarine jam is a reality. Made from Nectarines grown in Devon, UK. Tasty, I’ll put the recipe in the website sion....