Wednesday 25 March 2015

All About Autumn.............

You know Autumn's here when the apple tree branches are weighed down with the last of their fruit and the pumpkins are being harvested.  Have managed to give away heaps of the apples I picked...also cooked some up to freeze.  They are great eating apples too.  I tried to juice some in my juicer and after it made horrible brown foam I realised that you usually cold press apples.....lesson learnt!!  Wish I had an apple press....if I ever get apples on my own trees I will definitely have to look at getting one.

Cooked up some of the foraged apples to freeze ...... should make a lovely couple of crumbles with those
Pumpkins were a bit a problem this year....lots didn't make it to adulthood.....dropped off of the vines...the ones that did make it however are so appreciated....I love pumpkin.
Have got the pumpkins outside under the veranda for the next couple of weeks to dry them out before storing.

Cut up my first pumpkin for the year.....roasted some up and into the risotto !

The tomatoes this year have been quite disappointing also..... there are still quite a lot on the vines but they are still green and not sure if they will ripen up..... haven't been able to get enough ripe ones at the same time to make my sauce....2 years ago there were so many tomatoes (I was picking about 50 a day).. I didn't know what to do with them all.....it's funny how each growing season appears to be different.

Only 3 bottles of my homemade tomato sauce this year....tomatoes are very slow on the vine

Compared to 2 years ago when I harvested about 1000 tomatoes over about 5 weeks...!!
Did manage to pick my potatoes this morning.....I emptied the potato patch so that I could replant it out again to keep a constant supply of spuds coming along... I have two potato beds now so should hopefully get plenty...they are very easy to grow.
 

picked the potatoes.....will put into hessian bag and keep in a dark cupboard...they last quite a while that way.

I think Autumn in the hills is my favourite time of year....the leaves are all starting to fall and the slight chill is already starting to reach us even though the sun is shining...the air is fresh, it's beautiful. 

6 comments:

  1. I love seeing those beautiful (and delicious) reminders of fall, even as we are just entering spring.

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  2. As much as I'm looking forward to the arrival of warmer weather (it's snowing outside again!), I have to say that autumn is my very favorite season - the colors, the feel of the leaves underfoot, the crispness in the air.
    Enjoy this very special time, Suzie.

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    1. thanks Susan...although I think you will still be looking forward to Spring...!

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  3. Oh the things we have to put up with as gardeners! It's frustrating when you massive gluts one year and then hardly anything the next. Your pumpkins look amazing!

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  4. Such a gorgeous shape and color to the pumpkin you cut up. It's been so wet this year, we're late getting our potatoes in. So thankful we did over the weekend, as it rained again the next day. You're so right how different each gardening year can be. Always an adventure!

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