The Fruits of my Labour

My jam pan has been earning its keep again.

Gerry and Jane came up for a few days just before Paul went to Toronto, and one evening we went out to pick the wild raspberries up the road. The next day I gave Jane a jam-making demonstration - and a small jar to keep her going for a few day's worth of toast.

I had another picking session a week or so later with Penny, and those are now in the freezer.

Won't get many more as the hedge cutters have now been along there now, severely limiting the canes to those actually in the hedge. Not a good year compared to the previous few, with me only getting about three pounds but at over £12 a kilo for "tame" ones in the shops I shouldn't complain.

Next came the rhubarb and apple chutney. Unfortunately bought cooking apples - but give it time. But my own rhubarb and onions.

A little improvisation from the recipe. Brown vinegar instead of white. And white sugar instead of brown. Should balance itself out :)

I added some ground ginger and cinnamon for flavour.

I forgot how long chutney takes compared to jam, with frequent stirring to stop it becoming a gungy mess on the bottom of the pan. There was an almost disaster when I forgot about it and accepted a scrabble match on ISC.

But it seemed to turn out okay. We will find out in about three months time when we get to taste it.

My rhubarb crowns have excelled this year - it is coming to the end of the season so I must get out there and pick a load for the freezer, if this rain ever stops.

And this year, for the first time, I have managed to pick the blackcurrants before the birds demolished them all. A couple of sessions, freezing the first lot whilst waiting for the rest to ripen. About a pound and a half - enough for my first attempt at blackcurrant jam. If I thought the raspberry set quickly this is the Usain Bolt of jam making, needing only a couple of minutes of rapid boiling.

Just over three pounds of fruity loveliness to join the two and half pounds of raspberry jam...

Autumn Harvests

So a week has gone by since I took Paul to the airport.

I would like to say we (the dogs and I) have settled into a routine. But between my bridge exploits and Paul's it hasn't quite worked out yet. Unfortunately for Paul his team has now been knocked out of the Rosenblum Cup in Philadelphia but it was exciting while it lasted, and I may get to bed at a reasonable time from now on.

I have managed a sort of morning routine. Let the dogs out the back (luckily it hasn't been raining), coffee, dog walk and then caterpillar control. I think I have got them almost under control now - only 30ish the last couple of days.

With autumn in full swing I am now sorting out the back garden.

Two more rows of potatoes dug up and a sack filled.

Herb patch weeded. A few self-seeded extras found - a lot of baby thymes, chives and even a cabbage has found its way in there!

Major runner bean picking sessions - 3 pounds given to Margaret and slightly more to Penny. Potentially still quite a lot to come but may be a race against time for them before the weather gets worse.

The purple beans are finally coming to an end - another couple of bags in the freezer. Soon be time to pull them out.

The later sown peas although producing a few pods are not producing peas so their time has also come and gone.

The lettuces that had gone to seed have been pulled out.

Pickling onions dug up this morning and laid out on the chicken wire covering the f-t-b-t-b in an optimistic hope of them drying/ripening. I think I probably should have done this last week...

I have at last had to admit defeat on the tomatoes.

Not only are they not ripening but I noticed a few were rotting and maybe the first signs of blight. So I have now picked all that looked okay - five and three quarter pounds of green tomatoes. I need to get the plants out, hopefully tomorrow in one of the promised sunny spells.

I have put a lot of them on a tray on one of the window sills in the sunroom in the hope that they may ripen indoors. The rest were earmarked for green tomato chutney.

Recipe selected.

Ingredients gathered and weighed.

Onions chopped and set simmering in vinegar.

Tomatoes chopped.

Apples chopped.

Spice bag made - chilies, mustard seeds, cardamom seeds and black peppercorns.

All thrown in with a crushed clove of garlic.

Stirred until sugar dissolved and then brought to a simmer.

And simmered. And stirred. And simmered. And stirred.

About an hour and a half.

I find it very hard to know when chutney is ready - no simple test unlike jam.

Anyway I decided that was long enough and the jars were filled.

And I can always try again with the rest of the tomatoes if they stubbornly stay green...