Well, today was D-Day for juicing all the fruit stored in the shed. Apples, pears and quinces by the boxful have been gathered over the last week or so - from our garden, Stephanie and Nat's and donated to us by generous friends. We hired a scratter from Brew Tas (Liverpool St Hobart) that made … Continue reading Juicing Day

Sight of the late afternoon. Kitten Truffles, always bold and fearless, seen chasing a large wallaby across the front yard. What's more, the wallaby was afraid of her, hopping away at a great rate.  What a shame I didn't have my camera at the ready. Here she is in a quieter mood, in her basket … Continue reading The strangest sight …..

WHAT(!) was I thinking? There is so much produce needing to be preserved here today - red and green tomatoes, quinces, apples, pears, crabapples, hawthorn berries and more. And yet this is what I found at a local market - I can never resist a good bag of pickling onions. Preserving those will just need … Continue reading The joy of autumn produce

Here are just some examples of produce that is flowing through our door from this wonderful valley of abundance. The tomatoes that were disappointing for so long - well, we now pick about 3 bucketfuls a day. Apples, pears and quinces in boxes cover the shed floor, awaiting juicing and bottling that will be undertaken … Continue reading Autumn’s bounty

Many thanks to those who have given us so many of the above fruits this last week.  The photos show us picking fruit in friend Kaye's garden on Saturday afternoon (with Louise).  So much fruit from just a few trees, what a great autumn it is! Kaye's medlar tree is looking very promising too - … Continue reading Apples, pears and quinces abound

What do you do when the weather turns chilly? And when there are bits and pieces of leftovers that need using up? Baking of course. The Anzac barrel was running on empty and now is almost full again. Some white chocolate that was not-too-successfully melted a couple of weeks ago and was discarded in a … Continue reading Good Day for Baking

We decided to fire up the bread oven today to cook the lamb roast for dinner. That means I'll also be baking breads. The (spelt) dough is on the rise and so loaves will be baked and out on the stall at our gate by 4pm.

So much for tomatoes not ripening. This is a true case of 'be careful what you wish for'. This crate-full is just from this morning's picking. There are two more crates of ripe red tomatoes in the cooking school that will need bottling today.

Spent a lovely evening picking elderberries at Lachlan with Stephanie. Many thanks to William and Narelle for their generosity in letting us pick from their trees. Tomorrow I will be able to make syrup and jelly. Maybe even sparkling elderberry. Given the berries' medicinal properties, anything will certainly be worth making. Looking forward to it … Continue reading Elderberries

Finally got to pickling those quail eggs. Worst part of the process was peeling the 45 eggs. However, it was made much easier by soaking the cooked eggs in vinegar for 12 hours. Well actually, it was 24 before I got to them and so it wasn't really too much of a worry at all. … Continue reading Quail eggs and sourdough plant