It's a plummy kind of day today. Robert and Stephanie picked buckets full of red and yellow cherry plums for me a day or so ago, elderberries too. All 'foraged' of course. Both yellow and red cherry plums make wonderful jelly, not just for scones and toast and topping jam drop biscuits, but also excellent … Continue reading Plums and Poppy

"An innocuous piece of timber wall" that sits behind our clothesline, you could be forgiven for thinking. Well, as I hung out the clothes yesterday morning I was greeted by a swarm of flying insects. Thinking they were bees merely visiting the flowers on the bush nearby, I calmly brushed them aside. Obviously my eyes … Continue reading The price of the heat

What can you do on such a hot day when you're forced to wear a fur coat? Go the the coolest bedroom in the house and set up residence. It's rather unusual for all three of our cats to be together in one room so peaceably. Tom and Truffles get along well, except for the … Continue reading Peace, purr-fect peace

Been feeling a bit poorly the last couple of days. Special thanks to Stephanie and Robert who helped so capably with the Preserves class of Tuesday. While I rested up yesterday, Robert went out to the cooking school and finished processing the apricots for me. Excellent. That just left the tomatoes. I kind of over-estimated … Continue reading Dehydrating time for excess tomatoes

And so the saga of the green beetles continues….. I had hoped to eke out a few more jars of raspberry jam from the fruit remaining on those struggling raspberry canes. However, not content with eating the leaves, the beetles have now decided that they like raspberry juice, straight from the berry. As we picked … Continue reading Reverse psychology for jam and jelly, and never-ending beetles

Yes, mixed fortunes here on the farm today. The little green beetles are multiplying fast, eating everything that takes their fancy. Today it was the rhubarb's turn, and just when it was recovering from the ravages of possums. There will be no green leaves left for the little green frogs to shelter under if this … Continue reading Mixed fortunes on the farm

Now things don't alway go according to plan. This is what greeted us in the cooking school this morning, accompanied by a heady beer aroma'd blackberry puddle on the bench. Whoever said less is more? I don't tend to agree normally, but maybe in this instance they have a point. We doubled the blackberry juice … Continue reading What manner of beast is this?

So …. busy afternoon. From last year's freezer stock, I made some 'essence of blackberry' for Robert to experiment with in his making of a new blackberry beer. (The leftover blackberry pulp will be going to Miss Tina the pig of course). The green beetles that seem to have taken up permanent residence here have … Continue reading And as the day progresses …..

For anyone who plans to make pickled walnuts, right now is the time to be picking them. We've been lucky enough to be able to pick several kilos this morning, from a lovely lady's garden in New Norfolk. This afternoon we will be pricking them all over, before brining for several days. We will make … Continue reading Pickling Green Walnuts