What to do

I know what to do with our Apples

Many varieties growing in our garden. 

I know what to do with our plums and pears.

I know what to do with our winter grapes

I know what to do with Greens from our garden.

I know what to do with sour cherries from our garden.

and red beets from our garden.

I know what to do with our peaches.

and our cabbages and eggplants.

I know what to do with our apricots

and with our onions.


But I don't know 

what to do with our Asian Pears. 

My tree is laden with fruit.

They are sweet and crunchy, great for salads.  

But they are not good for baking.  

Preserves are good enough, just not great. 

Should I buy a dehydrator? 
Have you tried to dry them, I haven't. 

Do you have a favorite recipe or idea.  

Would you share?  




 

Have a great remainder of the week dear friends,

Gina 

http://lovemademyhome.blogspot.ca/2016/09/five-on-friday_9.html
http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

https://normandylife.blogspot.ca/2016/09/

Nature has been generous

And I love it all

We never know what kind of year we're going to have.  
It's either feast or famine.

I'm not bashful. I call it what it is,  Fabulous. 

We had to harvest our grapes a few days early.  

The wasps showed up before the grapes were completely ripe. Wasps dessicate our grapes in only two days. 

We had to get up very early, while it was still dark.  Wasps wait until the sun comes out before they leave their hiding places.

They will come after you. 

Juiced by hand, nothing added. 

Raw Interlaken Grape juice.

Picked yesterday morning...

In the freezer this afternoon.

Peaches are next.

I knew it would break...too many peaches for a young tree. 

These peaches will be ripe in about a week. 

Will share with friends...they get the pleasure of picking their own. 

Did I tell you that I love picking fruit, high up on a ladder looking at the blue sky and the puffy, white clouds. 

We also have two older peach trees, "Early Albertas".  They always ripen early.  

Early Albertas are cling free and easy to peel and they have a most superior flavor...in other words they are the perfect peach. 

Late grapes (if they survive) will become golden raisins.

  Papaver Somniferum still blooming in my garden.  
I'm saving seeds.

If you're in the neighborhood.  Stop by.  
The ladder is leaning up against the tree. 

Gina

It's harvest time

 There is enough produce growing in my garden to challenge the weeds.

Peaches are almost ripe.

This is how we harvest beans...

we pull out the entire plant and pull the beans while sitting in the shade.  

Enough beans to last all winter. 

You do know how beans grow.

We pulled the first onions at the same time.

The rest will have to grow some more.  

A family portrait, the Farmer, his dog and the photographer.  

Onions drying on the wall. 

(Look how clever is Mr G.  He places plastic wrap into the sieve first to form Pesto packets).

Liesel has been pampered.  The rest of the Farmers are shaking their heads.  They all say that she should be with the rest of the herd by now.  In the meantime I'm still bottle feeding her 4 times a day

Liesel likes to spend time under an old apricot tree.  Hope she does not get sick from eating apricots and their pits.

Will her Father recognize her when she is put with the rest of the herd?  I know that her Mother won't care, she is the one who abandoned my little charge.  

I will be like a mother duck who watches her ducklings going for their first swim.  

Hope your week goes swimmingly. 

Gina 

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

We are lucky this year.

Even though the apricot blossoms froze early this Spring, we have, for the first time in many years,  peaches, beautiful peaches. 

We had no fruit last year.  Not even apples, pears or plums.  Everything froze. 

We had grapes.  But a horde of flies came by and in two days sucked every bit of juice out of every grape.  

This year is different.

Even my old roses made it through the cold winter and my Sweet Peas have never looked better.

And peaches, Early Albertas appeared on the trees as if by magic. 

We will have Asian Pears and Apples and Plums and hardy winter Pears.  

The kitchen garden is overflowing.

And we will have grapes.  They are almost ripe and I don't see many flies.

We captured them, by the millions, lured into a terrible smelling trap.  


Have a great remainder of the week. 

Gina 

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/

Peaches and pears are ripe

Must bottle a few for cold winter months. 

If you can find the smaller, rosy cheeked, cling free peaches, those are the peaches you will want to can.   

A recipe of light syrup (6 cups of sugar to 8 cups of water) is perfect for peaches.  Not too sweet so you can still taste the delicate flavor of an Early Alberta Peach. 

Ready to be put away.

Must leave a few to eat au natural.

Have a great remainder of the week my dear friends, 

Gina 

Joining  http://betweennapsontheporch.net/
also joining  http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/