37 Empty Jars

When we moved into our house the lawns were literally windowsill high.  The gardens were buried beneath layers of weeds and neglect.  Over time The Boss has worked wonders, and now we're being rewarded.

I've just had a stroll around the estate to check on the chooks (Apple is STILL in the nesting box even though it's mid afternoon), and to check out what fruit is forming on the trees. 

All three currant bushes are ripening rapidly.  The peach tree beside the back door is so laden with fruit its branches are lying on the ground.  The other peach tree luckily isn't quite cropping so heavily.  We've been irrigating the ancient apricot, apple and plum trees and they're all doing well.  The crabapples are forming up nicely, we're in for a bumper crop of raspberries - providing Abu and the girls can't reach them through the netting - and finally; the elderberries are beginning to form. Since the cherry tree is so huge we just donate its fruit to the resident bird population in the hope they'll leave the other trees largely alone. No doubt the fig trees behind the winery are enjoying our current warm weather too.

Time for a wee panic.  You see there are only 37 empty jars on the pantry shelves. The freezer still contains some bags of fruit from last year, along with a heap of venison.  Once we butcher a piggle that'll fill what space is left, so I'm in for a real food storage crisis.

The upside of having a shortage of jars for home preserving, is that I'll get to perfect my crab apple scrumpy recipe from last year and make buckets more to stop the fruit going to waste. If worst comes to worst, it'll be a matter of persuading The Winemaker to put turkey farming on the back burner and help me make some fruit wines instead.

Hell it's tough living in paradise.

What I've learnt today:

1. Uploading photos and editing elements of my blog requires a level of concentration that's currently beyond me.
2. It's only two and a bit weeks until Christmas. I'm still recovering from Thanksgiving!