Where the heck did summer go?
How is it possibly already September?!
And why is the season shifting so swiftly?!
And yet it is.
The shift from summer to fall is upon us…
With the first leaves turning, the later sunrises, the stormy afternoons, the fruit in pure abundance, and the necessity for a hoodie during morning chores, the season is most definitely shifting.
And so we’ve been slammed with the putting up of peaches and plums, grapes and apples…
We’ve been canning and freezing and fermenting and dehydrating and stashing things in our fridge until we can get to them…
There’s been garlic powder and plum sauce, peach butter and boozy peaches and peaches in light syrup and frozen peaches, raisins and dehydrated apple chunks, apple pies and peach tarts, fresh tomatoes everywhere and roasted tomatoes in the freezer, more apples than I dare to count just on the orchard floor alone, and the freezing of too many pounds to count of grapes for future jelly and wine making!
And, of course, there’s the not-to-be-forgotten egg abundance from both the chickens and the ducks which has us trading chicken eggs for produce we don’t have ripening on the property (cukes and chile this week) and wondering what the heck to make with so many duck eggs!?!
And, we must not forget the rendering of duck fat
which isn’t garden related but is harvest related.
Ah, yes…
Such glorious abundance blankets our days and nights this time of year, no matter how difficult the season has been, and for that, I am totally and completely grateful
…and totally and completely exhausted!
xoxo,
M
What do you do with all that food??? No way that you can eat all
of that! How lucky you are to have everything doing so well.
I want to know your secret. Plus you have so much energy.
You are one great gal! Congratulations on everything.
Thank you for all of your kind words, Patricia. Truth be told, we *don’t do it all, we just do what we can and many details slip through the cracks. We eat as much of the food we grow fresh, then give away (to family and friends) and preserve the rest. One step at a time we are learning and adapting and I’m so happy for the journey of it all 🙂 Hope you’re well and enjoying your December!
You’re lucky to live on a farm.
We do consider ourselves to be incredibly lucky to have this opportunity 🙂
You could make salted duck eggs or pickled eggs I have not made either but I am sure there are recipes on the internet.
Norma Chang recently posted…Harvest Monday, September 19, 2016 + Some Firsts & Some Lasts
Thank you, Norma! I’ve never had either but they sound yummy!
Those piles of grapes look divine! Sounds like you’ve been very, very busy. I’m looking forward to fall coming my way.
Hi Julie! Fall offer such a nice respite after al the madness, doesn’t? I do love the crisping of the air and the slowing of days 🙂 Hope you’re having a great week!
No wonder you are exhausted – you really have been busy! You have such an awesome bounty of goodies. And yes, where did summer go?
Everything looks so good — fantastic photos to document all your hard work!
Thank you, Karen!
Spectacular photos Melissa! What an awesome abundance you have!
As we step towards Spring, and the days warm to a point where the slow combustion stove makes the house almost too warm….we get a day like today, blustery and frigid, stoking the fire and watching the blossoms get blasted from the trees :/
When I have an abundance of eggs…I make lemon curd, and passion fruit curd and I bake with coconut flour ( which always takes too many eggs ) and I make meringues and custards ( lemon meringue pie! ) and make frittatas and crust less quiches. Enjoy your eggy abundance!
Thank you, Linda! Thank you for all of the tips for our egg abundance!
As much as I love spring, I am very much looking forward to the slowing of life (even if it’s just a tiny bit slower)!
Hope you’re having a lovely week!