As the autumn chill sets in here I find myself still busy with the last of the gardening and canning. As the night draws in earlier in the evenings, it makes me tired. I don't know why. It does feel strange for awhile eating our evening meal while it is dark outside and yet it is only 6.00pm.
It has been the term school holidays here and we have been away on a youth group camp, visiting my family and then having my mum and dad come here too so I haven't had an opportunity for a post here sorry.
I just thought for this week I would put up some photos of what I have been doing in my kitchen and garden to prepare for the winter season coming.
Even though it is autumn here and only one month left until winter, we are still having some mild days and the vegetables are starting to grow a little and looking strong. I don't expect to be eating any of them for awhile, except for the lettuces.
Winter vegetables going in: Leeks, Kale, Spinach, Broccoli and Lettuce
Along the front of the garden I planted flowers to help encourage bees and to add some pretty colour.
Saving beans for next season. I dried them on a sunny windowsill for a couple of weeks and then popped them out and into a bag. These are dwarf french green beans.
Sorting my seed packets for next spring planting. I have noticed online that seeds are selling out so I have been pro-active and ordering early for next season. We don't normally plant a lot from seed, having purchased more seedlings already started from our local garden store. However, when I recently shopped there to purchase the above seedlings they had gone up in price a lot so we have decided it is time to do more seeds ourselves and also learning how to seed save from our vegetables.
I planted the lettuces in the greenhouse next to the celery which is still growing well.
I love growing sprouts and this is a new system I brought so I can grow even more. I am anticipating that we will still eat salads over the rest of autumn and early winter plus sprouts are great added to many different meals. The top layer is alfalfa sprouts and the second layer is a stir-fry combo which has chickpeas and lentils. They were delicious!
We have our feijoa tree giving us yummy fruit now, which I am enjoying but these ones I bottled here are from a friend close by who also has a tree and she gave us a big bag of them so I decided I would preserve them as this is a favourite way to eat them later on. I love them on muesli for breakfast or added to an apple crumble for pudding.
Raspberry Jam is a favourite in our home and there is nothing like homemade jam. Even though I make this with frozen raspberries it is still far tastier than store brought jam and cheaper as well even though frozen fruit has gone up in price. I have put this away in the cupboard and we will eat it when we have pancakes for a special occasion. Yes my sons are fans of jam on pancakes!
I have also preserved lemons to add flavour to meals over the winter, I bottled some cooking apples, more pears from our tree and I have been dehydrating vegetables too. Since we have experienced a lot of bad weather I don't know what our winter season will be like and often vegetables go up in price quite a bit if there has been flooding and heavy rain which ruins the crops. Just recently a cauliflower at the supermarkets was over $8!!
I encourage you wherever you live and whatever season you are going into, whether it is summer or winter, plant a garden or do some canning or preserving. It is very rewarding and the hard work is worth it when you eat the fruit of your labours.
Take care and have a blessed week.
Fiona
"Choose this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15
No comments:
Post a Comment