Dinner tonight was served by the light of my very own home-made candle - bees' wax from the hives next door; diligently dipped two candles at the time with my toddler drifting in and out of the kitchen.
Herbal tea from alfalfa blossoms, nettle leaf and strawberry clover, served cold. Bread fresh from the oven, dough mixed by my 2 year old son.
Pumpkin fairy presiding, replacing the raspberry fairy - these two characters are made out of dyed sheep's wool (needle felting), little fuzzy things, each helping us to acknowledge whatever abundance is granted to us by the garden. Pumpkins are leading us into warm October, no frost so far - large orange tortoises, they are laying on their backs and sides and breathing so slowly, expanding more and more into their vibrant colors! What are we going to do with hundreds of pounds of pumpkins?
Some I traded with a friend for apples (all our fruit was killed by late frost in May) - others we will cut and freeze and eat all winter long. I am not big on decorating with food, so it is not likely that many will end up on our doorstep. Raspberries are coming out of our ears. Both my son and my husband cannot be lured in the garden to eat more. I happen not to like raspberries, so there is a dilemma! Tomorrow is raspberry freezing day - a delectable solution to summer overproduction is in making winter raspberry muffins.
3 comments:
Wow, if we lived closer, my husband would solve your raspberry surplus problem in an hour. We just planted our first plants this year, so he had to settle for one or two berries a day as they came in. Poor guy was close to standing by the bush every evening just to see if any berries got enough ripening in throughout the day.
Oh, I envy you your raspberries! What I wouldn't give for garden fresh, off the vine, ripe raspberries. Yes, dry them and put in granola with yogurt. Yum! Freeze them for smoothies all winter long. Raspberry sauce is a delightful treat over ice cream and easy to cook in just a few minutes, sweetened or not.
Then there's jam. Raspberries make delicious jam and if you don't like the taste, give away. Little jars of jam are welcome hostess gifts in place of wine, or lovely holiday gifts for the children's teachers, co-workers, anyone you want to remember with a gift but don't know what would please.
Sounds like a lovely harvest you have! You're an inspiration to someone who dreams of one day growing all of her own food!
I've just stumbled upon your blog and love it - it's nice to "meet" a fellow eco-friendly person!
www.rawkout.com
:)
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