Friday was a windy day in The Fortnight Garden, and it was followed by Saturday which is just as windy. So Six on Saturday was difficult to photograph, but here we go!
1.The Plums are ripening incredibly fast and within two weeks they will be over. Bags of fruit are already in the freezer, waiting to be baked or jammed during the winter, and we gorge on fresh plums daily. All the neighbours have had bowls of fruit, and still they keep coming!
2.Pears are fat and tempting but still hard; it is too early to start picking but I think I will have to pick and perhaps put in ‘cold storage’ in ten days’ time. I like raw pears but I also love stewed pears. Ottolenghi has a wonderful recipe with white wine and saffron! Looking back we had more pears last year, but I am happy with this year’s crop, after all it was a tough year.
3.And then there are the crab apples. Bags of fruit are already sitting in the freezer and I have just acquired a new preserving pan and jelly bags. The tree is laden and I am going to set to and make jelly, flavoured with cloves to be a little more interesting. I have also been reading about ‘apple leather’ or dried fruit rolls. I remember these made of apricots in South Africa and wonder if I could do the same with apple puree?
4.Lobelia Cardinalis looks very startling indeed. I don’t think it is in the right place, but hey, it is flowering.
5.Sedums are starting to colour, and they are keeping the bees happy.
6.And finally, a splash of bright yellow. Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ isn’t subtle, but it is certainly bright. And I feel that in 2020 bright is good!
And so here we are, on a very windy day in The Fortnight Garden, and coming too the end of August. Somehow we have managed to reach this point in a year which will never be forgotten. Thank you again to The Propagator!
I’m not a pear person, but I love plums! Nothing better than plum jam or plum crumble! I just wish I had a plum tree in my garden.
Yes, I like plum jam, but I prefer damson jam, so this year I am going to add some lemon juice to the plum jam to produce something slightly more tart. The Victorias don’t make good crumble because they disintegrate, but perhaps that doesn’t matter?