Things have been a little hectic around here lately. Between an overly productive fruit and vegetable garden, house guests and the usual daily tasks, I have not had time to post for a while.
The cherry harvest has finally slowed to almost nothing. In fact after the high winds of yesterday and today I think there will be none left on the tree at all. Sad, but I cannot help heaving a sigh of relief. It feels so wasteful to not make the most of the bounty offered up to us by good soil and lots of sunshine, but it is exhausting to try and keep up with.
I did not think to weigh the cherries as we picked them. A shame, as I am sure we had over 10kgs from our half of the tree. I will be better prepared next year - and not so naive.....
My rhubarb decided to turn into a monster and overtake the raised garden beds. A lot of picking and processing was needed to bring it back to a manageable plant. Luckily I adore rhubarb so I was not too stressed about what to do with all the largesses.
The gariguette strawberries, wild strawberries and the others (type unknown - alright, but not fabulous flavour) also decided to put forth masses of fruits. A friends' children helped out by foraging and feasting one sunday afternoon. They were enchanted with the tiny wild strawberries and think they liked them best of all.
There has been plenty of home brewing happening as well. I have limoncello (second batch - first batch decimated by visitors one sunday afternoon), strawberry ratafia, rhubarb liqueur and rhubarb syrup, cherry pineau, cherries in ginger wine and cherry liqueur all sitting nice and cosy in the cave.
Recipes for all the above will follow this afternoon - or tomorrow morning - depending on time.
