It feels like summer and autumn harvests have crashed together, as we are still picking the summer produce, and the typical autumnal goodies have arrived – it is still August!
We have been picking pears and plums and over this weekend, bramleys. Lots and lots of bramley apples. We have loaded the trolley three times so far, and still have more to come, and that’s off the one tree – it was so laden with fruit we had to prop it to keep the apples off the ground! I guess our gradual pruning efforts have been paying off, but we might have to shorten those limbs this winter!
So the preserving begins – I am loathe to fill the freezer too much, as we still have a mutton wether, at least a dozen chickens.. ducks, hopefully turkeys to fit in (and we are not even keeping pigs this year!) but we have made use of the available freezer space short term.
Another tree with sweeter fruit, we earmark the apples for pressing. Harvesting those was a fast job this evening, I climbed the ladder wearing a hard hat, and armed with the shepherds crook (we use if for all sorts other than shepherding), I shook the living daylights out of the tree. The apples come crashing down, and we collect them from the floor. We will freeze them for a few days, then press them and bottle the juice.
Harvesting fruit has to be one of the best jobs.
