It is undeniable that Autumn is now with us in the Northern Hemisphere, and it is a race against time to gather in as much of the fruit, vegetables and nuts as we can before the first frosts damage them. I will add the proud photo of the four best pumpkins lined up in the sun to ripen once it is off the camera, as it is hugely satisfying. Last year's feral pumpkin was late and never ripened properly so didn't reach the rich and satisfying red colour that we have this year.
The chestnuts are starting to fall and we have had our first outdoor fire with chestnuts roasting, and lovely they are too. We must also go scrumping and collecting our own so that we have enough for savoury crumbles, chocolate cake and soups.
The walnuts are also starting to fall - it looks like it will be a mixed year this year. Some trees are loaded, others have virtually nothing. However the key thing is to get them gathered over the next couple of weeks and then let them dry slowly in nets in the garage, so they can be enjoyed over the coming months.
Grapes are ripening - they have taken advantage of the very sunny September here to add sugars and develop a sweet flavour. We have picked a good 40 kilos and using the potato masher and a flat bottomed bowl, plus a large piece of kitchen muslin, we have managed to crush them and make a very palatable grape juice - strong, smooth and rich. It lasts up to about 10 days in the fridge, although by the end it is starting to feel a bit sparkly on the tongue, showing that the first fermentation process has started. Others are better at making wine than us.
Finally, we were introduced today to the joys of getting your fruit crushed and juiced. Lydie and Dominique Edin at Clefs have a huge fruit press, pasteurising system and bottling kit. You can take along 100 kilos of fruit (ideally apples) or more and they will run it through their press, pasteurise it (unless you want to keep some unpasteurised for cider making) and bottle it for you for a very reasonable price per produced litre of juice. We went along with friends who were old hands at the pressing game, and had ordered a slot on the press, and came home with 50 litres of bottled juice, still hot from the pasteurising process. The juice keeps for up to 2 years, but if it is as good as it looks, I doubt it will last much beyond May!!
As I eyed up the juice, jams, pumpkins, chutneys and nets, I felt that we might be nearly ready for winter. If only we could just get the fire wood issue sorted out...
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