Rhubarb and Rose Geranium Jam

 

I was all ready to write about how we skipped spring and went straight into summer this year.   Usually the bleakest of months, October's weather is usually gusty, often raining, suffers from constant blasts of wild winds and is notoriously fickle.  But this year, October has been full of hot and sunny summer days.

Yesterday, as we worked outside in the garden, mowed the lawn for the third time this week, and rested under the shade of the mulberry tree, I thought what happened to spring? This is summer weather already.

Thankfully, today spring is back, a rainy wet chilly start to the day followed by gusty blasts that has me indoors working at my desk.  The wood stove is getting what might be its last daytime hurrah for a while, and its wetback gurgles comfortingly in the background as it heats our hot water.  There are beans in the oven simmering away with tomato, garlic, and smokey spices, and the kettle sits on the side of the stove, ready for a cup of tea at a moments notice.

Spring is my third favourite month, after winter and autumn, so I do feel a little robbed of those balmy spring days.  So far this October has been hotter than any December on record. Scary stuff.

From a local eaters point of view, skipping spring straight into summer means that we're enduring the heat, without all the good things that summer brings, like juicy cherries, sweet nectarines, fragrant tomatoes and crunchy cucumbers from the garden.  There's no standing over the sink eating a ripe juicy peach, and letting its juices dribble down your chin, to take the sting out of a stifling day. These are the delicious things that for me, makes summer bearable.  But now, it's still the hungry patch, and all we've got is rhubarb and meyer lemons and the rose geranium has started to flower.

So here is a spring jam, the first one of the season, a light spring, lemony jam, made fragrant with rose geranium leaves. It's low on sugar and doesn't keep for long.  A bit like spring really.

Spring Rhubarb Jam with Rose Geranium

750g rhubarb stalks
300g sugar
100mls meyer lemon juice
3 sprigs of rose geranium

Wash rhubarb and remove the leaves, the tough pale end of the stalk and any snails.

Cut into the rhubarb into pieces about the size of a cork, if anyone can remember what a cork looks like (about 5cm).

Throw the rhubarb into a non reactive bowl, with the sugar and the lemon juice.  Toss then cover and allow to sit for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.

Pour the rhubarb mixture and the rose geranium sprigs into a preserving pan, scrape all the juice and sugar clinging to the bowl.  Cook over low to medium heat, stirring often until the sugar has dissolved and the juices are running freely.   Increase heat to a medium high and bring the rhubarb to a gentle boil. Cook for about ten minutes, stirring often or until the rhubarb is tender. Remove the rose geranium.

Pour into jars, allow to cool and store in the fridge. Best eaten within two weeks or so.

This fresh spring jam is delicious on toast, with yoghurt and granola for breakfast, on ice-cream, or simply eaten out of the jar with spoon, in lieu of a juicy peach eaten over the sink.

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A perfect sunny Sunday

Today was the most perfect day.  Warm and sunny and not at all windy.  Thank heavens because the recent weeks of constant wind was starting to drive us all bonkers.   

We had friends for lunch and feasted on mussels and crusty bread made by a local baker. Then the afternoon was spent in the garden, that has been rather neglected of late, but so many flowers managed to survive the gusty weather relatively unscathed.  

I think the warm weather is here to stay and I can almost plant my tomatoes. And today we were given some magic pumpkin seeds. I can't wait to plant them.  I will need to be a bit witchy to make them grow I think, but they really are magic.  Wait and see.

Hope you had a lovely weekend too xx

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15 comments garden, hooray, seasons

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Apple scrumping

The temperature has been steadily dropping over these last days of autumn, and today the mercury didn't reach double figures, languishing around the eight degree mark. With winter on the doorstep, it's perfect weather for curling up in front of the fire.  But the lure of one last fruit picking adventure was too hard to resist.  Especially one as clandestine as scrumping, that is fruit looting, or ahem, stealing apples off the trees without permission from the owner.



Up into the hills and along an old dirt road stands an overgrown abandoned apple orchard.  There were hundreds of kilos of apples rotting on the ground, with plenty more still stubbornly clinging to the gnarly, moss covered trees.  Despite the steep hills, thick grass and lots of brambles we had to battle to get in there, the prize of biting into those cold apples in that fresh mountain air was utterly delightful.  


We picked at least 20 kilos of granny smith's and tiny golden delicious, and would have picked more if we could reach the higher apples. We hauled our heavy baskets back down the road, whilst we stuffed our faces with crunchy sweet apples.

Tomorrow I'll make apple sauce, apple jelly and apple butter with the loot.

Apple scrumping, stealing perhaps, but a late autumn activity of the very best kind.

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15 comments good things, real food, seasons, tasmania

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Autumn's last gasp

It looks so dramatic.  The valley at this time of year.   Mist settles on the hills, a few golden leaves cling stubbornly to the deciduous trees and the sun never seems to shine. The whiff of smokey bonfires linger in the air.  Cold, wet and gothic.

Unwanted apples sit forlornly on the trees, and little birds feast on the forgotten fruit. Or they'll fall to the ground where worms and bugs will finish them off. Shrivelled blackberries are dotted along the brambles and stick to my tights as I scramble along the hedge.   And bright red rose hips look so pretty glistening in the fading autumn light.

Autumn's last gasp.

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22 comments country, seasons, tasmania

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The autumn break

My poor garden is looking very confused at the moment.  You could be forgiven for thinking it's autumn, as a lot of the leaves are brown and some fruit trees have lost all their leaves.

Part of me wishes it was the end of summer, because it would bring the drenching rains known as the autumn break.  Goodness knows we need it.

The truth is, a lot of the trees were scorched in the recent heatwave that bought high temperatures and fierce winds. The leaves have blown off the plum trees, dried clusters of fruit hang off the currant bushes and some apple trees have turned up their toes, perhaps they've even carked it, but hopefully they've opted for an early hibernation.   They've all been given lots of long soaks to revive their parched roots, but we'll have to see if they bounce back next spring.

It's not all doom and gloom of course.  There are some tomatoes in their way, sunny sunflowers, lots of beans that I'm hoping to dry and use over winter, and a delicious crop of crunchy cos lettuce to eat now.

We've one more precious week of the school holidays, and once school goes back  I plan to devote some much needed time and energy to the garden.  Hopefully I'll be able to whip it back into some sort of respectable shape with more mulch, liquid feeds and a bloody good weeding (which are still thriving in this hot dry summer!)

In the meantime, the peeps and I are heading off on a mini camping trip.  I can't wait to get away and spend some down time with them.   Too early for the autumn break, but nonetheless a break of the midsummer kind.

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Life is just a bowl of cherries

There's been a lot going on around here lately. I seem to be running from one thing to the next.  Some highs and some lows.  Happy times and sad.   My girl turned ten (!) We celebrated Christmas with good food and good friends.  I felt like I ran a marathon prepping and working for a friend at the Taste Festival.  And MoMa keeps going from strength to strength.

But for the most, it's hard to think about anything much than the devastation that has hit our island.  So many homes lost to intense bush fires.  So much devastation.   Heartbreaking.

The flip side is the incredible show of community spirit as people come together to help those in need.

Humans are amazing.

The camera sits forlornly on the table.  Not used much lately.  But then amidst all the goings one, there was a moment I photographed with Hugo.  After a friend gave us a huge bucket of cherries from his tree.  I took them and I sat with Hugo on the verandah and we ate those cherries.  As the cherries stained his clothes, I taught him an important life skill.  That is, to spit the pips over the railing.  

I sat and looked down at what's left of my garden, at the shrivelled leaves on the fruit trees, the wilted berries and the dead brown grass.  All decimated after 40 plus temperatures, crazy hot winds and no rain for weeks.  Not a drop.  I try to feel grateful that I still have a garden.  Plenty don't. I do feel grateful but it is still hard nonetheless.  

So I sit with my son, spit pips over the railing and life seems perfect for a moment.  I forget about the bad stuff, breath in the moment, remember the good and finish that bucket of cherries.

Feeling incredibly lucky really.

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8 comments country, family, good things, hugo, sad, seasons, tasmania

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An Easter surprise...

Look what we found in the garden this weekend, a surprise befitting the Easter Season indeed :: a very proud hen with fifteen little chicks.  FIFTEEN! This sweet little black hen has fancied a large brood ever since she started laying, and twice before we've found her sitting on large clutches of eggs in well hidden parts of the garden. But never before have they hatched.   This time she did it, cleverly laying her eggs in an unused compost bin, topped up with a few donated eggs from the other hens it seems.   She looks so very proud of herself, and rightly so. Clever girl, but really, fifteen. 

Wishing you and your family a safe and happy Easter xx
Peep! Peep!

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19 comments chooks, cute, seasons

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An extra summer's day

An extra summer day today, before autumn arrives tomorrow.  A late night of playing, practicing, quick dinners and being out in the garden later than we should.  Happy Leap Year Day.

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The race is on...

Spring is here, the westerlies blow and the race is on in the garden.  There are seeds to sow, beds to mulch, trees to feed and weeding, weeding and more weeding, before the blighters get a foothold.

Like most things in my life, I'm kinda a last minute gal, and whilst most gardeners will have their summer seedlings already shooting forth, to allow maximum time to grow during the warmer months, my seeds and potatoes are still in the mail.   Except for my tomatoes, which I finally sowed today.  Unfortunately the problem with this last minute approach was made apparent during my mad dash to the hardware store today, with very slim pickings left in the tomato seed section.  I think I nabbed the last six packets of unheard of varieties like Thai pink egg, yellow pear, Wapsipinnicon peach, Ponderosa Pink, Burwood prize and Cerise.  Only one red tomato out of the lot of them.  It will be interesting to see how they fair, all pink, peach and yellow.  Next year I will be more organised. For sure.  But tonight at least, I can rest on my laurels, confident in the knowledge that we're in for a bumper summer tomato crop. Just as we open the last bottle of passata too.  And I make a note to myself to get organised earlier next year.

In other parts of the garden, the garlic is growing like crazy, but the asparagus is more Mary Celeste than Mary Washington, there's absolutely no sign of it.  Lucky the vigorous and tasty pick again broccoli is living up to its name to make up for the asparagus shortfall.  

Along with being a mad rush to sow seeds in time, it's also a constant battle, this gardening caper. It's me vs weeds, slugs and those pesky black birds, that pull up seedlings, dig holes in the beds and flick mulch all over the paths. It's no wonder they were made into pies.  What happened to that culinary trend I wonder?  But looking into the lemon tree today, I spied a brand new baby black bird, they seem so harmless with they're little.  Next to their charming speckled blue eggs.  This little one will no doubt grow up to torment me next spring, probably as I race around the garden in a mad last minute planting frenzy again, having paid no heed to my own advice at all.

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Blunnies off

It's quiet around here because it's school hols right now.  We've kicked off our Blunnies and headed outdoors, enjoying bare feet on the grass and the warm spring weather.  Might be time to invest in a pair of these I think.  We have made marshmallows and popcorn for picnics under the birch trees.  


This weekend we head off to gorgeous Lily Cottage for some beach time with friends.   Before we go there's lists to write and I'm dreaming of delicious things to cook on the campfire. It might be warm, it will probably be cold.  Actually, it might also be time to invest in some of these too.   


Hello spring, it's so very good to see you.

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7 comments elsa, garden, good things, hugo, seasons, yum

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