Hello there. So here we are at the end of another month. I hope you have had a good couple of weeks since my last post. I had been intending to show you round my garden at this point in time, but to be honest, there is not a lot to see. Most things are looking rather soggy and bedraggled after recent heavy rain . It feels like Autumn has been cut short this year by the rain washing the leaves from the trees.
No matter, I have some cheery images of my apple and pear harvests earlier in the month. I was able to capture the images under mostly blue skies which should make for better viewing. I hope you enjoy them 🙂
The old apple tree in the garden produced a fraction of the apples it provided last year. In 2020, I had at least 4 times the amount. However, I still have a good basketful and have started cooking them down. I think they will last a few weeks yet.
It’s been a bumper year for eating apples. Only a handful from one tree last year and nothing from the other, but this year I have been rewarded with a huge crop by comparison. The very red apples are called Katy but sadly I can’t remember the other variety now, however both varieties are sweet, juicy and very delicious, and they keep well.
And so to the pears trees. They have also had a good year, providing a generous basketful after a very poor crop last year. Both trees are still small although they have been planted in the garden for about a decade now. The pears store well so there will be fruit to enjoy for a while yet.
I have posted many apple and pear recipes over the years, but these are my top 3 which you might like to try – just click on the links for the recipes:
- Toffee upside down cake – Toffee apple upside-down cake (gluten-free; dairy-free; vegan)
2. Apple and tomato tart tatin – Apple and tomato tart tatin (gluten-free; dairy-free; vegan)
3. Pear, pecan and maple crostata – Pear, pecan and maple crostata (dairy-free and vegan)
I hope you are enjoying Autumn/The Fall wherever you are and I look forward to sharing some more recipes and images with you in my next post. My best wishes to you until then.
My Virtually Free-from Kitchen 
Hello Kathryn! Crops are never quite regular for those of us who don’t push them with chemicals… We have been back in France since the end of October and were pleased to find lots of nice walnuts waiting at the foot of our trees, when last year’s batch was rather small. We were all the more surprised since most people in the area complained that their trees yielded nothing. I felt bad for my sister-in-law and shared some of our bounty with her. But the squirrels, all three of them now, looked pleasantly plump 😊!
Thank you, Kathryn, take care.
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Lovely to hear from you again. How nice it sounds to have a walnut harvest. I think you are right about chemicals. I don’t use anything either. The negative side means this year I have extremely holey cabbages😁 but the hearts and tops are still edible and still taste better than anything I can buy. All the best to you.
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