Autumn's arrived early

With the recent named storms (Ellen and Francis), autumn arrived early.  The beans in the garden were blown over and blight entered the Polytunnel through the mesh window we had uncovered on one side, blown in by the winds.  That's brought the garden to a bit of an abrupt halt now, although we still have squashes to come and the Greek Gigantes are just about hanging in there, propped up with a hefty step ladder.

Yesterday I looked out of my office window, and the Ty Coch farmer (or his son) was ploughing.  For winter crops for his sheep or cattle, not wheat or barley.  We don't get enough sunshine here to ripen any grain crops, though farms probably grew oats in the past, which are more tolerant as they require more water.

This morning shows he had been very hard at work and ploughed the neighbouring field too.

I treated myself to a magazine when I went to the PO yesterday.  We have just started taking a Saturday newspaper again after having gone without newspapers since mid-March.  I still have to persuade myself they are not contaminated (!) but I make sure I wash my hands thoroughly after handling.  This has long been one of my favourite magazines - more like Country Living used to be, before it got full of adverts.  I've gone without magazines too, apart from my quilting magazine which I have on subscription.

Yesterday teatime Tam and I picked the plums.  Not a gigantic crop, but enough for us, and more than the young tree has produced before.  It's one of the cheap ones that Aldi or Morrisons sell every spring. Csar I think.  We had to use the other step ladder and a pair of loppers to reach them though, so the tree got a bit of a pruning too.  These will be cooked up and go in the freezer.  I need to check the chest freezer and try and make a bit of room.

Next month it will be pears and apples.  Oh my goodness - the apple crop this year is overwhelming.  I've had to cut back the tree at the end of the driveway as it was hanging so low with the weight of fruit, so friends and visitors have been given bagfuls of smallish apples to cook up (or feed to their donkeys!)

The pear crop is huge too, but another tree which hasn't fruited before and did this year, got nobbled by the birds.  The fruits have a slight blush and that must have attracted them.  I think that might be a Comice.

Tam requested one of our favourite tray bakes yesterday, Chocolate and Blackberry Brownies.  We were low on chocolate but sacrificed the last bar of Lidls' Raspberry dark chocolate for this (we needed a bar and a half and some more as chocolate chips but added a chopped apple instead.  Half has gone in the freezer.

Here's the recipe below:

The illustration in the book and below, the book, which is one of my favourites.

Due to the Blight, we had to pull all the tomato plants (they will be burned on the bonfire), and have green tomatoes for chutney making.  Tam will have to do that today - the vinegar fumes do my asthma no favours.  A shame as I used to make all my own chutney before this happened.

Various preserves books have been pulled off the shelves - a couple which I have bought Tam down the years (above and below):

And below, my own "go to" book which takes some beating.  It has recipes for everything and they never fail.

Has anyone been watching the Our Yorkshire Farm series?  It's my favourite programme - those kids are so practical and self-reliant, and by gum, the family live a tough life up on the North York  moors.  The kids are so down to earth and not a mobile in sight!  Wee Clemmy is such a character, and  one of these days I'm sure we will see Tony The Pony tucked up in bed with her!!   I went to bed so relaxed after watching last night's programme and slept well, and we still have the Lockdown programme on record to see tonight.  

Right, I have pickled onions to make, and I need to take the fruit out of my Damson wine, and add sugar to the bin . . .