We love this time of year.
After the intensity of summer the weather has mellowed into misty mornings and warm, calm days.
We’re hauling in produce from the garden and the hedgerows – the stars of this year are the tomatoes, borlotti beans, raspberries, sloes and walnuts.
The woodstack is getting bigger in preparation for colder days.
The faint smell of woodsmoke is in the air and the sound of the Chasse is in the distance.
haie nf hedge
We seem to be spending a lot of time in the hedges at the moment, it’s that time of year…
Eventually we would like to do some hedge-laying, but we’ve got a bit of tidying up to do first. In the meantime we’re making the most of the wild produce which seems to be abundant this year.
On the menu:
Sloe Gin (My favourite!)
Damson Vodka
Sloe, Bullace and Crab Apple Jelly (lovely with cured meat)
Crab Apple and Mint jelly (for roast lamb)
Hawthorn Berry Ketchup
Bramble Jelly
It always amazes me how free (and lets face it, pretty inedible) hedgerow finds can be turned into such sublime treats.
We had a tip-off on the whereabouts of some chanterelles, so we headed there today only to find someone had beaten us to it!
Better luck next time.
Not to worry, we continued down the road to the lovely waterfall which made up for it.
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