It feels like mid-Winter except it's still light. The fire's lit, I had soup for lunch and I am wearing two layers of polar fleece to combat the 11°C air temperature. Not exactly Summer down this neck of the woods! The good news is that I don't want to stray far from the fire so what better excuse than to write a long-overdue blog or two.
I have been busy with Summer activities though; picking blackcurrants, cutting grass and trying to coax my green peppers into edible size. The plant is brought in every night and only goes outside on warm days - there's about 15 peppers with the largest about 60mm long.
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| An outside day for my pepper - early January |
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| Woohoo! First sign of pepper success! |
I've had a bumper crop of blackcurrants and the rhubarb is growing well again so that means jam and relish making. I have a lovely recipe for rhubarb relish which complements the cheese sandwiches that I have for lunch most days. I've also made rhubarb and blackcurrant jam (which I prefer to straight blackcurrant jam) and blackcurrant concentrate - so yummy drizzled over the Greek yoghurt that I've been making.
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| Another kilo of blackcurrants from 6 plants - yummy |
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| Rhubarb relish in the making - isn't it colourful? |
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| The finished product - 3 jams and 5 rhubarb relish |
There is still a heap of currants to pick but I was waiting for a fine and sunny day so that they keep better; I've been busy working most days so harder to find the time for topping and tailing the currants; the concentrate works well but I'm running out of freezer space. Blackcurrant wine could be the answer in the future!
Orchid hunting has taken lower priority and the lack of sunshine means that the Thelymitra (sun orchid) haven't opened on many occasions. Still, they have a beauty all of their own in the rain...
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I'm a bit rusty with names but I think this orchid is
Caladenia lyallii |
