Harvest Monday - 28 October 2024

I thought last week's post would be my last for the year, but a few things happened this week that I'd like to record. Don't worry, it's short.

We have three mature apple trees, which I'm gradually pruning into shape after years of neglect. Last year and the year before, we got no fruit at all. This year, only the Granny Smith produced. Let's face it, these unsprayed apples are ugly, bumpy, and blemished. But peeled and sliced, they are fine and oh so tart.

The Kitchen Goddess made "Eve's Pudding," which can be described as a crustless apple pie, or more accurately, a deconstructed apple cake. It is so good, I asked her to make it again.

Ugly apples and yummy Eve's Pudding

I pulled a couple of leeks to make potato/leek soup. TKG is also making squash soup this coming week, so it's a soupy week, which is fine with me.

Lincoln leeks

 In 2022 and 2023 we really binged on making hot sauces, to the point where we wanted to skip it in 2024. But I was gifted two ultra-hot pepper plants, and that's really all we can do with them. This week I made 5 bottles of Scorpion Pepper-Mango sauce, and TKG made 4 of Carolina Reaper-Carrot sauce. She used two peppers for her batch, and I used three for mine. That made them much hotter, but not overpowering.

Scorpion/mango and Reaper/carrot sauces

I used all the rest of the Scorpion peppers to make a simple (i.e. unfermented) varietal sauce. I'm going to have to psych myself up to try it. I'm sure I'll find someone who will appreciate it if it's too much for me.

Pure scorpion pepper sauce

So now we are up to 20 bottles when we thought we'd have none.

Well, I really do think this is the last post for the year. Enjoy your gardening time off, and see you in the spring! Thanks again to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for hosting Harvest Monday!