Harvest

Over the weekend my sister and I went blackberry picking to build up her driving hours around the forest. We've had lots of rain so lots of berries have come out. Unfortunately they've swollen with water and are lacking the real sweetness they usually have. Although on the upside, there's millions out and the dogs came along too and enjoyed the day out. (I haven't introduced any animals yet, blasphemy!)

A panorama from near where we were picking over to the east, over the Blue Mountains/Wollemi

 

My other half brought home a few kilos he and his work mates picked at work in the forest too. I returned them in the form of a pie he took with him today. I've taken to the stove top and made some blackberry jam with the ones from the weekend. Making jam and preserving is such a great task, I feel like I'm one of the ones continuing it as it fades away like so many other traditions that are of simply no use in our day and age. It refused to set in the test set in the freezer so we'll just cross our fingers and hope it does over time.

Earlier in the month I had a fantastic onion and garlic harvest (growing alongside their companion tomatoes) which I pickled too, my first try at pickling! Fingers crossed not an ounce of bacteria got in/survived and they taste alright.

In other news, my father in law, who owns the land my horses are on, told me about 5L of coolant sitting in a bucket over lunchtime disappeared the other day. By the time I got to the horses and checked their mouths, lips, and backsides there was no trace of who-dunnit. Although a poison, it was at maximum dilution rate, and they've been into supposed horse killing feeds before and survived without a hint of colic. All I can do is keep a daily eye on them in the meantime and hope it was the biggest, fattest mare, Dingbat who would hold a much higher tolerance than the other two geldings.

Charlie, (skinny Thoroughbred) (to the left) and Bruce (Standardbred, ex-trotter)

Dingbat (awful name I know) 

(no clue what breed but heavy, this is after a month or two yarded with a biscuit of meadow hay/day)

Our chickens are happy and still getting the hang of laying an egg a day, they're young, they'll keep. My tomatoes aren't ripening very much, I'm told its due to the drop in temperature for this season. Perhaps I'll be making some green tomato pickles before the seasons out!


On the academic side of things I have to shout out I'm almost finished my degree!!! My last essay submitted last Friday and my last exam this weekend. This week I start studying nursing at college 3 days a week in hope of a secure, busy job at the end of the 18 months.

Travel plans may have taken a hit with the lack of work over summer but I've been contacted about work with a local farm contractor I've worked for over the past few years so perhaps the plans aren't completely off the rails at this stage.

If you've any relatable experiences please feel free to share. Community is an essential part of the human experience and I feel we should use technology to its full potential :)