I loaded these photos into my blog exactly a week ago.
I took these photos in the two weeks before that.
According to the calendar now it's autumn but then it was still summer, although with the extreme heat wave we've been having one could beg to differ.
Monday morning one week later and the photos are older and the stories that go with them more out of date. But still these are the things that are filling our autumn days.
Apple picking, pumpkin gazing, cucumber collecting and fermenting, tomato harvesting and preserving, spinach, cauliflower, zucchini, cabbage, lettuce and carrot weeding and eating, watering, watering and more watering, planting the winter veg, mowing, netting and fencing.
It's a fabulous time of the year. It's the time that makes all the rest of the farming months make sense. It's crates of fruit in the doorway so you have to walk sideways into the house, it's bowls of tomatoes and boxes of cucumbers and baskets of apples, it's pots of bubbling produce on the stove waiting to be poured into jars, it's colourful bottles filling every available bit of bench space there is, it's books lying open all over the table with new recipes to try, it's rings and clips and lids and crocks, it's a washing machine load of aprons, it's a sticky mess on the floor next to the stove, it's a sink FULL of dishes, it's this crazy time when we are living in one season but trying to provide for the next, it's the part of the year that I feel most tired, most alive and the happiest.
Happy new season my friends!
What's it looking like where you are?
I hope yours is bountiful and delicious.
So much love,
Kate x
I love that "most tired, most alive and the happiest". So often we equate 'tiredness' with being worn out and over it, but true tiredness is the most satisfying, fulfilling state I know. x
ReplyDeleteBusy, work and tired are words that are so loaded with negativity, I feel like we need to reclaim them and rejoice in them and the satisfaction they can bring too. xx
DeleteIt's still hot here although summer has (thankfully!) back off a little. Last night we had rain which we so badly need and this morning I looked around and noted that everything looks automatically greener after a good storm.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post and words as always Kate. The first month of Autumn is usually a bit odd weather wise, isn't it? March kind of doesn't fit into summer, but it's not feeling very autumnal yet either.
I hope you have a wonderful week!
Sarah x
There's nothing quite like the look of a garden after a much longed for and needed rain. I love those days. x
DeleteLiving in one season, trying to provide for the next - awesome!!! For me I'm trying to ignore the changing of seasons. I'm loving this little extra 'summer' feeling. The season will change all too soon, but for now I'm going to enjoy those rays a little bit more. Your apples and pumpkins look so happy and scrumptious. I'm sure your next seasons meals and baking will be beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI must say I've been loving the little bit of extra summer this year. I feel like things are changing a bit this week and I'm not sure if I'm ready. x
DeleteGlorious photos! Love that your farm is a family affair. Also, have been wondering how the new school and juggling all was going and it appears it must be working out.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great feeling to know you're making the most of your time, talents and heart.
I love growing pumpkins and am always glad when I have some to harvest before winter hits hard.
Winter in Minnesota is knitting season and I'm trying to finish a sweater for my son's high school graduation gift.
Your photos inspire! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Denise. The new school is proving to be wonderful so all the juggling and organising and extra time feels worth while. We're lucky because there are two other families sharing the commute so it's not nearly as taxing as I'd feared. I do dread the dark, rainy, misty car rides in winter though. x
DeleteHi Kate
ReplyDeleteHow I can relate to it. The upload of photos, the stories that goes with them on my tongue and then the distraction or creative freeze that stops the words for being tapped down on the keyboard... And then they sit there, the photos, day after day... And before I know it they feel old because new stories are to be told. New photos wants to be uploaded... Thanks for sharing your "old" photos and "old" stories. For me they are always knew no matter when you tell them. I'm just happy to pop in here every now and then to see what you are up to. From one side of the world to another, seasons are different. I'm looking forward to spring, flowers and green grass. Want to put this winter behind. Or was there ever a real winter? Hard to tell seasons by the weather nowadays, but with a veggie patch it gets so much easier.
Have a lovely week!
Xxx
Thank you Annette, you've explained what I've been feeling perfectly. xx
DeleteSuch a wonderful feeling of abundance! I love it when my house is busy with creativity. My garden is tiny but manages to produce enough at times for me to preserve. Enjoy each moment and please keep us updated with your progress. BTW I've started knitting socks........only tube socks for the moment but you have inspired me with all your sock creations. Lots of hand knitted socks as presents for my family this year I think :)
ReplyDeleteHooray, you've made my day!! I'm so excited for you and your sock knitting adventures Andrea. xx
DeleteCould there be anything sweeter than Pepper's plaits and that vintage basket overflowing with juicy red apples? It makes me feel happy just seeing that. We have our Nairne house on the market and my poor garden is shorn and clipped and manicured into a shape that is so completely foreign to me. The new garden desperately needs new irrigation, top soil, mulch and rain so it doesn't feel quite mine yet. I am bereft of all seasonal bounty but hopeful for things to come..
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, that feels like quick the shock to the system. I hope you are all sorted out and growing abundantly again SOON! xx
DeleteWe are having lightening, thunder and rain today in California! We've been in a drought forever and it's so lovely to hear it all coming down :) Adore all your photos!
ReplyDeleteWonderful Jana, I hope you got enough rain to make a difference. xx
DeleteStorms abound here in the middle East, which is slightly odd, yet refreshing. Here, they are growing the kinds of things we grow, if we are lucky, in the english summer - courgettes, peas, tomatoes, pumpkins, cabbage - and they are so delicious. Was also lucky to have a trip to the mountains last weekend and saw some date plantations, apricot blossom and green green green, which I loved :) wonderful photos as ever, Kate. I hope to be pickling etc soonest, as soon as I can plant stuff in our new garden! Xxx
ReplyDeleteStorms abound here in the middle East, which is slightly odd, yet refreshing. Here, they are growing the kinds of things we grow, if we are lucky, in the english summer - courgettes, peas, tomatoes, pumpkins, cabbage - and they are so delicious. Was also lucky to have a trip to the mountains last weekend and saw some date plantations, apricot blossom and green green green, which I loved :) wonderful photos as ever, Kate. I hope to be pickling etc soonest, as soon as I can plant stuff in our new garden! Xxx
ReplyDeleteHow exciting and what an awesome adventure you are on. Happy travels. xx
DeleteMother Nature is a bit muddled at present. Here in South Yorkshire it's Spring the weatherman says we had snow, sleet,hail and rain over the weekend. The daffodils and snowdrops are trying to cope as are we.
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, I hope weather sorts herself out soon and you get a bit of well deserved sunshine and warmth. x
DeleteThose apples look so good. Whenever I buy apples I always get excited when I see one with a leaf attached! Silly isn't it but in my mind it equates with freshness even though the apples we buy have probably travelled a long way. I also love what you described as 'most tired, most alive and the happiest'. For me it usually means sleeping like a rock as soon as my head hits the pillow - hope it's that same for you!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny but usually if we find we are picking lots of greenery with the apples it's a sure sign that they aren't quite ready. Picking the stem with the apples means you are plucking off next year's apples. But I totally get that connection to the tree thing. I think it makes for nicer photos too. x
DeleteI do love a look into your farm life Kate x
ReplyDeleteThanks honey, I do love having you here looking. x
DeleteIt is Spring here! The cherry plums are past their best, the ornamental pears are starting, the magnolias are getting underway, I need to cut the grass but it is always wet and the weather is frickin' nuts. Sun! Pelting rain! Sun! Pelting rain! Sun! Pelting rain! Sun!
ReplyDeleteMmm, fresh-picked apples. I've fallen for a couple of varieties here that I can't get at home.
I'm really happy for you Kate that you're enjoying this time of the year. It is certainly a bountiful time in our gardens. Our summer this year has been a little strange. Our temps have been hot, constantly. We haven't had our usual south coast NSW southerlies after a hot day. There have been no thunderstorms after a hot day either. And now, summer is lingering. I'm looking forward to things cooling down a bit so I've got more energy again. I hope your days continue to be happy and healthy ones. xxoo
ReplyDeleteYou describe summer at your place so perfectly Kate. I almost feel like I am in your kitchen or your garden or your orchard. Gorgeous photos...just look at that pumpkin xx
ReplyDeleteBusy times! Everything looks wonderful! Ours is just starting, spring that is. Planting potatoes, peas, greens and onions tomorrow before the rain comes, then wait till it's dry and start again. I adore spring!
ReplyDeleteWhat a glorious look into what makes your farm tick-season by season. We' in N California are netting the blossoming cherries in the hope that the wind doesn't take them like it did last year when, in the end, we shared all 14 cherries with the birdies and planned to net this spring. The most beautiful harbinger of spring is our State Flower, the California Poppy. Its iridescence with that vibrant orange against the chartreuses of the early growth makes a stunning landscape and usually means the worst winter has passed; this year we are still 'wishing and hoping and planning and dreaming' about more rain to help end our five year drought which has emptied our reservoirs and left our California Redwood trees hurting in ways we cannot fix. Just saw on news that our famous fog, which makes the Redwoods possible, has diminished by half over the last decade.
ReplyDeleteHowever the two miniscule blueberry bushes are laden so the kids will have handfuls of bounty in a another short while. They look forward to our fresh "Boo-Blerries" every March.
Thank you , Kate, for finding time to post such wonderfully evocative photos of the trees, the lovely Pepper, the baskets overflowing with lusciousness... You've made a beautiful midnight stop by the computer so worth it. Namaste, Foxs Lane.
It's beginning to look very spring like here in th UK. Wonderful post of busyness and productivity.
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful photos, so full of light, autumn's abundance and happiness. Thank you for finding time to share them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your beautiful photos, who knew fruit tree nets could look so magical, like a hovering mist.
ReplyDeleteI love the photos of the girls climbing the apple trees to pick the fruit. Mu mum talks of doing that in their orchard when she was a young girl. She is now 86 and not quite so nimble.
ReplyDeleteLove the photo of Indi climbing the tree! It looks magical, like she's climbing a beanstalk. Great shot Kate.
ReplyDelete