Friday 24 October 2014

The end of the affair











The last of the pears, huge, heavy (fourteen ounces!) and for the moment, hard.  They will ripen in the kitchen to juicy perfection.  The last of the little Sungold tomatoes too, ripening so slowly in the cold wet garden.  Everything is reaching the end of the line now.  The daylight is waning and plants are ready for a rest.  I'm enjoying eggs from a local farm while they're still available.  In winter there are far fewer, sometimes we have to go without, and have supermarket ones.  Always free range though.

I tidied the garden up a bit yesterday morning while it was dry.  There are still a few flowers in the two older boys' raised beds, so I left them.  Cornflowers, cosmos and some other things I can't name.  The littlest boy's bed had run its course so I cleared it.  Over the half term I'll help him to plant some garlic there.  He will grow the things he loves.  Garlic, which he'll happily eat raw, French sorrel, which he declares to be his favourite vegetable, sugar snap peas, some more of that popping corn that was destroyed by the badgers at the allotment this year - no badgers in the garden - some onions which he also likes raw and maybe some spinach.

The little figs need removing from the fig tree.  It's a job to be done with gloves on, as the white sap is a real irritant to skin.  Ask me how I know.  How funny that the same tree can produce something so delicious, as well as something so painful.  Nature never fails to astound.

I've picked the last of the flowers from the allotment.  Pink roses and aromatic yellow fennel.  And some of the last courgettes and cucumbers.  There are one or two left, but not many.  I went to look at the shed today because there have been more break-ins and more damage.  Fortunately my plot seems unscathed.  Some people are targeted repeatedly, it's so frustrating.

I made a pear flan with some of the pears, with orange zest in the pasty.  I left the pastry thicker than normal in case it was delicious.   I use an old Linda McCartney recipe that has ground nuts, sugar and cinnamon underneath the pears.

We're happy to have reached half term.  No specific plans, just a little pottering at home and out and about.  The littlest boy has another football match on Sunday.  We shall all go and cheer him on.  I'm looking forward to not having to rush off on the school run in the mornings.  And those afternoons when we get home at about 4 o'clock and it's gloomy and everyone curls up with a book, and I make myself a rare cup of tea and sit down too.

Wishing you a lovely weekend.  CJ xx

32 comments:

  1. That's terrible about the break-ins. Why do people have to do that? Hope you have a wonderful weekend, CJ, and get to enjoy some relaxation time with a nice cup of tea:)

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  2. I'm impressed with your pears! I would have loved to see the pear flan after baking. I'm staying in today and hope to whip out a baby hat for a nephew's baby's 1st birthday party on Sunday.. I better get going! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  3. Gorgeous post CJ, and beautiful photos as ever. The pear tart sounds divine! Have a wonderful and relaxing half-term break x

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  4. I need to pick our pears and finally the plum tomotoes are turning red in the garden, plus I have some rippening inside in a paper bag, Such a shame about break in's at the allotments, have a wonderful half term
    Clare x

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  5. I love Pinhead Scabious, must grow some next year. Pears yummy!
    Have a good half term.
    CN x

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  6. ah, how I love reading your posts! you're an inspiration!

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  7. Have a great week. Make sure you do find time to relax a bit. x

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  8. Beautiful photos - I particularly love the colour of those eggs. x

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  9. Ooh, raw garlic and onions? I would say yes to a slice of the pear tart though, it sounds delicious CJ. Enjoy your half term break, it's so nice not to have to rush anywhere, especially in the mornings! xx

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  10. I'll have to try your pear tart, it sounds delicious; and I love the eggs - beautiful colours that seem so springlike.
    I have a separate circle of hell reserved for people who break in to or vandalise allotments. All that hard work so easily destroyed in moments by idiots. Our old allotment shed was broken into a couple of years ago - we got our revenge though; they took the homemade soap we had left wrapped in brown paper and tried to eat it - it did look a bit like fudge. We found it in the herb bed with teeth marks - hilarious.

    Have a lovely week off.

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    1. I'm laughing, serves them right. One of the most beautiful allotments you ever saw was vandalised a year or two ago, it made me so cross, things broken and messed up for no good reason.

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  11. An enjoyable post and lovely pictures. Those are impressive looking pears. The cosmos have been brilliant this year.
    Allotment shed break-ins are annoying but sadly something I think that most plot holders are resigned to happening periodically nowadays.
    Thanks you too, and have a good half term. Flighty xx

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  12. It's interesting how you really feel it when you get to this time of the year, like it's a blanket being pulled over you. Everything is ending. But you've made such good use of your fruit and other harvest. I'm sorry to hear about the break-ins, that's disappointing. I hope they don't hit you. Enjoy your break, it sounds like you've earned it. Ours was two weeks ago, just two days off, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Have a good weekend too.

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  13. It's no wonder really that the plants are ready for a rest, I know I am so I share your thoughts about half term. Good luck to the Littlest Boy tomorrow, I hope the weather's fine for you so that you're not stood cheering him on in the rain.

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  14. Third time lucky hopefully! I now wish I had not eaten my pears straight from the tree, all four of them. It is such a shame that supermarket eggs aren't terribly beautiful, your eggs are so much nicer. I didn't know you could get greenish chicken eggs! Have a lovely weekend. x

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  15. It is so nice to have a few morning to catch your breath and relax. Good luck to the littlest one in his foootbal match.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  16. I love that Fennel CJ, it's on my list to grow next year. I love the structural shape and the colour.
    Enjoy the hols. I'm looking forward to a quiet week with my boys too.
    Jacquie x

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  17. Nice pictures today CJ. Impressive pears! I didn't know that about the fig tree sap - interesting. It is nice that you don't take the local fresh eggs for granted. I think most people don't even know that there is a "season" for fresh eggs, since they are able to to buy eggs all year long from the grocery store. Though French Sorrel as a favorite veggie?! I couldn't have even told you that it was a veggie!

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    1. More of a salad leaf really, but when I asked him what his favourite vegetable was, that's what he came up with.

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  18. Was it sunny when the sap from the fig affected you as sun+sap=big trouble, Parsnip sap reacts bafly on skin when sunlight is in the mix. Raw garlic 0 does he have friends? :)

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    1. I can't remember whether it was sunny, but I got the sap along my arms and it drove me mad for a couple of hours. I try to limit the raw garlic eating to weekends. It does keep the vampires away.

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  19. I wish I had a few of those pears! I like pears cooked (well, warmed) on top of fruit loaf, covered in blue cheese melted under the grill. Your pastry with orange zest sounds like a good combo too. Re the comments about sorrel: I currently have some growing in a Mesclun mix, and it's nice as a salad ingredient, though I'd probably not like it in bulk.

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  20. mmm pear tart. sounds lovely. love love love those green eggs x

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  21. We had an abundance of pears again this year. Most of them are given away as we are not huge lovers of them in our house especially now my daughters gone off to Uni and she was the one who ate them. I do like to get eggs from free range local resources. We have a couple of people in our village who put all the extras they can't use out for sale with a little honesty box. I like it that you get such variety in colour depending on who has laid them.

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  22. That pear tart sounds absolutely divine. Hope you're having a good half term!!

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  23. I enjoy your posts ~ thank you for sharing.
    Carla

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  24. Hey lady!! Those pears look amazing!! And that pastry.....I would love to hear more about that recipe! It looks delicious! Lovely things happening around you minus the break ins which is just plain sad to me. Happy autumn with your family!! Nicole xo

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  25. There is a lot of good stuff going on in this post (as usual!) and now I have a hankering for pears and blue cheese and honey. But you have many delights that are coming to a close, at least for the fresh bits.

    I hope your allotment is left alone, and whoever is mixed up into the break-ins finds a better use of their time, perhaps some knitting might set them straight. I hate to make light of the crime, but I do try to think most people need to redirect their energy even when struggling. It keeps me from getting too cynical and bitter.

    Here is to half term for you all and I'm cheering the little on at his match, from afar. Get that cup of tea and a little cozy downtime with your crew. You deserve it :)

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  26. These may be the most beautiful photos I've seen you post!

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  27. I am in love with your photos here CJ. They are divine. I love the shot of the flowers on the piano. x

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  28. That pear looks huge! I always find pears the most difficult fruit to eat at the right moment! They are always to hard or too soft. What did you do with the figs? We have a fig tree in the garden but the fruit look small and unripe. Sarah x

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  29. Yum to pear flan, oh my sounds relish!! Loving all these wonderful looking pictures, you are so darn domesticated gal! xoxo

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