Tuesday 11 October 2011

Diary of a fruit picker

    It's that time of year again. Trees laden with apples, hedges laden with blackberries. My clothing is streaked with moss and my arms are peppered with bramble scratches. My freezer though is stuffed with bags of fruit and I have a plastic drum full of what will become the first batch of next year's new cider gently fermenting.
    The late summer here saw my first apple pressing in 30 degree heat, a first. A colleague remarked that we saw three seasons last week, I expressed the hope that last Saturday would then see cherry blossom, sadly a forlorn hope.
    Autumn always leaves me slightly sad, feeling that I've somehow missed the summer. Silly really, autumn is the most impressive season in itself, the countryside both laden with produce and beautiful in decay. I took a walk across the fields with my parents neighbour on Sunday, watching deer through the woodland and a poor buzzard being mobbed by some crows.
    The picture shows some very late blackberries. Losing flavour a little by now, but still worth freezing. Those will find their way into a pie sometime in January.

5 comments:

  1. Living in the UK I think everyone has the thought that they missed the summer !

    Something very satisfying about collecting fruit - especially from the hedgerows, after dodging some of the thorns.

    For me autumn has always been my most favoured season - something to do with the trees I suppose. Just love the colours and smells of a British autumn.

    Hope the first brew goes well

    Becca

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  2. There's something to be said for the season of Autumn, even its name is evocative. I just love evrything about it, yes, including the rain! It's a time for reaping what you've sown and preparing for the colder months to follow.

    Shirley Anne xxx

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  3. Offer a bag full of colourful maple tree leaves.Looking for a bucket filled with blackberries.

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  4. Hello all, tardy commenter, me.

    Well, another few weekends, a load more fruit, apples, quinces and pears. We're lucky, October has been kind to us with fine weather.

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