It all started with a couple of buckets of Greengage plums that were given to me as the strong winds gripped Campbell Town yet again.
"I'm just returning these buckets" I called out to the shearer
"I'll see you in a minute"
Well Greengage gardener wasn't home so I left the buckets and spied another neighbour on his front veranda, so I stopped for a bit of a netter and next minute...
I had a bag of delicious juicy pears!
Around the next street I saw another keen fellow gardener mowing his lawn and he waved me in...
Next minute....
Ripe perfect plums all golden inside with a halo of red.
Well if I've got this many plums I'm going to need some apples to make sauce and chutney,
So around the corner....
To my next dear and generous neighbour.
We had a delightful time wandering the garden from apple tree to apple tree, sampling and selecting and
Next minute....
"Don't go without some of these golden cherry plums, they're perfect for chutney!"
My car smelt like the most divine fruit shop and it was certainly more than a couple of minutes later. I had the best time dwelling with my neighbours over small talk and basking in their gardens. I find that the most amusing thing about living in the country, everything is small scale and so close I could walk everywhere but even a trip to the shop,the library and the petrol station takes at least a couple of hours!
The stove has been going full pelt all day and I've bottled pears and tomatoes, made a double batch of plum chutney and a double batch of Worcestershire style plum sauce, all with the help of a 3 year old and thankfully a "Poppy" as well!
I cam smell those green ages from here! Such a luscious looking collection. Thank goodness the weather has co--operated with cooler temperatures to coincide with your preserving. I'm about to strip my overladen Victoria plum tree to bottle them . I think I'm going to have to buy more preserving jars as we also had a bumper apricot harvest. Love this time of year!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful Tanya, small communities are wonderful like this. Lovely to fill your pantry with homemade sauce and chutney. Your kitchen/house would've been filled with the beautiful aroma of your cooking. I've been cooking tomatoes, zucchini and onions for soups and stews and Peaches today, filling my freezer with homegrown produce.....xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a glorious windfall Tanya, how wonderful that you have such generous neighbours. It truly is one of the blessings of living in a smaller community. All your cooking and preserving sounds amazing , would love to be back down there in your kitchen taking in all the sights and smells of all that delicousness.
ReplyDeleteCheers.
Jane.
Oh my goodness, what an outing and blessing! It makes me so happy.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful bounty of fresh produce! You are blessed to live where you do. :-)
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to find such generosity in your little community. Reading about this just made me smile at the simple kindnesses and sharing that can happen between neighbours. Meg:)
ReplyDeletemmmmmm....looks lovely...and delicious!
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