The last of the Feijoa's

Not wanting to waste this glorious fruit we generally scoff all the big fresh ones as soon as they fall from the trees. Two trees only just keeps up with our demand during the season. This year the last lot fell just before we headed off to Rarotonga. I love preserved Feijoa's but felt like something a bit different so used preserved ginger in with my syrup.

Here we have some sumptuous Feijoa and Ginger fruit. Once it was all bottled there was about 1.5 cups of liquid left. So I scooped the flesh out of the tiny fruit that were left, added a cup of sugar and made some Feijoa and Ginger Jam.

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Still madly harvesting and preserving

Well the harvest continues. Goodness I have to be really honest and say I feel pretty over the whole harvesting and preserving thing.

I absolutely love providing for our family from our own garden but boy harvest time is full on. Over the last weeks I have been thinking a lot of our forebears and people on the poverty line. How the harvest is so so important and without storing correctly and keeping as much as humanely possible, they would starve. Quite sobering really. I am so fortunate that I have a choice and do it because I want to (and I cannot bear waste).

So we are onto the Pear tree now. Goodness they take a while to do with all that peeling etc.

I have also been given tomatoes and decided to try to adapt the roast blackboy peach recipe (originally the roast Feijoa from my sister in laws book) into a roast tomato chutney recipe.

So here goes. ( I don't think I will ever make a chutney in a pot again)





Roast tomato chutney 
2.25kg ripe tomatoes chopped into 2cm chunks
750g onions finely chopped
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 Tablespoon ground corriander
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or use ground)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons each - whole yellow and black mustard seed (optional)
3 Tablespoon salt
400 ml vinegar
500g sugar

Put all into a roasting tray and mix well. Roast for 2-3 hours at 180oC (it took me 2.5) on fan-bake (the fan bake assists the speed of cooking and evaporation of all the liquid). Stir once or twice if you remember. It is ready when it is looking thick and there is still a little bit of liquid in the bottom of the pan when you stir. ( it should have reduced in size by about half).

Spoon into hot sterilised jars ( I had assorted sizes and it filled 7 jars)

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Overflowing with Produce

The preserving has begun

The blackboy peaches

Oh my goodness. I cannot cope with all the produce coming from the garden at the moment. The backboy peach has finally ripened - the problem with the peach is that it all ripens at once!! Last year we got 20 buckets full, I think there is more this year. So all my friends who normally come and get some - come please!! Anyone else near Kaiapoi that reads my blog and wants some, just contact me please.

Quince

I have preserved two buckets of peaches already, I have roast peach chutney in the oven as I type - I have adapted a recipe from my sister-in-law's book - Coromadel Flavour. 

I have beans that I have not been able to keep up with - but I just say that this is because they are next years seed (which they are going to be now! they were very prolific and very successful with germination).

The pears are huge and amazing cropping - the branches bending with the weight. Some of them look like they will be over .5kg each! I will weigh it when ripened.

Then onto the quinces - as usual so many on the tree that I have to giveaway as much as possible.

Rhubarb is crazy all year - the boys are happy getting rhubarb crumble for dessert (another way to get more fruit and vege into them). The zuchinni's have been given away for over a month now and still going.

The groaning pear tree

And then in a month it will be Feijoas - I am trying to do bottling or some preserving for an hour a day. The freezer is full. The shelves are groaning and we are still going!

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