the life I picked

a bushel of gumption, an ounce of grace

in development: marmalade

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I resisted but now I am coming around to the idea of making a marmalade. Part of the resistance was that I have not a speck of experience, first-hand or other, with making it, the way I do with preserves and jelly, and historically have not been a fan of eating it.

But in the middle of winter, thoughts do turn to citrus. …

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midwinter jewels and gems

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les collines winter jelly and presevesJewels and gems of winter, here are the core of les collines for the coldest months. The fruits are harvested locally—most within a few miles of where I live—excepting, sadly, the Meyer lemons and limes! Yup, wrong climate.

Extra quince, rhubarb, and Concord grape are frozen, while sage I can continue to harvest and good local cider is available year-round.

For more information on any of the fruit and its provenance read my prior posts…for detail on these winter flavors, read on!…

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fall, harvest graces

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The crabapples of last year’s tree are no more, and won’t reappear til next, amazing biennially producing tree that it is….except, this evening, I looked up and saw maybe two dozen crabapples, fresh, red, and at the tippy top of this amazing tree. Huh. What is up with that biennially producing crabapple?A slim crabapple harvest this year, a single crabapple on the crabapple tree.

Don’t know. But expecting no crabapples chez moi I’d undertaken a search. Had a source, but somehow they were sold from under me. Long story short, suffice to say: there may be no crabapple jelly 2014. Will keep you posted.

Meanwhile, the grapes look superb. Keeping with the trend of surprising fruits (biennial crabapple produces annually, wild grapes appear where there were none before, flowering quince no fruit becomes with fruit) I am going with it. Concord grape preserve yes, crabapple jelly maybe no this year. Cider sage on deck.  My sage is just out of control, am dreaming up how to do it honor. Quince, for sure…or as sure as these things ever are.

When it comes to the grace of fruit, of harvest, well, you just have to bend to it.

late summer colors & flavors

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As the shadows lengthen so do the colors deepen and the textures shift. The bright berries and stone fruits of summer–strawberries and raspberries and blueberries, cherries and peaches and apricots–ebb and make way for crisp apples and crabapples, fragrant quince, sweet seductive grapes….

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