The Last Gifts of the Garden

The autumn came fast once the summer started to fade away. The trees are starting to have lots of yellow leaves and this week is supposed to be the last warm week when the temperature hits 20 Celsius degrees. The air is wonderfully fresh and the early mornings are starting to be a little nippy.

The last week I have been very busy with  harvesting and even though the carrots and potatoes are still on the ground I was very busy with the pumpkins and courgettes. Today I picked up the very last ones. Still left the plants be since some autumns the weather warms just enough so that we will get one or two pumpkins more. Not huge ones but still food from our own garden. When the frost bites the plants for the first time I do the rest of the garden work. Then I will be sure that there is no more harvest to get.

Last week we got apples from my husband's  parents. This week I have been slicing and drying those apples for the winter. We use them mostly on homemade  muesli but they are also great for the kids to eat instead of candies. More healthier too! And now that  I am writing this our house is filled with a wonderful scent of apples drying. Most fruits and herbs do give that wonderful scent while drying. Makes you love the autumn.

Needless to say that baking has been very limited. I have only made the daily bread and that's it. No cookies or cakes since harvesting and my little one has taken all my time. But we have had much fun too and some unforgettable moments - like when he said mother (äiti) for the very first time. :)

Next week will be different too since then my husband will go back to work after his wonderfully long summer holiday. This was great time in many ways - mostly because this was a fist time in a long time that he was able to have this long summer vacation.

In a way it's a little sad that he has to go back to work. I know that the children will be sad too - it has been nice to have dad around this much and after the vacation it's back to more or less insane working hours. But this is how life is and we need to get by with the things that are our life. We all do our share.

In the following weeks I still need to dig up the potatoes, carrots, pick up the rest of the beans (I saw small ones hanging in the bushes) and I might dry some more herbs since those little treasures have already grown up again. Last gifts of the garden before the autumn really arrives.

Summery thoughts

This summer has been quite different from the earlier ones. Usually we have planted lots of different plants and grown much of our own vegetables and greens generally. Currants and rhubarb have grown a lot this summer. And looks like we are getting some raspberries too.

Earlier this summer, just around the midsummer,  we had very unexpected guest. Snow. It covered our vegetable garden and my poor little courgettes looked like they were lost. No sun shine to warm them or gentle summer breeze to fondle them - just cold wind and wet and even colder snow.

But my courgettes made it through all the hardship. They did cry a little and grew very slowly until one week when the heat wave came and they really came alive! Suddenly they started to spread their little leaves and in a short time those poor little leaves had all grown up and now my courgettes are not poor at all! So, after a month of very very warm weather, looks like we are getting some delicious courgette pies!

Since this  summer started so badly, I am happy that we also use wild vegetables. Dandelions and chickweed are part of our salad plates. They taste great and what's best: they grow all by themselves and they are not afraid of a little frost!

Even though the summer has not been a great one to grow vegetables we are still getting bush beans, peas, carrots, hopefully a couple of pumpkins, courgettes, spinach, dill, parsley, beetroots, tomatoes and maybe even some bell peppers.

Herbs are great too since they grow without so much care. Oregano, lemon balm, different sorts of mints have pretty much conquered our yard. They also attract  bees and butterflies which hopefully pollinate our apple trees. And this year we will get 3 apples! That is three more than last year! Maybe next summer we will have six apples so that every family member will get one!

It's great to have own yard, own garden and plants and flowers to work with. Gardening is just as great as baking. :)