The top orchard.

Ten years ago we bought this farm off a guy called Tom and his wife Lois. When Tom and Lois first moved here about 15 years before that, they hadn't been too sure of what to do with this place, so Tom made an orchard up near the house and planted one of every fruit tree he thought might do well and then watched them to see what would happen.

He planted a few varieties of plum, lots of different apples, some pears, a quince, cherries, apricots, lemons, mulberries and peaches.

After a few years he saw that this area is not suitable for growing peaches and apricots and lemons because it gets too cold but he also saw that the apples thrived.

So Tom set about planting an apple orchard and while they lived here he grew and sold certified organic apples.

In the ten years since we have been here we have planted about five hundred more apple trees and lots of other fruit trees too. These apples are the working apples. The farm fruit trees. But the top orchard is a bit like the home orchard. It doesn't always get as well maintained as the other orchards and often the fruit doesn't look as good and the birds and kangaroos get a lot but its always worth a walk through in Autumn to see what's around.

Today we found lots and lots of apples. Most are spotty and starchy still but we'll keep checking them now and pick them as they ripen.

We picked the last of the plums, including this love heart one.

A crate of quinces.

A crate of Pepper.

Jazzy upside down fruit.

And loads and loads of pears.

Its been a horrible year for the farm apples with the humidity and mould, but somehow these fruit trees on the top of the hill haven't done too badly. I'm not going to question why, I'm just going to enjoy them.

Have a wonderful week.

Thank you quince tree

Whenever we get back from Melbourne I see our farm with fresh eyes.

For a little while I can overlook all the work that needs to be done and appreciate how lucky we are and how beautiful this place is.

I seem to notice the smaller details.

While gathering the eggs this afternoon I noticed that the quince tree in the top orchard was in the final stages of dropping its golden leaves.

I saw beyond the tangle of blackberry at its feet and considered the abundant and successful quince season this year.

Quinces are funny fruit and I must admit that until this year I have never appreciated them or cooked with them. They are almost inedible raw and quite time consuming to process.

But this year there have been countless batches of stewed and mashed quince pulp dripping their rose coloured and sweet perfumed juice through muslin.

All that liquid has been boiled into jelly and poured into jars and labelled.

My Mum calls it bottled Autumn.

We have been and still are enjoying eating the jelly on everything from meat to cheese to crumpets and toast.

For the next few Farmers Markets, until we sell out, Bren will have the quince jelly on his stall so you can enjoy it as much as we do.

Thank you quince tree.

The Advocate

Vogue is one thing but taking up half the front page of the local newspaper is entirely something else. It took me half an hour to buy bread and milk this afternoon.

It is great to have such community support.

We made these mosaics in my 8 year old's class at Art Attack Day (like Sports Day but Art) today. They will be grouted and then hung in the Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden in the school.

We made the quince/lemon/lime (below).

Autumn

The arrival of Autumn always makes me feel a bit sad. It means the end of warm, carefree, sunny days and, especially in this area, the arrival of a seemingly endless, cold and dark few months. But there are a few things I do love about Autumn...

I love the abundance of the harvest that is either sold or packed away in a cool, dark, dry place for use over winter.

I love making jams, jellies, pestos and sauces from berries, apples, quinces, herbs and tomatoes.

There is always something dripping through muslin or simmering on the stove. There are jars being sterilised in the dishwasher or heated in the oven.


It is most likely Autumn if you are asked if you want homemade blackberry jam, quince jelly or honey from our bees on your homemade crumpets.

I love that the stresses of bushfire and irrigation are minimal and that the worry about exact timing of planting and picking lessens.

Bren is inside more.

We cook and we bake more.

It is a calmer time.