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Autumnal Pleasures

Ahhh March. Autumn. At last. After a long hot summer, the days are starting to get shorter and cool down a little. Somehow, there is the feeling of Autumn in the air and not a moment too soon. Autumn is always our busy season. Between harvesting the produce that has grown in the garden and orchard all summer, and preparing for Winter, we have a lot to do. But there is pleasure in all this busyness.

The cooler days mean that we are getting back into cooking. Summers mean salads and BBQs to avoid heating the house with the oven, but once Autumn arrives, my inspiration returns. This year we need to make some more caramelised onion, and I’ve already whipped up a batch of peach chutney – delicious with curries over winter. I want to make a whole lot of applesauce to go with our pork, and there is still some sour cherries in the freezer that need to be used somehow. I love the feeling of squirrelling away all our summer produce ready for winter treats. There really is nothing better. This year I’m also determined to master making our own hot cross buns. I love making bread, but don’t get to do it very often. This is the year!!

With our harvest coming in our dehydrator has been working over time. We have dried plums and figs to be chopped up and put into our homemade muesli. We’ve also dried apricots, apples, and pears to snack on.

Each autumn, we stop by wild fruit trees on the side of the road on our way into town and fill bags with apples and peaches that we bring home to cook and freeze. The taste of wild foraged fruit is infinitely better than any fruit that comes from a shop!

The roadsides are starting to show other signs of Autumn too. A few trees are starting to change colour, and the hawthorn bushes are loaded with berries. Most year I love to stop and bring a few branches home to put in a vase. This year, though, I won’t be picking hawthorn because I have no idea where any of my vases are packed.

Cooler weather also starts me on my annual crochet binge. I cannot for the life of me find the wool I bought last year (it’s in a box somewhere – I will find it when we move back into our home), so I’ve pulled out the scraps of wool to practice my hexagons. The kids have all put in orders for new beanies, so I think some of the leftover Cleckheaton superfine left over from this project will do beautifully. I love to sit and crochet in the cool evenings; the rhythm of hooking is always soothing after a busy day at work.

Of course, there are other Autumn jobs to be done around the farm. Firewood needs to be gathered, split and stacked before the weather turns too cold. We need to take our nut wizards out to gather acorns to feed the pigs (they makes the pork really delicious!). It hasn’t been much of a year for pumpkins, but we will need bring in whatever we manage to grow. The March rains that we normally get haven’t really materialised yet. We are keeping our fingers crossed that they arrive soon. The land is looking brown and grey and tired after a long hot summer. It needs the rain to refresh it and settle the dust. So much dust!

With the days getting shorter, I feel that it’s time to hunker down and prepare for the winter ahead. Hopefully, we will be back in our snug little farmhouse by then.

Are you ready for Autumn? Do you have any plans for the next few months?

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Previous Post: « A Renovation Update | February 2017
Next Post: A Moment In Time »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alexa-asimplelife says

    July 4, 2017 at 10:03 am

    Love the delicious colour of the Crimson Virginian vine x

    Reply
  2. Kathy says

    March 25, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    Can you please tell me the brand of your dehydrator. I’d love to have a go with drying my own apricots. Thanks Kathy

    Reply
    • Jo@CountryLifeExperiment says

      March 25, 2017 at 8:05 pm

      Mine was a gift but it came from ALDI. They come around every year and they are quite cheap

      Reply
  3. Janette McMaster says

    March 23, 2017 at 7:58 am

    It sounds like you have a busy time ahead of you. Those apples look absolutely delicious!

    Reply
  4. jan2132 says

    March 22, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    Strudel made with sour cherries is very good,

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a few presents, an afternoon swim and dinner on the veranda as the sun set. Time to stop and be thankful for the many blessings of the year. I hope you had a lovely Christmas too!
We have been mulling over how to fix up the drivew We have been mulling over how to fix up the driveway and lead up to our house for a while. Currently it’s just a dumping ground for old bits of metal and a big pile of mulch, but C would like to create a turning area and put in a garden. First up though, there’s a huge old stump that needs to go. What better excuse is there to have a fire on Sunday afternoon? C and the kids jumped on the quad bike and trailer, and hauled back a big pile of sticks and logs to help the stump burn. Once the fire was going, marshmallows were found and roasted. No better way to spend time together.
Team work makes the dream work. We were asked rec Team work makes the dream work. 
We were asked recently whether we “make” our kids work on the farm. The answer is of course not. Having said that, all three love to help out whenever they can. They all work hard because they want to; because they take pride in working hard and contributing in a meaningful way to our family life; because they love living on our farm and don’t remember life before we moved here. Whether it be planting trees or doing sheep work or feeding animals, they all want to be involved. As a parent, nothing is better than watching them grow in skill and confidence as they work along side you. We’re so glad that we get to spend time with our three, working together.
We’ve had an unexpected addition to the family ☘️🐑. She is a lot easier to look after than the other family members but she does try to escape her yard and head butt people. Poddy lambs are super cute but they tend to think they are a human. Clover the lamb is sure that Meg is her mum. Can’t think why… 🤔🤣
The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: toge The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: together, cooking damper around the remains of the bonfire.
It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…

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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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