Isilme’s November harvest report

Thought I’d catch everyone up on the garden / produce.

After our two weeks away, we returned to find most of the green tomatoes have actually ripened. We had a few black cherry tomatoes (they are meant to be black!) and I discovered that even they were red underneath – the skin that didn’t turn black turned red. Fun!

Apparently, while we were away there was a storm. We had lovely sunshine down south. But up north, it was a bit more grim! Our neighbour told us that one of the small trees in our front garden ended up on the road so they threw it on the bonfire. That was fine, but it took us a while to find out where it had gone from (we hadn’t even missed it). It looks like one of the trees split in two and that was what fell. How it happened to that tree and not the others around it, I don’t know!

Due to the storm, the apples in the back garden were mostly on the grass. The pippin had no leaves. I had picked some of the pippins before going on holiday and managed another full basket after we came back. I’m contemplating what to do with them all. Maybe I’ll make apple jelly again. Maybe I’ll make apple pie filling and bottle it.

My Beloved has, for the past week, gathered the cooking apples practically every day and put them in the press to make cider or cider vinegar. They’re Bramleys and are surprisingly sweet. No wonder the jackdaws come in flocks to eat them. Still, there’s plenty to go round and we’ve already given away several bags full.

The strawberries are coming along well. Getting bigger and one even has a blush of red. I don’t know if they’ll ripen if I bring them in. I’ve never had strawberries in November before. We’ve never had such a large crop of strawberries before either, almost continually since the summer.

Remember I picked every last runner bean before we left for our holiday? Well, the beans are producing more now! It’s crazy.

Meanwhile, the holly tree is preparing for a hard winter. I’ve rarely seen so many berries on it! It looks lovely and Christmassy!

Meanwhile, the flowers are still looking good. Some had died off and are now into their second blooming this year (unusual). They’re a cheerful sight on these grey November days. And to my astonishment, one of the garden trees has mostly yellow leaves – and one that is PINK! Red I expect, but never have I seen them pink before.

(To be continued)