Cooked lemons?

All the 'ripe' lemons on my tree look like this - free juice inside the fruit, pulp collapsed.

Heat damage?

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A slight change of plans...

The possums have found a new path to the tamarillos.

(I have visions of them singing "Is this the way to Tamarillo?" in surprising baritone voices.)

So I have harvested them all. 

The tamarillos.  Apparently I am not allowed to harvest the possums.

So, will try poaching them.  The tamarillos.  Forget possums for the remainder of this post.

Will also try dehydrating some.  Who knows; quinces were unexpectedly magical.

Will also try a tamarillo chutney tomorrow.

Others will be sliced, sprinkled with sugar and eaten.

Had an avocado, tamarillo and onion salsa with lunch.  Not bad.  Needed some roast pork.

Anyone nearby who would like some, let me know.

Tamarillo protection

After the possums got stuck into the green tamarillos I netted them and also put rat traps on the brick wall to pass on the message that sore toes await anyone who walks along the wall.

Seems to be working - they are developing colour nicely.
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A high maintenance love affair.

I have a quince tree.

I love quinces but I am not alone:

Moths love them.
Ants love them.
Mould loves them.
Last year even rats loved them.

You can't eat them raw.
You have to cook them.   Because of the moths, ants and mould, there is a lot of halving, coring, trimming, quartering and peeling.  You then stew them or bake them.  As mine are never whole, pristine fruit like the ones in the photo, nabbed via Google, stewing is the go.

Before you leap in and tell me about Quince Paste, let me say I tried making it one year.  It becomes a seething, boiling, volcanic hell-hole of a saucepan.   It spits lava at you.  Hot, blistering lava.  The only sensible way to stir it is with a towel wrapped around your arm.

But I have found a better way:  dehydrate the poached segments.

They dry to a beautiful texture that goes beautifully with a nice cheddar.

Today I cooked the remainder of our crop.  A lot of trimming and peeling.  The worm farm got the trimmings, happy little worms.  I get the rest.

Some of the stewed fruit will be dessert, the remainder will hit the dehydrator.  Can't be bad.

A few more garden photos

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In the 'Aztec' bed, the beans find the corn to be a supportive friend...

...while, down below, the pumpkins (Anna Swartz) enjoy the mottled light.

I was a little underwhelmed by the insipid colour of the rhubarb (although it is a vigorous grower), so what to do with a lime green stewed fruit?

Add elderberries.  That worked.
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The advantage of home gardens...

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One of the advantages of having your own garden is that you can grow things that you wont see in the shops. Above is a Cape Gooseberry.

The lovely papery lantern holds a lovely little berry with a tangy tropical taste.
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Up boy! Up!

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I've grown nasturtiums on and off over the years. On occasion put them in salads or used the flowers as a garnish.

Never thought of them as a climber though - more of a crawler.

I read somewhere that growing nasturtiums up you apple tree will discourage Coddling Moth.

Up?

Well, I'll give it a go and Lo! they do climb. Apple trees, anyway.

Have I created a monster?


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