Cider

We made cider today.  We have two mature apple trees on the east side of our house, and they bore enough apples this year to bring out the cider press.  After three hours of washing, grinding and pressing we got six tasty gallons, plus another quart that hubby and I drank on the spot.  One gallon will go to O and E, one to G and B, and one to hubby's father who gave us the press several years ago.  I also set aside several dozen of the better apples for freezing, for future apple crisps.

About six years ago we planted about ten additional fruit trees around the property.  They have done ok, not great.  We don't exactly do any active management such as pruning, cleaning up windfall, trapping insects, etc.  So doing ok is the best we can hope for I suppose.  On those newer trees the apples this year were very wormy and mushy.  And we neglected to pick the unripe pears before they became overripe on the branch, so no love there.  Pears are persnickety when it comes to harvesting.

I won't post any pictures of my garden, as it is a huge mess of weeds.  I planted it in April and May, then my job got extra spicy crazy for the next four months and I had no time or energy to tend to anything.  We got a decent amount of tomatoes before the blight set in, and our garlic harvest was good, but everything else kinda went by the wayside.  We've had no rain for about three weeks, so when I tried digging some potatoes this afternoon my spade hit rock-hard clay soil.  But the flowers have done well, and the bees and birds and butterflies do appreciate them.