Apple of my eye

I wonder where the saying apple of my eye came from .So looked to good old Google and Wiki came up with this apple of one's eye.... Special favorite, beloved person or thing, as in The youngest was the apple of his father's eye. This term, which rests on the ancients' idea that the eye's pupil is apple-shaped and that eyes are particularly precious, appears in the Bible (Deuteronomy 32:10). As it was a Sunday and a glorious afternoon I thought it was very apt to having this for my blog heading today. I suppose I was the apple of my Dad's eye I am the youngest and the oldest too. For me, my Dad is very special too. At 98, he loves life,is very wise and does so much. We took the opportunity to go and pick some apples. No chance of me driving. So now it is apple pies,apple crumbles,apple cakes,apple sauce,stewed apples and plenty to eat until Christmas. The ones that had already fallen off we left for the birds to eat. It is days like this when it is good to be alive and so glad we thought to plant those fruit trees. Fruit trees grow quite quickly and you can usually reap the benefits within a year or two. These will have been planted probably 20 years now. 20 years has gone by so quickly. We plant trees every year as my Dad has always said you should plant for future generations to enjoy as his fore elders had planted many moons before. We have owned the same land for nearly 130 years as a family. He has enjoyed trees throughout his long life and I suppose that love has rubbed off on me. My favourite is the mighty Oak probably planted a mere 100 years before. Often thought to be slow growing, the native oak is really relatively quick on good soils, reaching 20m (60ft) in 50 years. It is a remarkably long-lived tree, too; some of the oldest oak trees growing in this country are pollards, up to 800 years old. Many famous named trees have large boles with circumferences up to 14m (45ft) and stag horned heads. We have all sorts of trees and plantations of ancient woodlands that guests are welcome to walk through. Some which are not quite as common, usually bought for birthday and Chrsitmas presents. My "portfolio" of trees include fig, acacia, walnut and a couple of Wellingtonias, a Canadian maple as well as Eucalyptus. On my Chrsitmas present list this year are copper beech and a peach tree. Oh and I forgot I have a mature lemon tree and 9 young ones I have grown from pips. Also a yuzu tree from a pip ...just one so fingers crossed it will florish.

Jack harvesting

I love the smell of Autumn.When the leaves are all changing colour and times on the farm are busy as we are right in the middle of harvest. Having waited all year for the crops to get ready it is an anxious time in the farmers calender. We are so dependant on the weather -we need dry days so the combines can travel on the land. Here you see Jack at the end of 9 hours harvesting corn. It is dusty and concentration is to a maximum but you can see from the look on his face he is enjoying every minute of it. I took his tea down to the field - no time to stop, it was eat it on the move-fast food with a different twist. Just time to eat while the combine was tipping its tanks of grain into a trailer. You can see as the arms are taking the head of corn into the machine. Separating it out, corn is sent into the tank, the straw is sent out behind the machine. I remember when I was a child,we had horses pulling a binder.Then the sheaves were stacked at an angle to dry like a wigwam and us children would hide in them. Our combine is only a very small one but modern day machinery is all computerised with such up to date technology. I know which was the most fun though.

What I did on the 09 09 09- Harvested to eat later......

Today the weather has been perfect and my day has been very productive too. I went to pick some brambles to make some bramble gin and found some mushrooms. Then I went to my Dads and raided his garden.Raspberries are my favourite fruit and they didnt get as far as getting home. I ate them off the cane and was surprised at how many there was for the time of year. Into the greenhouse for tomatoes and there are stacks of them so will have to go back with a bucket and put the little ones in the freezer -they make wonderful tomato soup to which I add vodka. I saw there was a lot of cauliflowers and as I carried my tomatoes and cauli I passed by the runner beans so it was like a juggling act picking and holding on to them. My dad had already picked his onions and shallots so a handful of each . The shallots I will pickle for him and the rest I am making into piccalilli page 254 in The Princess and The Pheasant book by Elizabeth Luard. I like her recipes and use her book often.