It's been really hot the last week, a couple of days in the 30C range. Everything has dried up in the garden, although the lawn is still fairly green. I've experimented with not mowing it this year, and it seems to have kept fresher looking, although there's quite a lot of seed heads from the grasses. The pears are starting to fall, and I've had some plums too, so it's the start of the silly season, when lots of bottling and preserving goes on. I love having my own fruit in the middle of winter, in pies and crumbles, so I don't begrudge the time too much.
And of course, the zucchini have become marrows, just as I knew they would! It's a great year for zucchini, and everyone who has a garden has more than they know what to do with. You can't give the wretched things away. I'll probably cut these into cubes, blanch them and freeze them for ekeing out winter casseroles.
With the hot weather, we've had some grass fires here in Canterbury, and just yesterday some homes were burned down on the western outskirts of the city. Nothing like the Australian bushfires, but quite scary and close to the suburbs. Terrible for the people; there was nothing they could do but run, the wind was gale-force and the fire was racing away.
Tomorrow is Waitangi Day, our equivalent of Fourth of July or Australia Day, commemorating the signing between Maori and the British Crown of a treaty that has ever since been the source of huge controversy, which it would take pages of blog to tell you about. Anyway, the weather is supposed to be cooler tomorrow, so I may make some spicy plum sauce with the first gathering of the plums.
We have had some blessedly cooler days here - but are heading for the mid thirties by next week. Sigh.
ReplyDeletePreserved fruit is a joy. For a variety of reasons there was no vegie garden here this year, so noooooo chutney. Which I regret.
Yes, it's a blessing when you get some relief from the heat. The nutty thing is that 6 months from now we'll be asking ourselves 'why is is so blimming cold?"!
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