Goodbye :: Hello

Goodbye one season, and hello! to another. Goodbye to the last of the autumn berries (ah, Autumn Bliss, you did not fail in your promise, there are still some of you left) as you pass the baton over to squash, pumpkin and corn.

Goodbye, last of the farm visits in dwindling sun and nippy breezes. Goodbye to our farmer friends whom we enjoy getting to know with each of our visits. Hello, time for pumpkin soup and thick homemade bread, grilled corn on the cob and hearty broths (we will tire of you by spring time).

Goodbye, outdoor livin', hello, indoor cozy. But mostly... goodbye crazy, fun loving Beau, our doggy friend. We'll see you next year insha'allah.

Autumn Bliss

September. Already. The start of a new school year for many, the start of new rhythms. Harvest time. Collecting and gathering and planning for next year's garden. For those who do so, it's canning time fo' real. Whether we like it or not, September ushers in autumn and minds turn once again to the months ahead when warm, outdoors living is a thing of the past, and we have to survive the waning light.

They call this variety of raspberry 'Autumn Bliss', and it should give well into the month. If we are lucky, it may give until it is time to harvest the corn and pumpkin. Maybe. I think we forget the nip of autumn that quickly follows the equinox...

Enjoying squeezing out the last drops of summer out of these warm autumn days. Enjoying the harvests coming in, bit by bit. Bliss indeed.

Gathering

And then I blinked at it was gathering time. Wha...?? Autumn is almost fully upon us. I can't quite get my head around that fact. Maybe because the last four months have had solid rain, we haven't had a summer, and this is actually the first time this year that we've been to the farm...

Regardless of what time I think it should be, nature has definitely called time. Now is the time to gather ye rosebuds while ye may.

Literally.

Those Berries were Blue

An early start to the blueberry picking on the farm, with some early varieties ready to pop. Taking advantage of a nice day we all headed off with dreams and chatter of blueberry pie, blueberry crumble, blueberry with yoghurt, but requests for blueberry jam making the biggest noise of all.

It wasn't long before helping mummy by picking berries gave way to bug finding, cricket catching and playing hide and seek in the bushes. Making my way slowly up the rows of fruit, we found our own pace. A berry here, a few handfuls from the boys there, boo! from behind a bush, and after what seemed a good while our basket was full. Full of berry goodness, full of plans of what we would make with them, and full of an afternoon spent working and playing together.

And, as always, that's the bit that tastes the best of all.