It's a cool, sunny day at the farmette, after a really rainy Saturday - we got almost 25 millimetres (an inch) of rain in a 24 hour period.
It's been so rainy lately that we haven't been able to gather up the tonnes of leaves that have now dropped from the maples that grace the perimeter of the property.
We had a fabulous Thanksgiving last Sunday. But we had to have it indoors, since the leaf situation would have had detritus from overhead dropping on our festive lunch! Here's the crew.
After the turkey and trimmings, we went out for a rousing game of bocce. I got skunked and Jesse - Rachel's boyfriend - beat us all. To recuperate, we all had a piece of apple pie from the Williamsford Pie Company. YUM.
You can definitely tell it's fall. We've finished canning the tomatoes and pulled all the potatoes. A couple of weeks ago, Rob and I tackled our grape crop, so today, I thought I'd show how we make delicious grape jam.
I planted two grape vines about five years ago, and only one has started producing in the last couple of seasons. Boy did it ever this year! We got a bumper crop of Concords.
The recipe we have is fiddly in the extreme. After stripping the fruit from the vines, we had to wash them and then squeeze out the pulp from Every. Single. Tiny. Grape. It took both of us the whole morning to get that bit done. I'm not complaining. It was a lovely, warm day, we put the music on and just chugged along on the side deck.
Then, we had to cook down the pulp, put it through a sieve and add the skins back in. Finally, we could add several cups of sugar, fire up the burner and let the delicious aroma fill the farmette house.
After sterilizing the jars (different small sizes), we plopped in the juicy goodness, and processed them so they'll be good for at least a year. That is, if the friends and family who receive them as gifts don't gobble them down straight away. HINT. HINT.
Anyway, 2021 canning season is now in the books. The larder is groaning with more than a dozen jars of tomato sauce, pickled beets, chutney, and now grape jam. Feeling fortunate to be able to grow and preserve the bounty of the farmette during these trying pandemic times.
Hope everyone stays safe and happy. Until next week.
