October bounty

A few images from the past week:

 

Picking highbush cranberries (Viburnum trilobum) back by the chicken coop.  There are many nurseries that stock this species (or group of species), but unless you acquire a variety specifically selected for eating, the fruit will be highly unpalatable.  These are from a specialty nursery and the fruit taste very much like a true cranberry (Vaccinium spp).

The birds get about half the fruit, but those we manage to pick substitute nicely for cranberries in any dish.  They also make a lovely red jelly, and dehydrate well.  If you have room, they are worth growing, especially as the plant is less fussy than true cranberries, and the fruit is ready weeks and weeks before the lingonberries.

Bacon-fat rubbed all over a chicken before roasting yields a spectacularly crispy skin.  This chicken with roasted carrots and onions fed us for three meals: One roast chicken dinner, leftovers for pot pie, and a batch of bone broth.  The garlic, carrots, rosemary, sage came from the garden.

 

Picking quince, which will be made into membrillo in a few days.  In the meantime, they fill the kitchen with a delightful floral – almost tropical – aroma.

 

Checking on the few monster “Sweet Meat” winter squashes.  Because October continues to be mild, the vines are still green and growing, so the squash are still in the garden.   Looking forward to making soup, gnocchi, and roast squash from these giant beauties.

 

Another blessing of the mild weather:  we continue to pick a handful or two of golden raspberries and Inca berries every day for snacks.

Cleaning a gorgeous bag of wild rosehips picked for me by a friend.  They were made into elderberry-rosehip syrup – the recipe for which I will share later in the week.