Autumn Harvest Festival time

Do you remember Harvest Festivals at Sunday School? As a food lover, it’s something that remains a delightful memory for me. We’re enjoying it right now on a small scale. Autumn is the most wonderful time of year for me.

Drying sage, thyme and basil out of my garden. The pumpkin was a gift but is now soup!

I remember autumn mornings after there had been some rain, all jumping in the car and going out to collect mushrooms. I didn’t like eating them, then - how things change!! but I loved collecting them.
Now is the time to collect, dry and preserve. Simple enough to buy produce when it's in a glut, but as I think I've said before, you don't have to have a huge garden to produce some goodies for your table. I live in a high-rise in the heart of the city and get great pleasure harvesting from my wee garden - 5 floors up. My mini potted orchard now boasts 2 varieties of plum as well as the fig, lemon and lime. Over time these little trees have produced enough fruit to eat, but also to make jam or marmalade or preserve in salt or brandy. We're really looking forward to the plums, hopefully next year!
Also in large pots I have a range of herbs - mint, basil, coriander, parsley, rosemary, marjoram, sage, thyme etc. All a muddled mixture and unbelievably fragrant.

It's easy enough to do. If I can do it, then anyone can. My garden is testament to Darwin's theory of 'survival of the fittest'. What works, works and what doesn't goes the way of all living things. I have added simple irrigation to the pots and that keeps them all happy and tumbling out of their pots.
So now it's time to collect and dry those herbs for winter dishes, time to dig out the soup recipes and get cooking. Take a trip to King Valley and the Milawa region and collect walnuts, honey and cheese. Hmm ... just writing about it is making me hungry. Walnuts and apples or pears or mandarins, ...... cheeses and and .... I’ll leave it to you to wallow in your own season’s favourites while I go make lunch - vegie and cheese muffins. Yum.
For some useful tips on what to do with leftover herbs etc go to my May 2017 posts. Bon appetite! 
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