No pics. today.

My USB lead is out on loan so I can't post any pictures today. I have been creative in the kitchen and made some crabapple and sloe jelly. I had a few crabapples given to me, then added the meagre crop from our little tree, only planted this Spring, and needed something else to bulk up the quantity. The River Cottage Preserves book gives a recipe for Hedgerow Jelly which uses a half quantity of crabapples and half of any hedgerow berries. I found two sloe bushes only yards from our house, which are laden with wonderful fruits. I have never seen such big sloes - I picked 2lbs in a very short time. I'm sure they are sloes as the leaves look right and I have the scratches from the thorns as additional evidence! They have given the jelly a beautiful rich purple colour and added quite a plummy flavour. I skimmed off the froth and being unable to waste anything I tried it on a piece of bread and butter - delicious and sweeter than I imagined though there is a tang as well. I have never used sloes before and am going to pick some more shortly and make sloe gin for Christmas. There is also a recipe for making thin strips of candied orange peel dipped in chocolate. They sound very good without being too rich or wicked.
I am going to start work on my course today and when the new blog is up and running I will let you know, in case you are interested.
Will September bring us an Indian summer? In case it doesn't, I have taken down our two hanging baskets of cherry tomatoes and put them in the greenhouse in the hope that they will ripen more quickly. Three cherry tomatoes at a time is not enough, even for a small household.