Tag Archives: Saskatoons

There’s always one: blue tit taking a shower!

It was close to 30C and I was working outside this afternoon and decided that my saskatoons (Amelanchier) could do with a bit of water. The hose was on at the base of the trees and one of this year’s blue tits (blåmeis), which had fledged a couple of weeks ago, decided it would be great to cool off with a cold shower, probably it’s first!


 

First load of wood dried apples

My first (of many) loads of apples drying over the wood stove!

I’m 100% self-sufficient in fruit and never buy bananas, oranges etc. and don’t use a freezer. When the apples are properly dried, they can be stored for several years (so if there’s a bad apple year next year I also have fruit next year…it’s a good year this year so I dry as much as possible). When fresh fruit isn’t available (typically from February to June), I use only dried fruit. Dried apples are fantastic to eat as they are and are popular with guests as snacks and also a perfect present for family and friends. I eat a home made muesli for breakfast every morning – large organic oat flakes that I buy in large sacks and I mix with various nuts. I soak a mix of dried fruit (apple, cherry, bilberry, plums, saskatoons etc.) and use them on the muesli.

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Drying Worcesterberries and Saskatoons

There’s been an almost complete failure of apples and plums this year (this has never happened before in my 35 years here). I can’t possibly start buying fruit after many years totally self-sufficient in my own fruit :), so I’m drying some berries I don’t normally use dried for the winter, cutting them up as these are slow driers. I believe, but aren’t totally sure, that these are Worcesterberries (they are thorny bushes, otherwise I would have said that they are Jostaberries).  I’m also drying a few late saskatoons (Amelanchier spp. – these I normally dry). Luckily I also still have quite a few dried apples from last year’s bumber crop.

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