Mmmmmm Apple Jelly .....

Hello there ... enjoying your summer?

...I must say I am loving this nice weather ... just the thing to set a Girl up for the winter months ahead.

Now apples ...

How are yours doing? .... we seem to be having a lot drop off the tree .... mind you we do have an awful lot on the tree ... maybe its a natural thing ... leaving space and nutrients for the more choice apples to grow big and rosy.

Anyhow ... Hubby P picks them all up and brings them into the kitchen ... I had a heap of them ... not brilliant fruit ... but waste not want not.

A jar or two of Apple Mint Jelly will be most welcome come the colder months ... nice with a bit of cheese. 

So I chopped them up kinda roughly ... disposed of the really bad bits.... put them in a pan with a cupful of nice fresh water and cooked them to a pulp. I put the pulp into a jelly bag and let it hang for a few hours ... doing its thing.

 Added sugar to the extracted juice ( 1 lb of  bog standard granulated sugar to a pint of juice)... and boiled it up.

I picked a nice handful of fresh mint from the garden .... I put a couple of stems in with the jelly (and removed them shortly before the jelly began to set)... I finely chopped the leaves of the mint.

Just as the jelly had reached setting point I mixed in the finely chopped mint ... I poured it into hot sterilised jars and screwed on the lids.

Lovely ... a taste of summer come the long cold months. 

Hubby P.... keen as ever to do his bit in the Waste Not Want Not .... Make Do and Mend campaign ... was charged with picking the runner beans ...

Brave soldier that he is ... can you see he has a poorly hand ... a casualty of seeking out .. and carrying off ... unusual and interesting things from far off .. far flung places. 

He came home with various exciting (heavy) objects and his hand tied in a blood soaked rag .... he tells me its all worth it ...

 Lots and lots of fresh ... good for you ... beans ..

 I slice them up .... blanch them and freeze them ... and some for tea ... of course.

So how is your garden growing ... there seems to be lots of fruit on the trees ... it means we can put plenty by for the winter months ...

Lots of yummy pies and crumbles ... can't be a bad thing. 

Just thought I would share with you my latest find ... do you like my old hip bath ... how lovely... old and battered is this!

The bottom is very corroded and holey ... but great as a planter. I think I may line it with plastic and make it into a small bog garden and grow some pretty cowslips and flag iris ... something to plan for next year.

Take care ... bye for now xx