Walking around the garden this morning, I found several creatures harvesting the fruits there, including me.
A squirrel was nibbling a windfall apple, the butterfly was sucking the nectar from the oregano flowers and the bees were after the offerings of the Echinops or Globe thistle and the Rose bay willow herb.
Me ? I was picking blackberries, and, as usual, eating the biggest sweetest ones. The rest will make a nice smoothie with other goodies in the morning.
My pickings
I was also picking up windfalls but they are very small and I may try and stew them. I read somewhere that you can cook them whole and strain them as pectin for other preserves, I will see.
Future crops
Some things are not ripe enough yet, and I will not be here to harvest them, but the family will.
Look – there are apples, pears, plums, blackberries and figs. But I wonder who will get there first?
Miriam was born in Lewes, East Sussex, in 1948. For the last 76 years her life has revolved around the gift of music. At college in the 60s, she learned the guitar and became enamoured with folk songs, which led to a 4 year career as 'Miriam Backhouse.' The First Lady of Folk”. She still tours Europe every Summer. In 1977 she married John Erasmus and moved to South Africa. Miriam and John (who died in May 2023) shared a love of music and raised a family on these talents, playing music from Opera to Rock’n’Roll and Nursery Rhymes! Her life has trodden many paths: musician, sound worker, educator, model, seamstress, puppeteer, actress, wife, mother and grandmother. Now, Miriam is a journalist, and shares her adventures in South Africa and on her travels.
