Friday 2 September 2011

First September Weekend


 Fig- Harvesting...


..."tons" of blue figs!


some of  'over-ripened', and what the birds and bees don't get fall on the ground.
  Around and under the tree it smells like in a distillery!


and....of course...

...the best ones are always at the top of the tree where we cannot reach them
because this tree is so big!

So, what to do with all....?

Making Jam?  Maybe.....

But definitely Fig chutney!

Very simple and easy....

...with Coleman's mustard powder, ginger, curry, pepperonis, onions...and...or...,
there are many different ways  -  'Chacun a son gout'


*

This is our other large fig tree...

...with yellow figs, slightly smaller,
which are perfect for drying by spearing them along on thin wooden spears
and storing them in a relatively dark, cool, airy and dry space.


*

Finally I cut all lavender...

...which we left over summer on the shrubs to please our holiday guests.

By now faded and somewhat dried out,
but still good enough to distribute them in the house to keep the moths away,
and much better than any moth powder!


And this will go to the store....

...filling the whole room with its beautiful aroma
and helping to protect all my textiles.


My quote for the weekend:


"The butterfly counts not months but moments,
and has time enough"
Rabindranath Tagore

It seems to be good to be a butterfly!

Bon Weekend!

15 comments:

  1. Liebe Karin,
    welch reiche Ernte und so wunderbar festgehalten!

    Ja und dann halt noch die *Arbeit* mit den Früchten.

    Ich wünsche ein schmetterlingshaft schönes taumeliges Wochenende!
    Franka

    ReplyDelete
  2. Danke liebe Franka!
    Ich muss gestehen, dass ich keine 'Marmeladen-Tante' bin, weder zum Verzehr noch fuer die Herstellung, deshalb fotografiere ich lieber die Fruechte!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a stunning post!! I am soooo jealous of all your figs!! What will you do with all of them? My word, you have so many and then all that gorgeous lavendar....wish I lived closer, would be happy to stop by to help take some off your hands:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Karin, the fig chutney sounds delicious and I would imagine you'd get quite a few jars filled to give away to family and friends.

    Love the butterfly photo.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your beautiful photographs have me quite envious. Figs here are very expensive to buy. Our 4 fig trees are only spindly sticks, which protrude from the ground and stubbornly refuse to grow at a reasonable rate. The cockatoos always eat the few figs they manage to produce before they are picked. I adore fig jam and live in hope of being able to produce some from our own trees one day!
    http://eiffel-tells.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. More than anything I would love to have some of your figs. I am so jealous. Great photos with the carved stone in the background.
    Karin, we are leaving in 2 weeks for Paris and then we will drive south to Italy and spend a few hours with the Maestro painting.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Karin, we didn't know that lavender repeals moths. Another reason to love it so much. I recently had my father bring a few fig twigs to use in a vase indoors. I was so surprised at the delightful smell of the leaves. Wishing you a lovely weekend!
    Angela and Renee

    ReplyDelete
  8. I look forward to seeing all of this in person!

    I can't believe your fig trees actually can overwinter in the ground! We have to shelter them in an unheated space indoors come the end of October and bring them back out in May. Lots of schlepping, but they are worth it! Pieter is enjoying seven or eight a day. Your harvest puts us to shame! Mmmm... I can smell the lavender!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love figs and make fig meat to go with cheese! You're so lucky that fig trees grow where you live they don't in NH. Lavender I bet it smells wonderful don't you love what Mother Nature can pop up year after year?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Karin,

    Oh the figs, I would gladly purchase jars of fig jam or chutney what a treat!! The lavender is divine as well!

    Come and join my Fashion Giveaway from Fresh Produce

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

    ReplyDelete
  11. The fig chutney sounds divine. This post was so beautiful and a real treat. Hope you are enjoying your weekend. Mona

    ReplyDelete
  12. Karin, your figs are deliciouse. I hope to have figs ones - as I planted two trees last year. I wonder how many years it takes them to bring a fruit.

    I invite you to visit my new garden blog at:
    www.kishaznagykert.blogspot.com

    Cecilia

    ReplyDelete
  13. What beautiful photos! How I envy your bounty of figs and lavender. Your fig chutney sounds delicious. I have made a fig spread to use with cheese and other fruits but I have not yet tried to make a chutney. Sounds wonderful.
    I hope you are having a very lovely weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello,

    The figs look delicious, it has sense to me licking my screen.:D The photo of the white figs on the porcelain dish is simply gorgeous!

    Have a nice week
    Jérôme

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hello, my name is Daniel. Great job with your figs they look fantastic would you like to trade fig cuttings? if so please contact me at ediblelandscaping.sc@gmail.com I have a few different fig trees and would love to try your tasty looking figs one day. Figs root easily from cuttings and cuttings are easy to ship. I have red, black, yellow, brown, green, and white and would love to share some with you. Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing back from you.

    ReplyDelete