Apples and other dangerous Harvest(s) Monday

I've shared with the bugs. I will share with the critters including deer. And then we will feast on the bits that remain. This tree is close to ripe now.

A hint of autumn was in the air when I made my first batch of apple sauce yesterday but not before braving the bald headed hornet. Actually I didn't come face to face with them but my poor niece did. I just hope that the now eradicated nest build at head level in the apple tree isn't the thing she remembers most about her trip to Canada.


I asked the name of the tree that we got the large, early maturing soft and delicious apples and the previous owner answered: "This is an old tree." So that's their name folks: Old Tree Apples.

We are also dripping with ground cherries. I bought these starts at a local organic nursery and I asked what variety they were and got 'Ground Cherries' as an answer. They are not partial to the searing heat we've been having or the mini-drought which thankfully was broken by a nice soaking yesterday. Other than eating out of hand, anyone have some good recipes?


Some sort of ground cherry that has been getting sunburnt over the last week. Still lots of life left in it though and it's smothered with fruit.

Related to the cherry in the husk is the tomatillo. I suppose these are almost salsa verde ready but not quite ripe enough for me yet -



- and their dangerous cousin, the Litchi tomato or Morelle De Balbis as it is known in French.


It's a pretty plant. In my garden, only reaching about 3-4 feet though I've heard stories of tree like monsters.

Unripe berries equiped with the same spines that cover this plant.


It's a weed in some places but here we 'just' get ripe fruit. Certainly not something I'd like to step on while trapsing around the garden.

I really like the flavour though some are less partial. I also like the fruit Sunberry (another tomato cousin) which is sweet and can be eaten out of hand unlike Garden Huckleberry but I know there are some who aren't fans of this fruit either. Well were on the subject, I like eggplant. Doesn't everyone?*


Todays tomatoes lining up for the cutting board.

That's a small list of the harvests this week which included herbs, summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, greens, and much more. What I'm really looking forward to is the first of the melons! I have hopes for next Monday.


For the interested, the weed perennial Clammy groundcherry. The berries are not ripe yet but this originated from Yuko's Open Pollinated Seed and she tells me they taste yummy. They will cover the ground rather like Chinese Lanterns and also like them, the Colorado Potato Beetle seem to prefer them so might be a useful trap crop.

* Okay so not everyone likes eggplant. I figure it's because they haven't had it lightly battered and fried until it turns creamy inside and crispy outside. So good.