I am itching to prune my apple trees but they are both in full leaf so I have decided to wait until after Christmas to allow them to fully hibernate. It is still so mild here. My trees have made a huge amount of growth this year and the one I grew from a whip, so is on its own rootstock, is now getting to be quite a size. I think it is Cornish Longkeeper although the apples do not store for very long, despite the name.
Lizzie, homemade mincemeat doesn't involve any actual cooking, just a lot of collecting together of ingredients, grating and chopping. Dried fruit, homemade mixed crystalized peel, sugar, plenty of alcohol!, rum, brandy or both, shredded suet, grated orange and lemon zest and juice, spices, nuts. Mix and jar. (I am so stingy I crystalize lemon, orange, grapefruit and lime peel if I only use the juice when cooking) It is so easy to do and the flavour is beyond description when compared to the synthetic stuff sold as mixed peel. It can go hard with storage, but soaking overnight, in a little brandy, rum or water, solves that problem. I find shop-bought mincemeat sickly sweet and prefer the sharper taste of homemade, I also enjoy the crunch of nuts in it for texture.
@Joyce Goldenlily , your mincemeat sounds fabulous A bit more tidying up this morning and cleaned bird feeders Planted some alliums and moved some irises
I can commiserate with you folks dealing with your inundation of sycamore helicopters; we had the same thing a few years ago with maple helicopters. Every inch of lawn had dozens of little maple sprouts the next spring. This year our oak trees are in a mast year and since I have a ridiculous number on my little 8 acres, everywhere I walk is like crossing a sea of ball bearings. If it's not one thing, it's another.
We had a slight warmup over the weekend and I was able to rake the meadow area and put down seed for next year. I pulled the pond plants late, so they may not make it as they were hit hard by frost. The day after I pulled them the pond was iced over, so at least I got them out before they were frozen in for the season.
We've had another dusting of snow and temperatures are hovering in the -4C range at night to 4C during the day. My gardening season is definitely over, since the frost will soon make the ground impenetrable. I'm hoping to get track fencing completed and manure moved to the back of the property before snow puts the kibosh to any outdoor chores. If we don't get much snow in the next few weeks, I may be able to clear out more brush and trees along the pasture edges, which would be fantastic.
New England, USA
Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
The Ash tree was removed over a year ago, but seedlings are still appearing. What is worse is while tootling away weeding a sudden pain let's you know you have once again found a bramble seedling, which can shread your hand if you are not careful, grrrr birds, grrr neighbours not weeding, grrr weeding.
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Lizzie, homemade mincemeat doesn't involve any actual cooking, just a lot of collecting together of ingredients, grating and chopping. Dried fruit, homemade mixed crystalized peel, sugar, plenty of alcohol!, rum, brandy or both, shredded suet, grated orange and lemon zest and juice, spices, nuts. Mix and jar. (I am so stingy I crystalize lemon, orange, grapefruit and lime peel if I only use the juice when cooking) It is so easy to do and the flavour is beyond description when compared to the synthetic stuff sold as mixed peel. It can go hard with storage, but soaking overnight, in a little brandy, rum or water, solves that problem. I find shop-bought mincemeat sickly sweet and prefer the sharper taste of homemade, I also enjoy the crunch of nuts in it for texture.
No gardening was done.
The trees started the day in full leaf, by end they had a few left. Pity it's too wet to rake them up.
A bit more tidying up this morning and cleaned bird feeders
Planted some alliums and moved some irises