And I don't have to grow them, spray them, harvest them, pit them or freeze them. I simply pick them up, and when I get home I fill 8 gallon freezer bags with cherries, pop them into the freezer and DONE.
Yes!
It's such a cool thing to have all that goodness put away for the year and I expended little effort. Now all y'all know that's a rare thing, but it's so worth it. They do blueberries, too, but while we love to have some fresh blueberries around, it's not the same kind of love, love, love we have for cherries.
So this week we put the cherries on ice, I made a wonderful pie RECIPE HERE and I had about 16 oz. of leftover pie filling.... so I thawed some Phyllo dough and made two strudels.
Because why not?
And I made friends with my family because they will love eating strudel. The pie lasted a day.... and a last piece tucked away disappeared today.
I did the strudel with Phyllo because I was out of puff pastry and while it's good, the puff pastry holds together better.... and doesn't flake all over the place.
But I'm not complaining! :)
We've been busy growing things and tending things, and now we're moving things and building displays.... we bought the adjacent plot of land and Dave and Zach have been clearing it... and this week our contractor came and put in the new driveway access so we (and by "we" I mean Dave) can get back to the firewood and split wood for firewood customers.... but in three weeks we'll be stocking the pumpkin displays so in order to do that we have to be ready. We've been moving displays, painting the donkey shed, moving dirt, grading, trimming things out.... and there's still a lot to do to make the 8 weeks of magic come alive, but we're getting there!
Day by day....
Honestly, if I thought about the amount of work, effort, coordination and cooperation this whole thing takes I WOULD RUN AND HIDE IN A COZY CABIN.
With internet.
So we don't think about it.
We just roll up our sleeves and get to it.
Ben Franklin said "Plenty of time to rest in the grave."
Ben...
You're one smart dude.
:)
You make fall sound so good! One of my favorite seasons anyways so I might be a little biased, but let's not rush into that cabin too soon! Not ready for those snow balls to fly yet. I just planted a few more bush beans after pulling my potatoes. Since I had the seeds and the space I thought why not try and get a late harvest from them?! My first group is slowing down. The lack of rain has slowed them down and at least for a couple more weeks I don't have as much time for watering. I am going to disagree with you on the blueberry/cherry deal. I will pick blueberries first. Infact the dogs and I shared some frozen the other night. A quick easy snack!
ReplyDeleteAh, a blueberry lover! I love them, too, but we don't tend to eat them, use them frozen... except for muffins, who doesn't love a blueberry muffin? But pies and tarts and that kind of thing doesn't go over here. So fresh, yes! And we just planted more beans, too. With a 60 day cycle, they may come the end of September... and if they don't, the world will go on. A little risk for great reward because I love fresh beans too, Katie! I'm so glad you stopped by!
DeleteI'm sighing over that pie! It looks sooooo delicious. And bet it's way, way, waaaaaaaay better than the canned cherry pie filling in the grocery store! :-)
ReplyDeleteFarm life is a frenzied life, it seems. And I think I have my hands full with my garden. But I thought of you this summer when I cleared a section at the side of my house of ivy!!!! (oy, those roots) and wild raspberries(ouch, those thorns are vicious) and weed trees. I'm going to put in a path and two garden beds.
Oh, the ivy! Boy I had a time killing that after the poison ivy infiltrated it. What a mess, Kav! Remember that???? And now it's filled with flowers and a couple of cute ponds, so it's much better... all of which need weeding and more mulch. SIGH! But I'll get to it this week.... and I'll think of you!
DeleteCHERRIES!!!! Yay, for cherries!
ReplyDelete#mustlovecherries
DeleteI adore fresh cherries!! I've been eating them like crazy. But they're the sweet kind. I don't think I've ever had tart cherries. Are they too sour to eat plain?
ReplyDeleteThat pie looks amazing!
Missy, they're tart, nothing like the sweet ones. Texture is different, too, and they're smaller, but they make the best baked goods and sour cherry jam. I love 'em!
DeleteI love you, Ruthy, but I'm a blueberry gal through and through. I buy blueberries like crazy in the summer, but look at the cherries and debate cost. I never blink at the cost of blueberries. Well, maybe I blink, but I buy them anyway.
ReplyDeleteVariety, it's what keeps the world interesting.
Oh, I love the fresh ones, too! I'm all over them when they're fresh. It's just that other than blueberry muffins, no one eats baked goods with blueberries. So I don't freeze a bunch of them. But I'll share fresh ones with you anytime!
DeleteSo nice and easy to buy favorite fruit in bulk to freeze. Yum, on your pie. I remember picking cherries at my grandparents and then the pitting of them before in the freezer for baked goods.
ReplyDeleteYour farm is turned into a stunning fall market that I would love to visit on of these days. Blessings, Ruthy!
Marilyn, hi! Oh, I hear you, I used to pit cherries but I love to get these pitted and frozen! It's spoiling me, but I figure there's enough other work to do that I'll grab the IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) stuff when I can! :)
DeleteAnd thank you for your kind words. The farm is a work in progress, but folks seem to love it. Us, too!