The Autumn equinox is traditionally a harvest festival all over the world. It’s a season for getting together with friends and family, feasting and sharing harvests and preserves, remembering how lucky we are to be safe and well fed and that these things can’t be taken for granted.
One of my best childhood memories is stripping down to knickers (so we didn’t get into trouble for staining our clothes) and climbing the mulberry tree, and my kids did the same.
So much is just on the cusp of changing at the moment.
I went out to pick some greens for lunch this morning, thinking there’s not so much in the garden this time of year. Before I knew it though, my basket was full and I was using my shirt to carry the extras. Winter is a surprisingly good growing season in most of Australia.
It’s not fair that the bumper season for leafy greens coincides with right when we start lighting the slow combustion stove every night! I have all the ingredients for wonderful salads going off in my garden.
It’s citrus season here. Lemons, limes, mandarins, grapefruit, tangelos, oranges all in such abundance even the most diligent wildlife can’t make a dent in them.
It is tempting to think about preserving this time of year. It seems everything I am picking, I’m picking in bulk!
Here in Northern NSW, right now (after the summer solstice) I am picking mangoes by the bucketful. The trees are laden this year, and though…