We’re all preparing to transition to sweaters and to bid farewell to a lovely summer as autumn’s chill is most definitely in the evening air. Yet the garden is hanging onto these beautiful, clear, and warm days. Dahlias and roses are sharing the spotlight. Other than dahlias which absolutely deserve a mention this Saturday, I’ll focus this post on abundant harvests and projects that have made use of the garden’s harvests.
ONE – Dahlias for days! Below are featured four beauties, but I really don’t play favorites with my 55+ varieties (over 150 tubers — yes, lots of work!).
TWO – Pickles! Spicy cucumber pickles, that is. The petite cucumbers I’m growing up two trellises are perfect for making delicious pickles.
THREE – Sauerkraut! I’ve harvested six large cabbages, three of which were shredded to fill the below jars. The “pickle pipes” atop the jars are basically airlocks that allow gas (carbon dioxide) to escape while keeping out oxygen. This has been much simpler than fermenting in my enormous stone crock which I bought second-hand with its distinctively mustardy aroma I can’t get rid of.
FOUR – Applesauce! Apples began dropping from our two Yellow Transparent trees a couple of weeks ago, so I needed to pick these earliest apples and put them to use. Our other apples weren’t quite ripe. Yellow Transparents aren’t the best for fresh eating, but they work well for cider, and the applesauce made from them is wonderful. My sister, Meg, helped with pounds of peeling. Below shows the first stage of cooking prior to the food mill. For the first time ever, I had a catastrophe in the water bath canner when a filled quart’s glass bottom cracked completely off which affected the remaining jars’ sealing abilities. A whole lot of washing and prepping and boiling later, I have three large quarts to give to the applesauce-loving grandsons.
FIVE – It’s another bountiful year for carrots, my seventh in a row at Coppertop. In spring I sowed three varieties: Nantes, Danvers Half-Longs, and Imperator. This week I pulled a few around the bed’s edges. Well, a few means a few pounds. I imagine there are about 50 pounds remaining to harvest. I’ll be pickling some, keeping many pounds in cold storage, and leaving lots in the raised bed until I need them in the winter, since that worked well for me last year.
SIX – Cider Time! Hubby and I look forward to this time of year. We’ve deemed today “Ciderday Saturday” so we will be pressing many, many pounds of apples. We harvested and washed apples last night. Most are from our orchard, but some are donated by friends who will receive some bottles of cider after the fermentation process.
Six on Saturday was started by The Propagator from his corner of the world and has spread amongst garden bloggers worldwide. Links to posts can be found here in the comment section.
Gardens at Coppertop 
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