With this continued ‘early fall’ weather, a lot of plants are struggling to stay dormant. The hardier plants suffered the most from the sharp frost a few weeks ago, with some varieties showing signs of tip die-back already. Hopefully this warm weather does not last so the garden can rest for a few months.

But not all is lost, this is where your ‘fruiting house plants’ step forward. This week we have started to harvest Guava, Lemons, Grapefruit, Pummelo and Oranges. Most of these plants are only in their third year, so many harvests yet to come.

We have taken this time of slow down in garden work to reap the benefit of summer. Yes, it time to make Jams and Jellies from the fruits that we were not able to eat during the summer. First batch included; Strawberry, Blueberry (fruit) and Grape (Juice for sweetener), Blackberry Jelly and Marmalade (Calamondin).

Not everything needs to be processed, frozen Strawberries, Melon, Raspberries and Blueberries we put straight into home made Yogourt, makes a great breakfast of desert.