Autumn, a time of unrelenting Feijoas!

I am short on time now today but decided I had too many photos stacking up for my blog that needed to be used so this is more a pictorial than anything 🙂 We have actually had great harvests this year and a beautiful Autumn that is only now beginning to get a wee bit cold. I have increased my hours at work again temporarily to 26 hrs a week and have been busy doing other things so my preserving has been down to nearly zilch – bar two batches of tomato sauce & 3 buckets of Feijoa wine, everything else has been frozen this year. we have two big upright freezers full of all sorts!

I did want to show you what every couple of days looks like here though.

We have had food enough to feed Africa for months. Our feijoa trees just haven’t stopped for weeks and we have given dozens of kilos away plus I have also made wine with 15 kgs of them – off two (not huge) trees!

Roger has put in another raised garden out the front and the big garden is going to just become an orchard. Two reasons for this, time and inability to keep the thing weeded – mowed around fruit trees and berries is alot easier. The herb garden has been extended and growing well.

Also, we are working towards opening a soap shop in our lounge, this opens straight onto the front porch so easy access. NZ has alot of home based shops and businesses so we will join the ranks. We will have handmade soaps, balms, vintage and rustic furnishings because that’s what we love and have/make. We have a long way to go but have started at least.

We were fortunate to get this shelf unit from the free site I run, it was a kitchen cabinet unit and Roger has removed the cupboard doors. It is full of junk right now and not ready, just wanted to show it. It’s four shelves deep and four across, takes up nearly a whole wall and I was so pleased to get it.IMG_0948

Our couches will be shifted to the dining room as there is only generally the two of us but will be plenty of room, we think we might be ready in a month…..!!!!

So, I haven’t been blogging, haven’t been doing all I used to do but have still been busy doing.

26 thoughts on “Autumn, a time of unrelenting Feijoas!”

  1. I’m so excited to hear you are moving ahead with your’ shop in the front room’ plans. And I’m so jealous of your feijoa harvest. I pay something like $5 a kg here, so they are a rare treat. When I lived in HB I froze so many every year we could eat an icecream punnet of them every week and still have some left over when the next harvest started. The kids used to lie under the tree and eat them til their stomachs were bursting ….. I even made feijoa jam and tried them in pickles too …. Just loved them!

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  2. Usually I make all sorts of things with them but not this year. I have frozen heaps so maybe I can manage to make a crumble mid-winter 🙂 They are that price in the shops here Pauline, crazy, can barely give them away! Just as well we know a big group of Vanuatuans!

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  5. I am amazed you have time to breathe! You have been one busy person and I imagine Roger is no slouch either. 🙂 It’s wonderful that you can open your shop in your home. I had to look up what feijoa’s were. We don’t have them here. I like that you got your shelves for free. Your soaps are wonderful and I’m sure you will do well selling them.

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  6. hi Marlene 🙂 No, Roger is no slouch, I have never seen anyone work as hard as him though he is frightfully disorganised about it lol. he generally keep very busy with 10 projects all on the go at the same time and a great mess everywhere!
    Thank you 🙂 I am hoping it does well as my work will finish soon and I have no desire to put myself out there looking for a new job. Hope you are well x

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  7. The very best reason to be AWOL from social media is that you are too busy living your life to add it to the juggling pile :). Love your harvest, your garden, your life Wendy and especially those scrumptious feijoas! You can’t even buy them in the shops here but they grow so well here in Tassie. We have a poor little shrub down in the garden somewhere that is just clinging to life but if it did fruit, I would imagine there was a line of willing participants to strip it in record time ;). I am going to get some more and plant them out around the house compound. They are brilliant and most excellent eating straight from the tree with a spoon when perfectly ripe. BIG hugs to you both and here’s to an elegant sufficiency of business to keep you producing what you love in sufficient quantities to keep it as something you love and not to tip it over into “work” territory where everything turns grey for some reason. What a glorious shelving system and a just and worthy reward for your herculean efforts to maintain that wonderful free/swap site 🙂

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    • We love feijoas here Fran, the first two weeks we just eat and eat them – then it slows somewhat lol. They don’t take alot of work either just good watering.
      Yes, I am hoping and you are right, work is a territory that turns grey!!!!
      I rarely get anything off the site just really because I run it and don’t want to be seen as doing it for that reason but this was just what we needed and I saw it first – which almost never happens! Was so happy with it 🙂 Hugs to you guys, I hope you and your furry kids are all well and chugging along happily. Winter coming so a good excuse to be inside by the range and reading 🙂 x

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      • You don’t even need water to be honest. My daughters haven’t watered a single day since we moved here in 2010. This year was the hardest year for plants as we had no rain from April 2015 through to about 3 weeks ago when it started and hasn’t really stopped (BLISS!) and my daughters feijoa produced heaps. They are hardy, productive and will take very little water. You probably get more, and better feijoas from a cared for plant but they will survive under extreme duress as was proved this year. You were meant to have that unit. It’s one of those “give away what you don’t immediately need and you create a space that will then need to be filled”. Consider it your karma filling :). I am loving that it is finally cold enough to have Brunhilda on 24/7. We are managing her better this year so it’s not like a sauna in here all of the time and I even baked 2 batches of cakes, a beef cobbler, a pizza and a loaf of bread in her yesterday and she didn’t burn anything once! I think we have come to an amicable arrangement 😉

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  8. i know, my son never watered his but got heaps except they were small. Ours are lovely big juicy ones 🙂 we have had a drought here too and just rain this week. i too am appreciating the colder temperatures and reasons not to have to go outside, roll on winter lol.
    It was getting that unit that made me positively decide this is what I am doing, I used it as a sign 🙂 i could only do it if no overheads or shelling out for anything and we have either made do or got that for free 🙂
    Do you know, I can barely manage to get the enthusiasm to cook tea nowadays let alot cakes?! I think all my creative cooking has gone into soapmaking with not a scrap left for the kitchen – never been like this in my life but even dinner is a chore these days. LOL, good you have found a mutually respectful relationship with Brunhilda.

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  12. Oh My Wendy.. I can so see why you have been short on time.. a bit like my kitchen the other day after I had been berry picking.. as I had a production line going. 🙂
    Wonderful produce.. Sending my love and Well wishes Wendy.. Love Sue xxx

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  13. sorry to be so late visiting, but that’s life at the moment. Loved your photos of the feijoas; I’ve never seen or tasted one, but they look pretty appetizing.

    love your plan for an in-house shop; looking forward to hearing how it all goes. It’s looking pretty good already (and of course that was a while back).

    Hugs, Wendy. ~ Linne

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  14. How are you doing?? I was thinking of you today + wondered where you were and how you were doing. I have not been blogging much but will be doing more this fall. just wanted to stop by and say hi-your site looks amazing and your soap business is taking off. Love the shelves!!! Your food growing + cooking as always inspiring!!!! robbie:-)

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    • Hi Robbie 🙂 No, I just don’t get to WordPress at all these days but often think of some of you 🙂 I have a quick nosy on Pinterest over morning coffee then any other computer time is doing Tumbleweeds stuff or the Freeconomy group which is growing huge. Just busy!!! How are you??

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      • I’m dong fine busy growing more food and now that the house rebuilding is done, well, I am busy cleaning out the gardens. I miss reading your posts, but sure am glad to hear you are doing great with your business and your Freeconony group is growing-you Go Wendy:-)

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  15. I expect you have had a very busy summer 🙂 I just don’t find anything new to say about the garden anymore, we do the same things year in year out even though we have cut back on alot of stuff making room for things like soapmaking. Not enough hours in a day to do it all. Yes, over 2,000 in the main group and I started another for the small village/township we actually live in so two groups now gives me as much time as I want to spend on the computer. I quickly flicked over to your blog yesterday, you are also very busy 🙂

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