Seasons on the Farm - March
February has been a whirlwind for us at Dunblane on the Far South Coast, its been a truly busy one on the farm and with our other businesses, work etc. We had a television show here shooting our gardens and wool shed (which I will share next month) and it hasn’t felt like we have stopped. With such a great summer, lots of rain and sunshine we are closing off the season enjoying what feels like endless amounts of tomatoes, cucumber, basil, berries and now quince, pears and apples….
Our autumn fruit seems to come on early here, maybe its the varieties planted many years before us…. Or the climate. Either way it seems to happen really quickly and all of a sudden we have lots of pears and apples and I need inspiration for what to do with them. I love pears, crunchy in salads, in fresh juices, roasted, in a cake, or just perfectly ripe… The scent of a ripe pear, heaven….
Autumn Pear Shrub
Ingredients
- 5 ripe pears (I used Williams when soft and starting to turn yellow)
- 1 vanilla bean scrapped and whole pod
- 10 cardamon pods bashed in morter and pestle.
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups organic apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Decore and cut pear into rough pieces.
- In a small saucepan on low heat mix pears and sugar along with vanilla and spices for 5 or so mins until the pear has softened
- Allow pears to cool and then mix with sugar and vinegar in a large sealed glass jar for min 2 days in the fridge, the longer the better…
- Serve with ice and soda water or sparkling wine/ champagne
