I am happy to announce that we have officially completed harvesting our 2014 winter pears at Mt. View Orchards. This was one of my first harvests apprenticing my parents and I confess the learning curve has been quite high in my new role and the relief I feel now that all the pears are in the barn is tremendous. My father predicted that our amazing employees would pick around 750 bins(1,100lbs) of D'anjou pears from our healthy older trees and we brought exactly that amount in. Nice prediction Papi! Our winter pears this year are big, beautiful and clean and we are feeling incredibly grateful for such wonderful providence. Everything that is out of control as farmers seemed to line up for growing amazing looking pears and we are full of thanksgiving for this much needed "win" on our farm. We still have quite a few of our later sweet apples to harvest for the farm stand and cider making but after 3 solid weeks of pear harvesting we are all feeling a little weary from the long days of endless work. I woke up yesterday morning to the sound of steady rain on the top of my cozy camper trailer and it was music to my ears.
The rain came and offered us a much needed intermission between harvesting pears and apples. Our trees were quite thirsty and needed some hydration and our bodies were tired needed some much needed rest. The sound of rain made me look upwards and exclaim, "Oh thank you." Colder fall weather is an answer to my prayers because I love turning on the oven and slow cooking squash, making soups and making slow cooked spicy pear butter each and every year. I have missed my Farmhouse Kitchen and today is the day for us to be reunited again. I have been saying for some time this month to my friends, "bring on the soups and sweater weather of fall," especially on ninety degree days. Its hard to be a farmer when its hot outside.
To celebrate our first rainy day of Autumn on the farm I decided that I would fill my crock pot with Ripe Bartlett pears and my favorite spices to make some Swiss Pear Butter. In case you didn't know I want to confess that I am a fan of all things called, "butter." Total Butter Lover! Growing up with a dairy cow named, "Alice," made me rather ruined for anything but farm fresh butter on the farm. If you haven't made your own butter from freshly raw milk then you may not know what I am talking about and I suggest you look into this STAT if you too love, Butter! Alice was sure a patient and generous cow to let all us kids learn the art of milking on her and I am so grateful for this rare gift. In my mind Butter is its own food group but I also really enjoy fruit butters such as peach, apple, pumpkin pear butters. Pear Butter cooking in my crock pot with amazing spices fills my house with my absolute favorite smells of fall reminding me that there really is no place like HOME! I want to invite you to check out the Farm Kitchen page of my blog and you will find a recipe for my families Pear Butter.
We have ripe Bartlett pears for days up on the farm and they are looking for good homes. Consider coming on up to our small family farm(link of a map) and pick up some ripe pears. Cooking your food slowly is one of the best ways to draw out its own natural sweetness, fully and completely marry its ingredients and to fill your home with the magical aromas of autumn. Making pear butter is one of my favorite fall traditions and this year I want to share our Swiss family recipe forward with you all. This pear butter is silky smooth and requires very little active time in the kitchen thanks to the help it takes from your slow cooker. Spread it on toast, cover over your pork chop, or just eat it out of the jar with a spoon.
Thank you for all for the support, words of encouragement and comments on The Grateful Farmer blog, friends. I am so thankful for everyone who has wanted to follow along as I share my hopeful journey of learning how to operate a 50 acre small family Orchard. Thank you everyone who has come up to visit our farm stand because you found my blog. It really means to world to me that you have chosen to friend a new orchardist like me and I am so very grateful for you all.