castironguy They’re not nearly ready to harvest but after three years the plum tree in my front yard is coming along nicely and looks like we’re gonna have about 40 pieces of fruit.

castironguy After the #heritagefestival ends there’s almost always leftover batter. They can’t sell it nor return it, but they do their best to get it to a good home. Whoever will take a huge quantity of batter late at night and on short notice. Whatever is left, a few lucky volunteers may get a bucket to take home. Of course this then means breaking down 25 litres of batter into freezer bags and storing it for the winter, but better than it landing in a trash pile. #volunteering perks

castironguy It’s #saskatoonberry season in our yard! #garden

castironguy Our neighbourhood, as I’ve discovered over the last year, is severely lacking in #lunch #pizza slice joints. So you might imagine my excitement when I learned there is a brand new almost pizza-by-the-slice place a four minute drive from my house. I write almost because their slice is not a slice but a pizza shaped like a slice. Their smaller of their big slices is like four slices but cooked to order. So. For minute drive plus a ten minute wait to cook it is much better than the twenty minute drive to the next closest slice joint. Hey, this ain’t New York City folks. I thought I would be adventurous today and spent fourteen minutes (and less $ than a burrito just down the street!) procuring a Big Mama slice. Some day we’ll need an excuse to order their 54 inch’er but this trip was worth it for now.

castironguy Mmm… hmmm.. random #strawberry

castironguy The second #haskapberry haul of the season, which is good news cuz the Kid devoured that jar of jam I made with the first mini-haul a few weeks ago.

No, i’m not bleeding from the effort—they are a little leaky when they pop if you’re not super careful picking. I pulled off about 3 cups worth and they are super tasty. #garden #summer

castironguy #disney2024 Mickey-shaped pretzels, a crazy-sweet candy apple, and of course no trip to the park is complete (for me at least) without a world famous smoked turkey leg.

castironguy Lunch day one #disney2024 was themed in the adventure of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and so we ate oddly shaped and sized food direct from the mind of the Ant Man diner: Pym’s Test Kitchen.

castironguy #disney2024

castironguy I may have decided that eating a bowl of supremely sour #haskapberry was a little bit of a waste if we wouldn’t actually enjoy them, so instead I bought some pectin and made a single jar of #jam

castironguy It was at least a dozen years ago when I first planted a pair of #haskapberry bushes in the backyard #garden and in that time the productivity of the crops has varied widely. Often we miss the harvest entirely and the birds chomp down on these tart little berries. This year I spotted a few purple glorbs catching the afternoon sunlight and realized that there was a small bounty of berries ready to be picked. These are rare little fruits that I’m sure have some storied history and lineage dating back to how they found their way into my yard, and I know it has something to do with adaptive breeding at the University one province to the east, but beyond that they are rarely anything more for us than bird food. Not this year, I guess.

castironguy #sourdough night