November is fast approaching. We will be opening our workshop for the first two weekends in November for the Arts Trail – Open Studios event here in the Southern Highlands. We have been getting ready for this open Studio sale since the end of the last Open Studio sale in July.

Straight after the last sale, we had our 1st throwing workshop weekend in the pottery and then got stuck in straight away making new batches of clay, so as to make the new work for this show. I wrote about it here on the blog in August. < Pugging ClayPosted on 14/08/2023  >

We spent September throwing, turning that new clay into pots. We had to be strict with our selves, as there is always so much to do here throughout the year dealing with seasonal events like pruning and making marmalade, before we left, but we got the pots made. We knew that we would be away for a lot of October doing a geological survey of potters materials in New Caledonia, so all the work needed to be made and bisqued before we left. 

As soon as we returned we were solidly back at work in the pottery glazing and decorating those pots. Again on a tight schedule, as I was asked to give the 10th. Ian Currie Memorial Lecture to the Ceramic Arts Queensland ceramic group. I gave the first lecture in the series a decade ago, and they asked me back to give another lecture, this time with a theme of sustainability, but also to give a weekend workshop on making glazes from local raw materials. We had decided to drive up and back, so as to call in and visit all our relatives along the way. Folks that we hadn’t seen since before the fire, COVID and the lockdown, so we had to allow a couple of weeks for the trip. 

We have planned the 2nd half of this year pretty well. So now we are back home again and doing the last few glaze and gold lustre firings ready for next weekends sale.

We came home to find a wealth of lovely things that had matured while we were away. The flower garden is still in bloom, the strawberries, cherries, mulberries are ripe and ready to pick. We got out of the car, unloaded the boot, put the washing on, then started watering the garden, picking fruit and lifting the garlic. No time to waste. Everything needs to be done now, so we have to schedule our time and energy appropriately.

  

  The garlic is ready to lift.

We lay it out on a metal rack to dry for a week or two before platting and hanging ready for use.

We have about 150 mature knobs this year. A small harvest compared to previous years. We have lifted up to 300 knobs in a good year, but I’m not complaining, any garlic is good garlic when it’s home grown.

By the time we take out the best 20 knobs for replanting, there will only be enough to last half a year.