tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28707398738985291442024-02-07T05:23:03.669+00:00oxfordpomonaOrchard fruits and their culturepomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.comBlogger328125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-8440520487203533762012-08-22T14:35:00.001+01:002012-08-22T14:35:42.141+01:00Terrible season<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In summary, this has been an absolutely terrible season, one of the reasons I haven't bothered posting much this year. To start with, no pollination as the insects didn't come out in the rain. The few pears that set are all abnormally small. Lots of scab on leaves and shoots. The quince set more fruit, but then a terrible attack of scab make everything drop off. The medlar set a lot of small fruit but it has now all browned off and rotted on the tree.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The plums were similarly affected, either no fruit set, or a small number of undersized fruit (which was all taken by the rogue squirrel anyway). The apples have done better, but with a fair amount of cracking or scab, and the early varieties have largely been spoiled by jay or squirrel damage before they were ripe enough to be picked. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This has been by far the worst year we've suffered here, normally only one or two susceptible pears are affected by fungal ills, but this year everything has suffered in some way or other from the terribly wet weather. So there will be no boxes overflowing with lovely clean, large, beautiful fruit this year. Very depressing and disappointing, I have been so ill this year it would have been lovely to have had something cheering to look forward to.</span></div>
pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-82018453051729890612012-08-22T14:24:00.003+01:002012-08-22T14:25:56.582+01:00War on Squirrels and Jays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having posted on how well the codling moth traps were working, I can't say the same of the squirrel trapping. We have had a huge influx of squirrels this year, and one in particular seems impossible to trap. They have just stripped the Denniston's of its small crop completely and are randomly biting into our small crops of apples and pears. I trapped one last week, thinking at least that only left one hard nut to crack, but I'm blowed if another two didn't appear almost immediately. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to crows this year jays have done an extraordinary amount of damage. I'd been wondering what had been hacking lumps out of my Grenadier, and then moved on to the Worcester and my un-named early red. I'd been thinking it must be pigeons but then I caught a jay actually doing it shamelessly right in front of me. We have a very active extended family of jays which are continually attracted to the area by a neighbour who tips peanuts into his garden as if they were garden mulch, one reason for the influx and high breeding numbers of squirrels. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope the jays may be a temporary problem. They haven't been a problem before, and I think they initially started pecking at the fruit because of scab-related soft patches on the fruit. Having started off with these, they then discovered that the rest of the fruit was palatable. I hope they don't remember next year, but they are bright corvids and they do have a remarkable capacity to remember and teach others of their kind. If they don't forget, then sadly we'll be getting towards the stage of having to net everything soon.</span></div>
pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-30825421895926048532012-08-22T14:09:00.001+01:002012-08-22T14:26:22.092+01:00Pheromone traps - verdict<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Really pleased with the traps, despite reservations they worked well. Sadly the plum didn't set any fruit at all, so no way of evaluating how well the trap worked other than to count the moths, but the one attached to Rosemary Russet caught approximately 10 moths and there is no sign so far of any holes in the surprisingly good crop on this cordon, and that without spraying. Unfortunately, the full standard Grenadier on the other side of the garden is full of the things again, so clearly they aren't effective over a very large area, and I'd need at least one more to help clear the problem over the full area. But certainly well worth trying again next year.</span></div>
pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-15677365155589035392012-06-21T19:58:00.001+01:002012-06-26T17:29:51.781+01:00Pest/Damage Quiz<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was going to write a few boring paragraphs about all the tedious things that had gone wrong this month but as I was asking my husband to guess what had gone wrong this time, I thought I'd leave my few readers to guess too.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, answers:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a. Apple sawfly (nibbles paths along surface before burrowing into core). Control: spray after petal drop if you can be bothered, remove all affected fruitlets.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">b. Squirrel</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">c. Splitting due to seasonal June torrents</span></div>
</div>pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-89291082943531925002012-06-11T17:05:00.002+01:002012-06-11T17:05:16.445+01:00Mea Culpa - pheromone traps<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I meant to post quite a while back that I'd decided to try moth pheromone traps for the first time as a couple of apples and one plum are very badly affected by the relevant species. I bought some from a common-or-garden centre in Bicester, and managed to get them both in place by mid may. 4 codling moths appeared in the trap around the last couple of days of the month, and I notice the first plum marauder turn up about a week later. All dark, dull, undistinguished moths about 5mm long. My aim was to spray the trees soon after to catch the tiny caterpillars just before they started to burrow their way into the fruitlets, but the weather was so bad that it was just impossible. Yesterday I found a nice, plump fruitlet with a pin-sized hole, and cut it open to reveal a surprisingly large grub around 4-5mm long, so it's now completely pointless attempting to spray the affected apples; I will try to spray plum tomorrow, deluges-permitting.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The moth 'reservoir' <i>Grenadier</i> tree in the new plot of land has been thinned by one third for the third year in a row, so that hopefully there will be fewer infected windfalls to dispose of or infect the neighbouring garden, as well as the hope of better quality fruit overall. </span></div>pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-77039743688432447592012-05-19T23:23:00.001+01:002012-05-19T23:23:24.609+01:00Disasterous rainfall<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Morettini</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6I3CfNnJlOodapK6RvtcLlXheZpD7lKAKoozNsMNyYgXXXye0XL5A1xpqNfUFMQAFvLUf2f2mu9GHOGUWZSb70zA8QLp_HZqUsnGYb1_JAUg5Z4SvjA_YRj1QT9DVtHtQVibvWBHnRle2/s1600/scab2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6I3CfNnJlOodapK6RvtcLlXheZpD7lKAKoozNsMNyYgXXXye0XL5A1xpqNfUFMQAFvLUf2f2mu9GHOGUWZSb70zA8QLp_HZqUsnGYb1_JAUg5Z4SvjA_YRj1QT9DVtHtQVibvWBHnRle2/s320/scab2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The non-stop rainfall we have been experiencing for the last couple of months has had a disasterous effect on the pears. Cultivars that are usually fairly robust and reliable have been affected by scab for the first time, and pollenation has been very low. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Morettini</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is usually very healthy in growth, but nearly every fruitlet is completely covered with deep scab lesions. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beth</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is affected in both leaf and fruit, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winter Nelis</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Josephine de Malines</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> don't have a single fertilised fruitlet on the whole tree. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fondante d'Automne</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> has just a couple that I could find. By contrast, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bishop's Thumb</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Comice</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conference</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> so far have bumper numbers of fruitlets, but overall I think it will be a very bad year for pears at least. A lot of the apple blossom was by contrast spoiled by unseasonably hard frosts but so far the fruit seems to have set. Fingers crossed that the season isn't an entire washout.</span></div>
<br /></div>pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-22962683435516240392012-05-19T23:02:00.003+01:002012-05-19T23:04:59.164+01:00Nether Winchendon House<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Visited Nether Winchendon House a couple of weeks back and was amazed to see how well the rather extensive, ancient orchards had been managed and brought back into production. The trees were of quite some age, and although originally pruned into nice open shapes had been planted far too close together. The branches must have been completely intertwined, each shading each other. One quite often sees orchards like this out and about, branches all dead and covered in lichen. Often people are really apprehensive about pruning old standard trees so it was lovely to see that someone had bitten the bullet and taken out all the dead wood and headed the huge trees back to a manageable size. As I was saying this, and admiring particular details, the gardener overheard and interrupted the conversation! I guess she doesn't always hear such appreciative comments. We had a lovely chat. I'm not generally a huge fan of pollarding old trees but if it is done well, with the good of the tree in mind the result can be both attractive, productive and keeps the tree in health for many years longer.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A very nice pear espalier.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nether Winchendon House itself</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACo52kmyoHPxJUpnm-VRKPwUbpIxu3THGe-zfEc2i9zB04H2S5jAE8hVO4v3JzQCIT3bplYebwlB7HGBvL4IkKMmESPLyqx7MyxVCDic8ZCeYdBITECiltjswEXwkbqSqWB3vzybWU66Q/s1600/nether_winchendon5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACo52kmyoHPxJUpnm-VRKPwUbpIxu3THGe-zfEc2i9zB04H2S5jAE8hVO4v3JzQCIT3bplYebwlB7HGBvL4IkKMmESPLyqx7MyxVCDic8ZCeYdBITECiltjswEXwkbqSqWB3vzybWU66Q/s320/nether_winchendon5.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br /></div>pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-89126510234452997802012-04-23T16:38:00.000+01:002012-04-23T16:45:33.487+01:00Santa Claus - keeping test<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd planned to keep my last few of Santa Claus's until Easter to test how late they would keep, but then forgot all about them. Today I noticed the neck of one was browning off so I decided to try them. I know now that they would have benefitted from being wrapped in tissue to stop them drying out, so will do that next year but, appearances aside, they were still quite edible. I thought they would probably have just gone brown at the core but no, the flesh was still quite firm. The taste was slightly vinous, very much like an Asian pear that is slightly over-ripe. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm now quite impressed with this variety, I like firm pears with a tendency to crispness and the taste is also good. They are much later than the catalogues suggest, I don't think the first one was even ready in January and with care, they will keep in reasonable condition until April. The only down-side is that the variety is rather prone to scab, so needs a sheltered location that also has good ventilation, quite a challenge. I had given up on the cordon planted against a south-facing fence as the fruit were perennially riddled with scab lesions, but planting an additional tree I'd grafted into a more exposed position in my south-west facing front garden has been a lot more successful.</span></div>
</div>pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-85609366654367458632012-03-27T22:55:00.008+01:002012-03-27T23:06:15.044+01:00Three variety espalier<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbn4x0rGjxH_w2k7c4YirGlIo1Vb3eIHcW0bMWXdNuOKNRmm_u3UFgN1esr2sFfu3w3miRdGz8tM7UUHE6oPqp0-LbeFdswJ_Dw9DfHEHOHa-TKwK25D2Xwij-5rc_83qZ_UE54roYYEX2/s1600/three_variety_espalier.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbn4x0rGjxH_w2k7c4YirGlIo1Vb3eIHcW0bMWXdNuOKNRmm_u3UFgN1esr2sFfu3w3miRdGz8tM7UUHE6oPqp0-LbeFdswJ_Dw9DfHEHOHa-TKwK25D2Xwij-5rc_83qZ_UE54roYYEX2/s320/three_variety_espalier.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724699442844803554" /></a><br /><br /><br><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And at the bottom, and example of "playing with novelty grafting to add many different scions to a fruit" - espalier of three varieties, <span style="font-style:italic;">Passe Crassane</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Beurre d’Anjou</span>, and <span style="font-style:italic;">Bergamot d'Esperen</span>pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-74158709027674090802012-03-27T22:22:00.001+01:002012-03-27T22:23:53.598+01:00Blossom - Morettini<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEievVrE0lkDX71te6vAJ3tXcGt9ITPhv4qo0Uxh3BdQk1GpBFEE9xAb96tHkWz0Sss1e4smF4pkCu1gnE43UAV8QOgCPaKF4rPVHWAC-FzOoz8og89UFOGbZzSbYGVw4iCM9ELJuedDAfd1/s1600/P1070655.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEievVrE0lkDX71te6vAJ3tXcGt9ITPhv4qo0Uxh3BdQk1GpBFEE9xAb96tHkWz0Sss1e4smF4pkCu1gnE43UAV8QOgCPaKF4rPVHWAC-FzOoz8og89UFOGbZzSbYGVw4iCM9ELJuedDAfd1/s320/P1070655.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724690485904896578" /></a><br /><br />The first flowers of Morettini have just unfurled, heralding Spring! A sight to cheer the heart!pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-92094576301143836892012-03-27T22:14:00.004+01:002012-03-27T22:21:54.274+01:00Poor Quality rootstocks<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZw1C4FjyAAINQYPkZuOxY_ZTQ9dPd1AJ_YDW8W_-pQ1WTgECjYsia52DmzDlcr-h4dB3Wq_Eshvl_Vj6_slul9-CEdgl2h85MV5wR8DCB0xXdsp3iNWibrXtyjNwjWClCuicPYma4Bv4a/s1600/small_stock.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZw1C4FjyAAINQYPkZuOxY_ZTQ9dPd1AJ_YDW8W_-pQ1WTgECjYsia52DmzDlcr-h4dB3Wq_Eshvl_Vj6_slul9-CEdgl2h85MV5wR8DCB0xXdsp3iNWibrXtyjNwjWClCuicPYma4Bv4a/s320/small_stock.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724688485632017554" /></a><br /><br />Very skinny stock, had to find an equally weedy bit of scionwood to match<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNwjtncwuAXFFnStpz85X7uEgSW9yMrehuuQ0LGoQS_Ng4kuXsPMFO2FfcaJEGwGfV-eR27I7f3xtLcdoEY9YHMLQCnMoxguc8kCGBAZwIQ58u4D_83rTFUDoBavF0pZ_2_ZYWzzMzoyxN/s1600/small_root.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNwjtncwuAXFFnStpz85X7uEgSW9yMrehuuQ0LGoQS_Ng4kuXsPMFO2FfcaJEGwGfV-eR27I7f3xtLcdoEY9YHMLQCnMoxguc8kCGBAZwIQ58u4D_83rTFUDoBavF0pZ_2_ZYWzzMzoyxN/s320/small_root.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724688479242901682" /></a><br /><br />Poor amount of root<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuL1p3K5LOweB4vidrX5yRdBThKgzJNxIN3ljffmsiav2HGYsyTzin6Cbk2kNhjgMM9XyVjbq_1wYiJud7l7ytl2X2H2Joa9fZWcEb4ww6Xqi5UEHuUA-YxxDzWj_oR4GlrixrDbU7B8_f/s1600/small_root_again.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuL1p3K5LOweB4vidrX5yRdBThKgzJNxIN3ljffmsiav2HGYsyTzin6Cbk2kNhjgMM9XyVjbq_1wYiJud7l7ytl2X2H2Joa9fZWcEb4ww6Xqi5UEHuUA-YxxDzWj_oR4GlrixrDbU7B8_f/s320/small_root_again.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724688476928634306" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Again, not much root, with nasty split at the bottom of the wood<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As I left it too late to order stocks from Frank Matthews, I ended up ordering them from a new supplier, Blackmoor nurseries. I have to say I was very disappointed with the quality of the rootstocks. The pears in particular were very weedy, they only matched the width of average-sized scions within a few inches of the root, much lower than I would normally like to position a graft. One was completely dead, and a few had minimal roots. The single apple stock of m111 had barely any root, and this was also split down the middle, annoying as I really want this one to succeed as my stock tree for my new variety. <br /><br />I won't be buying from them again!pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-89175876565341641612012-03-27T22:06:00.014+01:002012-03-27T23:04:07.605+01:00Grafting session<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2JFdqJ9hLIvfsTmo92rn7aEIiqBTDAusN4C5hauMsNQL33ON1bbD_RRQc5eE2_3DJpvNKdXWB2sqQ68ziII9qQcYyz-5vfvyMPK-z6ej0cPBZO6i6AiwxuDb52ur_z5dVOvoW4DwnHdR/s1600/graft1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2JFdqJ9hLIvfsTmo92rn7aEIiqBTDAusN4C5hauMsNQL33ON1bbD_RRQc5eE2_3DJpvNKdXWB2sqQ68ziII9qQcYyz-5vfvyMPK-z6ej0cPBZO6i6AiwxuDb52ur_z5dVOvoW4DwnHdR/s320/graft1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724700547058124434" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN4lzD7lT2wW7vZoqmMCNOGJ43pt1acE62AQ8i2nXc5CoCYrTNIskWsPT-GILWqU5vsGYTV22y6jaaduyEm5lTHrBZwLBNI_2hNLT0Vo3Jom9twcvV5Wh7NoVxrvI-0NbvKGZFIPQQWgMB/s1600/graft2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN4lzD7lT2wW7vZoqmMCNOGJ43pt1acE62AQ8i2nXc5CoCYrTNIskWsPT-GILWqU5vsGYTV22y6jaaduyEm5lTHrBZwLBNI_2hNLT0Vo3Jom9twcvV5Wh7NoVxrvI-0NbvKGZFIPQQWgMB/s320/graft2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724700544413299986" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0w3TuTXvWipOqqQXkUqDAlERvlOWJkZmeEUP2JmKmw5vuCFaJI5jMzCNdgpLV1JBGpDLjuS1y_3cV-4_Zd-aDNgST90B_GksobqXHsFYV7hRuZ37g4oKgpVxs3_vuQML6QgshdbFb4XKb/s1600/graft2a.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0w3TuTXvWipOqqQXkUqDAlERvlOWJkZmeEUP2JmKmw5vuCFaJI5jMzCNdgpLV1JBGpDLjuS1y_3cV-4_Zd-aDNgST90B_GksobqXHsFYV7hRuZ37g4oKgpVxs3_vuQML6QgshdbFb4XKb/s320/graft2a.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724700425612223826" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyQYM-AERpvZ48U0aLAR865I2m3O_e0KRfZ0yQPLENu-edD9Ap2VbCa5hvkJdURVRg4eJ9Tjmq91oecmq6cpjU14EgJKqYz3Nf70uwcUFVOgGHtwQZx6GqTQdOzUbvwLv8AWDm-yova0D/s1600/graft3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyQYM-AERpvZ48U0aLAR865I2m3O_e0KRfZ0yQPLENu-edD9Ap2VbCa5hvkJdURVRg4eJ9Tjmq91oecmq6cpjU14EgJKqYz3Nf70uwcUFVOgGHtwQZx6GqTQdOzUbvwLv8AWDm-yova0D/s320/graft3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724700420935577330" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPMR8kQdO8s_ZZd9WqPYkfw3XmVp3QMr30qzd4p3HhjMccjklsTlquqBVmBtZKu1nfW1K7rAHyyhsS1ICNLYqA9V-_vMImSQmNLQiADUA9_v1V3pcHLkj72GGWHVkYcrGZRrQcBkjO43Ra/s1600/graft4.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPMR8kQdO8s_ZZd9WqPYkfw3XmVp3QMr30qzd4p3HhjMccjklsTlquqBVmBtZKu1nfW1K7rAHyyhsS1ICNLYqA9V-_vMImSQmNLQiADUA9_v1V3pcHLkj72GGWHVkYcrGZRrQcBkjO43Ra/s320/graft4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724700410654512770" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-452J9P30UaBvXsBgfFMzWsat6Fc4qTS89DkXTjggYHf4VumxQOhSlIdUNHFTSr5S_9zuVDpi4RP1My6WQ6kzzS_jCVucPmF0thbZSKelIvSMqY64dYrK6SkjhGWRxrjQto8PT_HwZdh/s1600/graft5.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 236px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-452J9P30UaBvXsBgfFMzWsat6Fc4qTS89DkXTjggYHf4VumxQOhSlIdUNHFTSr5S_9zuVDpi4RP1My6WQ6kzzS_jCVucPmF0thbZSKelIvSMqY64dYrK6SkjhGWRxrjQto8PT_HwZdh/s320/graft5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724700405978933458" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0YzvDqkR_o3KsgEA33ALd-Fa5LbA4ZDEzrz6LcUrCJql-ONDk0u3ej_PLHq_ymt0O-A1BLSctXA6qImVPtAy_ARkNCmZTYlR4d00HQgALXIii947krZpnPNByxZFMcVlFzHhWj9DesqTo/s1600/graft6.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0YzvDqkR_o3KsgEA33ALd-Fa5LbA4ZDEzrz6LcUrCJql-ONDk0u3ej_PLHq_ymt0O-A1BLSctXA6qImVPtAy_ARkNCmZTYlR4d00HQgALXIii947krZpnPNByxZFMcVlFzHhWj9DesqTo/s320/graft6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724700397153935666" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Just a few photos to illustrate my grafting method (namely the 'whip and tongue' technique.<br /><br />I found this page on <a href="http://treesandshrubs.about.com/od/pruning/a/whip-and-tongue-graft-how-to.htm">whip and tongue grafting</a>, which made me laugh. I don't think the author would have much time for the way I do things! The instructions are quite good, apart from the bit about twine and sealing wax - I've tried that when I first started and believe me, crappy, cheap, low-tack duck tape and clothes pegs are much easier!pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-16156443885489405862012-03-27T22:00:00.002+01:002012-03-27T22:06:38.887+01:00Last pears - Santa Claus<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqL2zeKio89KKkUW3mA33HytTX0TwsZxfQW0tVjOcoFFWdi4vnIzS7Mv6R7LK69fO-6omXW9zDXjUMIIqGErzcvLKvDMUP8doRfAf1S0hrbeWwvAWg_Tpb_yxrvXwbA3C4j3-s2VxlBwE/s1600/Santa_Claus.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 290px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqL2zeKio89KKkUW3mA33HytTX0TwsZxfQW0tVjOcoFFWdi4vnIzS7Mv6R7LK69fO-6omXW9zDXjUMIIqGErzcvLKvDMUP8doRfAf1S0hrbeWwvAWg_Tpb_yxrvXwbA3C4j3-s2VxlBwE/s400/Santa_Claus.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724684949220314658" /></a><br /><br />We are down to our last 3 pears of 2011, Santa Claus which has proved to be the longest keeping. Although they have shrivelled, they are still remarkably firm and crisp, just beginning to soften slightly now. Considering that we are almost in April, the flavour is remarkably good - not as fine as the few that ripened earlier but still of a quality that is welcome at this time of year. Next year I will wrap them in tissue paper to stop them drying out so much, now that I know that they take quite so long to mature.pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-21301896249895303252012-01-25T11:04:00.001+00:002012-01-25T11:06:17.606+00:003rd National Scionwood swap day - Stowe nr Buckingham3rd National Scionwood swap day 2pm- 5pm where you will be able to swap your scion wood or buy pieces for only a £1<br />to help cover the events expenses. Trees can be grafted to order on m27,M9,M116 M106 or M111. scion wood already promised to arrive includes Bramley, SturmerPippin, D'Arcy Spice, Brownlees' Russet, James Grieve, Queen Cox, Egremont Russet, Ashmead's Kernel, Chivers Delight, Lord Lambourne, St. Edmund's Pippin, Worcester Pearmain, Norfolk Royal, Margil and Costard. Lord Derby, Charles Ross, Court pendu plat.........and many many more.<br /><br />Both events take place at The Estate Office, Home Farm, (1st left down the hill past the Green Security PortaKabin) at National Trust Stowe Landscape Gardens., nr Buckingham. Tel 01295 810516 /0795000 6813 or email johoward@metronet.co.ukpomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-4443501441818329202012-01-24T13:04:00.002+00:002012-01-24T13:09:36.902+00:00Expensive morningFinally got round to ordering this year's rootstocks and fruit. Frank Matthews had sold out, apparently they had full orders before Christmas so, note to self, remember to order early. Have ordered them from Blackmoor, a nursery I haven't tried before. I had intended to buy a couple of plums on the new VVA-1 dwarfing plum stock, but within the last week they had sold out. I decided to buy them from Keepers as I don't want to waste any more time as it takes so long for any tree to come into cropping, and I've not actually grafted or bought any new trees for quite a few years now, so am really just catching up. All in all, a rather expensive morning.pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-8908933282785675322012-01-24T12:15:00.003+00:002012-01-24T12:36:39.282+00:00Pruning - Josephine de MalinesThis is an example of what not to do. I'd rather forgotten about my Josephine de Malines. It in a slightly out the way place, behind my polytunnel, and was initially a very weak grower which I left to its own devices for too long. When it eventually started to produce, the weight of the fruit bend and distorted some of the main branches, which then started to produce water shoots where the branches had bent, and the result is a complete mess.<br /><br />The first thing to do was take out any misplaced or crossing branches and try to re-establish a better framework for the tree. I'd would have liked to maintain a Y shape but the right fork was unfortunately sticking out at almost a right angle so had to come off. I left the bottom of the branch with one of last years shoots which I'll stake into a position to re-establish the Y shape; if it doesn't develop properly, I'll take it off where it joins the main stem and grow as a small, if slightly curvy, half-standard. The weak growth means this variety tends to form a 'weeping' shape naturally, so I hope it won't get too tall, but the tendency to bend under fruit weight does mean that we need to monitor it and support branches with heavy fruit if necessary.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyNXfcm75saZcvEQ4gOdCkHgzUNDwEZRQkEeNB8nuOAIA96_sXBO6tVCJxQ-y16e3MpdLwYa-Fh95M3U9QDujv9-1Mo8hubFMXJkQbytrgovHRCvP3MiwBYWWtnVZ0T1KKe0cpbvROTDCU/s1600/josephinebefore.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyNXfcm75saZcvEQ4gOdCkHgzUNDwEZRQkEeNB8nuOAIA96_sXBO6tVCJxQ-y16e3MpdLwYa-Fh95M3U9QDujv9-1Mo8hubFMXJkQbytrgovHRCvP3MiwBYWWtnVZ0T1KKe0cpbvROTDCU/s400/josephinebefore.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701171745695211346" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpihFsfkpLRw3IAuRY6e_tFkkYV5F_z3Tn_DsiP2XmvoqpQorbznVj5PPLl27s79lYN-QRXdFChEAxFfEZvP_nTG88CAHbxXWRIPXfVaVPynw1N7Nl5ozgCYI9sclDDDlGZDT94VGAp6dj/s1600/josephine_after.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpihFsfkpLRw3IAuRY6e_tFkkYV5F_z3Tn_DsiP2XmvoqpQorbznVj5PPLl27s79lYN-QRXdFChEAxFfEZvP_nTG88CAHbxXWRIPXfVaVPynw1N7Nl5ozgCYI9sclDDDlGZDT94VGAp6dj/s400/josephine_after.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701171742354652850" /></a>pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-83274975349513287852012-01-24T11:44:00.004+00:002012-01-24T12:12:08.042+00:00Pruning - cordonsPruning time again, starting with the cordons. Each year I mean to do a proper 'before and after', but usually end up doing it on the spur of a spare moment, and forget. Not great photos, but enough to show the principles of spur pruning. Basically the aim is to take off virtually all the extension growth of the previous year, by which I mean all long shoots. Most of these will need taking off either where they spring from the main stem, or just above the nearest fruiting/flowering bud (which are always a little plumper than those destined to go on to make just leaves.<br /><br />The photos and details show just how much growth needs removing. If you look carefully at the second closeup, you will see that I have only left two short, stubby, knobbly little branches (spurs), one each on the right and the left. These are fruiting spurs, which will hopefully flower and produce fruit. All other growth is removed cleanly, flush to the stem with a saw (a fairly fine ordinary one, much to the annoyance of my husband).<br /><br />The only time I leave any extension growth is where it springs from a 'knobbly' wood that looks like it will produce buds directly in the future, even if it currently only has a current shoot with a leaf bud. I usual prune to 2-3 buds beyond the thickened, wrinkled bit. Hopefully next year fruit buds will appear directly from the base, and the new spur can be pruned to a fruiting bud as usual. Cutting directly into this basal proto-spur before it has produced a fruit bud tends to make it produce more vegetative growth.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRLZF4R39bISjgpfIAfArgFleqHmxSJ5ckFae1IRfzBmbRrPYrOkyqDcmYZV7VkeavHgLDo6r_kHTg4J3CWo5xzVvHwGFuIunausEuV_jRPXoP0xUSoWcfZb0Qz0QBcVFV6xelOk0cFHp/s1600/pruning_before.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRLZF4R39bISjgpfIAfArgFleqHmxSJ5ckFae1IRfzBmbRrPYrOkyqDcmYZV7VkeavHgLDo6r_kHTg4J3CWo5xzVvHwGFuIunausEuV_jRPXoP0xUSoWcfZb0Qz0QBcVFV6xelOk0cFHp/s400/pruning_before.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701163595460329874" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiknkNvpSXWaQNed91LchPRyMcGE-DrW0QgsPhF5b-QOr-i3Oiz3dQxvzaKvTuL9TRnFS2YScqQSCL_ps1OrpRHIVVFn4YjdBU-GpwkinUnpg_X3h3kvncHjaKs9onLaMdZBBiB9ywUe1ZX/s1600/pruning_after.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiknkNvpSXWaQNed91LchPRyMcGE-DrW0QgsPhF5b-QOr-i3Oiz3dQxvzaKvTuL9TRnFS2YScqQSCL_ps1OrpRHIVVFn4YjdBU-GpwkinUnpg_X3h3kvncHjaKs9onLaMdZBBiB9ywUe1ZX/s400/pruning_after.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701163589398286018" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBA_MtW6LCSQC9T5XGA5zIrktJbr-Y7Xe4e_lHXE_2AAJ3ZatUqGhIrkuU6_QqG9yI7RrYrXI2WscBob0luG_ekDTLxj8zQxYs35Kf1QMYm3dWA6FbjWM_GX-ZdHqy60h5kLzVC6UlhNa/s1600/pruning_before_sml.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBA_MtW6LCSQC9T5XGA5zIrktJbr-Y7Xe4e_lHXE_2AAJ3ZatUqGhIrkuU6_QqG9yI7RrYrXI2WscBob0luG_ekDTLxj8zQxYs35Kf1QMYm3dWA6FbjWM_GX-ZdHqy60h5kLzVC6UlhNa/s400/pruning_before_sml.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701163579000393570" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3m3CQV5F3lD0d8aEhQpdcYSnuXcBnliykMEDtcC4yGGEPi5ruPterxmsVQfFcB5iRarvjnxqZ62qw7c4JccfwelmSnLXHwCwATT3Ty4JP2gB-nlYmjXq77oSDXtx9gIiI9_SAQvAeGpC/s1600/pruning_after_sml.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3m3CQV5F3lD0d8aEhQpdcYSnuXcBnliykMEDtcC4yGGEPi5ruPterxmsVQfFcB5iRarvjnxqZ62qw7c4JccfwelmSnLXHwCwATT3Ty4JP2gB-nlYmjXq77oSDXtx9gIiI9_SAQvAeGpC/s400/pruning_after_sml.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701163582587267554" /></a>pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-32338465397990239372012-01-20T12:58:00.002+00:002012-01-20T13:05:06.049+00:00New variety promotion - some further informationI posted a <a href="http://fruitforum.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/plant-breeders-rights-how-do-you-register-your-fruit/">query</a> about this on Joan Morgan's excellent Fruit Forum, the answers were pretty much in line with what I'd thought, that sponsorship from a commercial nursery is probably the only way forward. Also link a useful precedent, <a href="http://www.fruitforum.net/christmas-pippin-a-winner-.htm">Christmas Pippin</a>.pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-23377971440559406192012-01-17T16:17:00.004+00:002012-01-17T16:27:03.109+00:00Roast Quinces with Mallard<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8aP6DGSBmkHf9FDcYpOZtbGYIPFuDHLmHFv5VHpNJw8iNBPRJR0Lq92ApdLJLhGtL78FDPIF7_FHvqS5PI0aUt56KYrRi8TjDpHOtkTrP17APaD2u9LW2l9Ywd9cRfsL7HTLS7ruCWPD/s1600/roast_quince.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8aP6DGSBmkHf9FDcYpOZtbGYIPFuDHLmHFv5VHpNJw8iNBPRJR0Lq92ApdLJLhGtL78FDPIF7_FHvqS5PI0aUt56KYrRi8TjDpHOtkTrP17APaD2u9LW2l9Ywd9cRfsL7HTLS7ruCWPD/s400/roast_quince.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698637997174559266" /></a><br />Tried out the afore-mentioned <a href="http://oxfordpomona.blogspot.com/2011/10/roast-quince.html">roast quince recipe</a> as an accompaniment to a roast, rather than as a desert. I was pleasantly surprised, the combination was far more successful than when we tried it as a desert dish. Having stewed the fruit to the red stage, we roasted it around a mallard (stuffed with pieces of cassia and the odd shallot and garlic clove, glazing the bird of medlar jelly. The roast quince absorbed the flavour of the duck and the somewhat grainy, gritty texture that slightly spoils its desert qualities gave the quince segments a satisfyingly meaty texture. I would certainly do it again, it would go particularly well with Barbary Duck (except that we don't eat them as I never bring myself to eat Muscovies!).pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-77389376139241394612012-01-17T16:01:00.002+00:002012-01-17T16:03:51.729+00:00Good reference book - The American Fruit culturist by John ThomasJust found this while googling the qualities of obscure pear varieties. Only available as print-on-demand by Amazon, but much of the useful information available on the sample<br /><br /><a href="http://tinyurl.com/7395ams">The American Fruit Culturist - Select List of Fruits</a>pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-14359989965614227932012-01-15T12:54:00.010+00:002012-01-15T13:40:45.557+00:00New Year - January fruit and some resolutionsA happy new year, if anyone ever reads this blog. The new year has started well, with a reasonable amount of stored fruit still left in good condition. We have just finished the last of the <span style="font-style:italic;">Glou Morceau</span>, half way through our box of <span style="font-style:italic;">Josephine de Malines</span> and had the first <span style="font-style:italic;">Santa Claus</span>, good flavour but still fairly hard/crisp on the bottom half, no not quite ready yet. None of the stored pears has shrivelled, despite being stored in open boxes (many recommend wrapping in paper individually, or covering boxes with straw, but I haven't found the need for this so far with late cultivars). We have finished the <span style="font-style:italic;">Rosemary Russet</span> (mainly due to running out as they keep until March), and still have a few<span style="font-style:italic;"> Golden Russet </span>left, still vastly superior in flavour to supermarket russets we have bought recently. We finished the last of our own Wolvercote variety on New Year's day and found it fairly soft but still sweet and highly edible, so it's good to know it has quite a long storage life for this kind of apple.<br /><br />One new year's resolution was to find out about registering plant breeders' rights for what seems to be a promising and fairly unusual garden cultivar. Plant Breeders' rights are controlled by DEFRA, and the information is presented in a typically labyrinthine manner. Having found the application form, it was then impossible to work out the fees. Fortunately DEFRA was swift to answer my email query personally, but the news was not good. There is no amateur category for fruit growers, which mean that the full annual DUS testing fees (a mere £1700 pa) apply, making it virtually impossible to register rights to a variety as an amateur without sponsorship. However, I'm not going to give up. I'll continue trialling it, on a range of rootstocks, and try to build a local market for the fruit, once I have built up sufficient stocks. If it fulfils expectations on yield, health and habit then I'll try looking for sponsorship/partnership with a commercial nursery. But a long way to go before that point.<br /><br />The second new year's resolution is to find more land to grow build up stock and grow more half-standards and plums. Having contacted or looked at the rules of local allotments, again the news is not good. Most allotments have strict rules about fruit trees. Only the most dwarfing stocks can be used, fruit area must not exceed 33% of the allotment area (even half plots) and you can be asked to remove trees if your neighbour complains. Worst still, many have communal 'orchards', usually with a higgledy, piggledy assortment of donated stuff, and so can't see why anyone would want to have their own carefully chosen and managed trees when they could share a load of surplus rubbish. So, very difficult for the serious fruit enthusiast to make headway in terms of finding land to trial stock, grow on grafted whips to maiden stage or grow enough of a surplus to sell at the local farmers' market. Maddeningly we missed out on the chance to buy a nice, sheltered half-acre of land, partially walled, in the next village which would have been just about affordable. My lupus-like skin condition was just too distractingly painful at the time to focus on anything else. A shame as it would have been ideal, and the west-facing wall would have been ideal for peaches and the more frail continental pear cultivars.<br /><br />Third resolution is to get an order for graftwood into Brogdale before the end of January deadline, something didn't get round to in 2011 or 2010. The aim is to try to extend the pear season by a month at each end (into July and March-May). Also to try more late-season apples as we really appreciate having our own late varieties at what is quite a bleak time for nice fruit, the empty months between winter and late spring. Hopefully this at least will work out.<br /><br />For anyone wanting to acquire graftwood from the <a href="http://www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/">National Fruit Collection</a>, here are the contact details:<br />Farm Advisory Services Team Ltd<br />Crop Technology Centre<br />Brogdale Farm, Brogdale Road<br />Faversham, Kent ME13 8XZ<br /><br />t: 01795 533225 f: 01795 532422<br /><br />e: info@fastltd.co.uk<br /><br />Have also found a new supplier of rootstocks, <a href="http://www.blackmoor.co.uk/index.php?cPath=320">Blackmoor Nurseries</a> based in Hampshire. I emailed <a href="http://www.frankpmatthews.com/">Frank Matthews</a> (who would probably do a rather better deal with trade prices for a large order) but they haven't replied.pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-66417357226302950852011-12-10T21:41:00.005+00:002011-12-10T22:23:58.843+00:00Medlar JellyJust been making medlar jelly, having cooked, strained and filtered all my fruit in several batches. The fruit was well bletted, so I doubt that there was enough pectin left in the fruit to make a good set, so resorted to using a little pectin just to make sure. If making a butter (just pushed through a sieve, rather than a jelly bag, probably no need to add any pectin, as the thickness of the fruit pulp gives enough body to the paste<br /><br />Medlars (as many as you have as they don't make a great quantity of jelly)<br />Stick of cinnamon (if liked)<br />small orange<br />2 lemons<br />pectin<br />Sugar<br /><br />Add boiling water to medlars, just enough to cover them. Add a small orange, cut into halves or quarters and a stick of cinnamon. Bring to boil, then turn down the heat and cook for another 40 minutes.<br />Strain the pulp through a coarse sieve into another pan. You can boil up the remaining coarse pulp again if required, especially if you don't have a great quantity of fruit. Take the strained pulp and strain again using a jelly bag, leaving it overnight.<br /><br />Measure the filtered liquor and add 700g sugar per litre. Squeeze the two lemons, and strain the juice through a tea strainer. Add pectin and bring to a boil (we used one sachet to 2 litres of liquour). When you think it has reduced enough, test it by cooling a drop of jelly on a saucer. When the cooled jelly starts to develop a skin, it is nearly ready, but leave a little bit longer to achieve a good set. (Alternatively, use a jam thermometer to the setting indicated on the scale if not familiar with jam making). <br /><br />At the same time sterilise jars and lids in the oven until hot. Ladle jelly into jars, taking care to avoid any scum that inevitably forms during boiling. Fill as near the top of the jar as you can, and screw lids on tightly while jelly is still hot.<br /><br />The flavour is rather like quince, but more robust, with just a hint of tannin, enough to make it dual-purpose as a desert or meat accompaniment. We've found it quite hard to get completely clear jelly, even with a jelly bag some particles seem to get through.pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-76823217193920896412011-12-02T16:17:00.010+00:002011-12-03T18:27:07.098+00:00Medlars<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojqalC4KVyh8zYP4GZgM3nwzNwQpom_br0I5lNPe6OksyWU80wL9jf-WPqsktnPcVyB600V335sYXXftqbQ__exE_OkSzRth45DhY5YmctyYj7R1Tl9N5aixJOh9Nof8BG_CAKVqit6wU/s1600/medlars_crop.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 325px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojqalC4KVyh8zYP4GZgM3nwzNwQpom_br0I5lNPe6OksyWU80wL9jf-WPqsktnPcVyB600V335sYXXftqbQ__exE_OkSzRth45DhY5YmctyYj7R1Tl9N5aixJOh9Nof8BG_CAKVqit6wU/s400/medlars_crop.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681970373332522946" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkL_T306s9g0-0QVd5WMCkbAJBW_HbqsxjpUF4SMAzTFW88RaAilwKbeK0SEIONI4ziquQaeodzj3RyHTjSg0XNuGEz8KmeYm3ijYJt3a64-dZiQEpzDfTIFlCMcQ6GmqIAQJOllcGxuw/s1600/medlar1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkL_T306s9g0-0QVd5WMCkbAJBW_HbqsxjpUF4SMAzTFW88RaAilwKbeK0SEIONI4ziquQaeodzj3RyHTjSg0XNuGEz8KmeYm3ijYJt3a64-dZiQEpzDfTIFlCMcQ6GmqIAQJOllcGxuw/s400/medlar1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681970367302010434" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is the first time we've ever just sat down and eaten medlars as desert properly. Crops up to this point have either been so small we've just jammed them before fully ripe; the last couple of years I haven't picked any due to illness, which always seems to strike this time of year. I have casually snacked on them, but usually with my mind on other things. The box of hard fruit I picked last week had all 'bletted' in that time, and were completely soft and brown.<br /><br />They really do taste very good. I know that they really defy description, but the nearest thing in flavour and texture is a fresh date (the very soft Iranian kind, rather than the dried variety, which are much sweeter). We eat them with Bamm dates and Brown Turkey figs, and the flavours went very well together. They have a taste of their own, with a slightly winey quality. They are slightly annoying to eat, they cant really be picked apart with cutlery, so the soft contents have to be sucked out, along with the 3-4 enormous stones.<br /><br />I don't know what the size of crop was in weight, but it filled two fruit boxes. <br /><br />The variety I grow is <a href="http://www.keepers-nursery.co.uk/product.aspx?id=NOTTIN">Nottingham</a>; which isn't credited with having a good flavour in many books, but looking at the descriptions of the few available varieties at Keepers Nursery, Hamid Habibi considers it to have a good flavour, though prone to cracking (which I've never had a problem with); I would agree that they have a very short shelf-life once they begin to ripen, but then there's probably a limit to how many you want to eat fresh once the novelty has worn off. They do however make a very nice fruit butter (esp. with a little added cinnamon) and a good base jam for adding to deserts like pear frangipane or Bakewell tarts. I recently came across a recipe for medlar tarte, made with butter and egg yolks added to Medlar butter.<br /><br />The only other thing is that the foliage of Nottingham is rather small and narrow, so the trees lack the grandeur of the Dutch kind, which have large leaves and a nice habit. Still a very attractive small tree, with excellent buttery autumn foliage colour which lasts longer than most.pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-752757825688414142011-11-26T21:14:00.028+00:002011-12-03T18:15:42.386+00:00Low-fat Christmas pudding and mincemeat<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFAKVEoOqC3JKn5o4Pk_toFFkMjch3WU0j7ARmzrJvUvD-MhyphenhyphenoIcdn6-XHcibDofZf8_26T-kGIW0w2vtkEhBJpbKiRhr4Y4FJ4zSzobn-NZKFd0Dgwyyp43KvkF5UFT4VfZuh9xrgF8ba/s1600/xmaspudding.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 341px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFAKVEoOqC3JKn5o4Pk_toFFkMjch3WU0j7ARmzrJvUvD-MhyphenhyphenoIcdn6-XHcibDofZf8_26T-kGIW0w2vtkEhBJpbKiRhr4Y4FJ4zSzobn-NZKFd0Dgwyyp43KvkF5UFT4VfZuh9xrgF8ba/s400/xmaspudding.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679427963123758290" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Not really orchard fruit-related, but today I have been making Christmas Pudding and mincemeat. I thought I'd share the recipe, my own which I've developed over the years for various relatives who cannot tolerate excessive saturated fats for medical or health reasons. The feedback has always been very good, even from some who profess not to like christmas pudding, so I thought I'd share.<br /><br />The most important thing in making any Christmas recipes is the quality of the dried fruit. Don't buy the packs of 'luxury' mixed fruit, regardless of origin. The fruit is often slightly rancid, I don't know why but it must be something to do with the nature of the mix. It always has an acidic, almost pear-drops taste and smell. The mixture is also much too fine. I like a variety of sizes to be able to taste a little of each individual fruit in a pudding, plus it gives it a more open and interesting texture, very different from the denseness of a shop-bought one. Look carefully at the fruit; if it has a whitish coating then it has been in store too long and may taste rancid. Always use freshly-bought fruit, don't be tempted to use up anything left over from last year.<br /><br />I've never liked adding suet to puddings, it just makes them stodgy and indigestible and highly saturated fat isn't good for any of us. I used to used a little butter to add moistness and help binding, but for a number of years now I've been using dark chocolate as a fat-substitute. The flavour blends well with the spices, and gives a certain darkness of flavour without the burnt flavour. It may sound odd, but it does work well.<br /><br />This is my usual choice of fruit. You can alter it to your own taste, but this is the mixture I use. When all mixed, I then use half the mixture for mincemeat (makes about 2 1/2 lb) and what is left for the puddings. For puddings alone, half the quantities.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Base Mixture</span><br />750g currants<br />375g pack of Lexia raisins<br />200g Californian Giant raisins<br />200g long white sultanas (most Asian/Lebanese shops will have these)<br />Half a tub of whole candied peel (2 lemon, 2 orange, 2 citron), chopped to about 1-2 cm<br />About a cupful of crystalised ginger (more or less as liked), chopped<br />Half a tub of un-coloured glacé cherries (chopped in half)<br />Rind of one orange, lightly peeled off with minimal pith and chopped<br />Juice of one orange<br /><br />Soak this mixture in brandy (or other alcohol of choice) for a few days, stirring occasionally. If the fluid has completely disappeared, add a little more to aid mixing.<br /><br />Add the following spices to mixture:<br />2 tablespoons cinnamon<br />Up to half of a whole nutmeg, grated<br />1-2 teaspoons of ground cloves (depending on freshness; too much clove flavour will taste rather medicinal)<br />Couple of shakes of ground ginger<br /><br />Divid the mixture into two, and set pudding half aside.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Suet-free Mincemeat</span><br />Soaked fruit mixture<br />Juice of 2-3 lemons<br />2 hard, acid apples (granny smith will do if you don't grown anything suitable), chopped finely<br />2 large pieces (1/4 bar) of bitter chocolate 70-80% cocoa solids (Lidl's do a very good one), grated<br />3 tablespoons of Muscovado sugar (or a bit more to taste)<br />Brandy<br /><br />Mix all of the above together, adding a little brandy if it seems to dry. Sterilise several half-pound jars/lids, then fill with the mixture, packing it in quite hard all the way to avoid air bubbles. Fill right up to the top, then pour in a little brandy to fill up any gaps. Best used as soon as possible, though I usually end up using the last of it up months later and haven't died yet...<br /><br />The chocolate can be omitted for people who cannot tolerate any fats at all, e.g. those with gallstone problems.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">For the suet-free pudding</span><br /><br />Soaked fruit mixture<br />3 large slices of good-quality, bread<br />4 pieces of chocolate (half a bar), grated<br />Tbsp Marmalade <br />100g ground almonds<br />3 tablespoons muscovado sugar<br />3 tablespoons self-raising flout<br />1 tsp cinnamon<br />1 tsp ginger<br />3 bantam eggs (or 2 hen's)<br /><br />Put the bread in a cool oven (about 100 degrees) for about 30 minutes, then leave to dry out completely overnight. Crumble into crumbs (either with a mortar and pestle if it's turned to french toast, or in a blender)<br />Add spices, chocolate and sugar gradually and mix together well. The point of this is that if any of the batter ends up in a lump, it won't taste insipid.<br /><br />Add to soaked fruit mixture, and mix well, adding marmalade if liked. Depending on how wet or dry it seems, add almonds (more if too wet, less if too dry). It should be very crumbly at this stage. <br /><br />Whisk the 2 eggs, and stir gradually into the mixture. Again assess how wet or dry, and sift in flour to adjust texture. It shouldn't be either too stiff, too crumbly, or too soggy. <br /><br />Spoon into greased enamel basins, either one big and one small or 3 small ones (I've just filled one 12 cm and one 16 cm from my mixture). Cover the tops with foil, and place in individual saucepans, or both in a pressure cooker if you have one. Boil for 2-3 hours depending on size, topping up boiling water every half-hour or so (or about 1 hour in a pressure cooker). I don't like the taste of over-caramelised puddings, with a burnt flavour, boiled for 5 or 6 hours, for me it spoils the essential fruitiness of the pudding. Avoid distractions, as it will be a disaster if you forget and let them boil dry. Never be tempted to cook a Christmas pudding in a microwave, the high-sugar content will mean it will overheat in the middle and may catch fire ( I know as my husband tried this once and it did. I've heard other people confess to the same).<br /><br />On removing, you can top up the basins with brandy if required. I use enamel basins because we have lots, and I like them, but also because the aluminium ones tend to oxidise after a while, which puts me off using them. Glass and ceramic aren't so good as the heat exchange is poor, so they take longer to cook.<br /><br />For a 100% fat-free pudding, you can omit the chocolate and nuts. For a gluten free Christmas pudding, perhaps use something like <a href="http://www.healthysupplies.co.uk/chestnut-flour.html">Chestnut Flour</a> in place of the breadcrumbs/flour, something I might try myself next year just as an experiment.pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870739873898529144.post-65999654984252944902011-11-26T20:55:00.009+00:002011-11-26T22:43:52.013+00:00Unidentified 'wrong' variety<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-cx_2-Srj7sD8IADkE1YEDa0Ml9wT6VgRzc3Spchg9T_n9lcznlQ48x2FM_CLpXBUYSz39PwF2WD2Sq0EhU5Tk0fsXljxAbbo-FUrxyGvNoRbHHcB-adKU8rVsLLtcAwiPeZ1Q1jpHVg/s1600/warmington_apples.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 255px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-cx_2-Srj7sD8IADkE1YEDa0Ml9wT6VgRzc3Spchg9T_n9lcznlQ48x2FM_CLpXBUYSz39PwF2WD2Sq0EhU5Tk0fsXljxAbbo-FUrxyGvNoRbHHcB-adKU8rVsLLtcAwiPeZ1Q1jpHVg/s400/warmington_apples.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679411121366862002" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Well the day arrived when the mystery apples finally started to turn a little yellow and less bullet-hard than they had been. They came from graft wood sold to me as <a href="http://www.keepers-nursery.co.uk/product.aspx?id=ARDCAR">Ard Cairn Russet</a>, a very sweet, slightly dry russet. Clearly the striped red fruit are just about as different a variety as you could get.<br /><br />The flavour was pure bitterness. We peeled the second one, in case the bitterness was mainly in the skin (as can happen with a lot of red apples, esp. if poorly ripened) but the taste was equally disgusting. The only explanation for this is that it must be some sort of cider variety, probably a bitter-sweet, as there was very little acid in the flavour. The nearest for appearance is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxwhelp">Foxwhelp</a>, although this is a bitter-sharp. I suppose we will never know, especially as the dreadful Deacon's Nursery who supplied the wood have refused all communication on the matter of all these wrongly-supplied varieties.<br /><br />Meanwhile, my in-laws now have a sizeable, heavily bearing tree of entirely inedible apples. If it's not biennial bearing, I'll try making cider from them next year.<br /><br />Looking for identification guides for ciders reminded me to go to the excellent <a href="http://www.gloucestershireorchardgroup.org.uk/">Gloucestershire Orchard Group</a>, which has an excellent directory of cultivars local to the area, as well as a lot of other information.pomonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343927600160724804noreply@blogger.com0