oxfordpomona

3rd National Scionwood swap day - Stowe nr Buckingham

2012-01-25T11:04:00.001Z

3rd National Scionwood swap day 2pm- 5pm where you will be able to swap your scion wood or buy pieces for only a £1
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.

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.uk

Expensive morning

2012-01-24T13:04:00.002Z

Finally 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.

Pruning - Josephine de Malines

2012-01-24T12:15:00.003Z

This 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.

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.

Pruning - cordons

2012-01-24T11:44:00.004Z

Pruning 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.

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).

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.

New variety promotion - some further information

2012-01-20T12:58:00.002Z

I posted a query 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, Christmas Pippin.

Roast Quinces with Mallard

2012-01-17T16:17:00.004Z

Tried out the afore-mentioned roast quince recipe 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!).

Good reference book - The American Fruit culturist by John Thomas

2012-01-17T16:01:00.002Z

Just 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

The American Fruit Culturist - Select List of Fruits

New Year - January fruit and some resolutions

2012-01-15T12:54:00.010Z

A 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 Glou Morceau, half way through our box of Josephine de Malines and had the first Santa Claus, 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 Rosemary Russet (mainly due to running out as they keep until March), and still have a few Golden Russet 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.

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.

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.

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.

For anyone wanting to acquire graftwood from the National Fruit Collection, here are the contact details:
Farm Advisory Services Team Ltd
Crop Technology Centre
Brogdale Farm, Brogdale Road
Faversham, Kent ME13 8XZ

t: 01795 533225 f: 01795 532422

e: info@fastltd.co.uk

Have also found a new supplier of rootstocks, Blackmoor Nurseries based in Hampshire. I emailed Frank Matthews (who would probably do a rather better deal with trade prices for a large order) but they haven't replied.

Medlar Jelly

2011-12-10T21:41:00.005Z

Just 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

Medlars (as many as you have as they don't make a great quantity of jelly)
Stick of cinnamon (if liked)
small orange
2 lemons
pectin
Sugar

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.
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.

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).

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.

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.

Medlars

2011-12-02T16:17:00.010Z

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.

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.

I don't know what the size of crop was in weight, but it filled two fruit boxes.

The variety I grow is Nottingham; 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.

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.

Low-fat Christmas pudding and mincemeat

2011-11-26T21:14:00.028Z

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.

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.

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.

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.

Base Mixture
750g currants
375g pack of Lexia raisins
200g Californian Giant raisins
200g long white sultanas (most Asian/Lebanese shops will have these)
Half a tub of whole candied peel (2 lemon, 2 orange, 2 citron), chopped to about 1-2 cm
About a cupful of crystalised ginger (more or less as liked), chopped
Half a tub of un-coloured glacé cherries (chopped in half)
Rind of one orange, lightly peeled off with minimal pith and chopped
Juice of one orange

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.

Add the following spices to mixture:
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Up to half of a whole nutmeg, grated
1-2 teaspoons of ground cloves (depending on freshness; too much clove flavour will taste rather medicinal)
Couple of shakes of ground ginger

Divid the mixture into two, and set pudding half aside.

Suet-free Mincemeat
Soaked fruit mixture
Juice of 2-3 lemons
2 hard, acid apples (granny smith will do if you don't grown anything suitable), chopped finely
2 large pieces (1/4 bar) of bitter chocolate 70-80% cocoa solids (Lidl's do a very good one), grated
3 tablespoons of Muscovado sugar (or a bit more to taste)
Brandy

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...

The chocolate can be omitted for people who cannot tolerate any fats at all, e.g. those with gallstone problems.

For the suet-free pudding

Soaked fruit mixture
3 large slices of good-quality, bread
4 pieces of chocolate (half a bar), grated
Tbsp Marmalade
100g ground almonds
3 tablespoons muscovado sugar
3 tablespoons self-raising flout
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
3 bantam eggs (or 2 hen's)

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)
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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

For a 100% fat-free pudding, you can omit the chocolate and nuts. For a gluten free Christmas pudding, perhaps use something like Chestnut Flour in place of the breadcrumbs/flour, something I might try myself next year just as an experiment.

Unidentified 'wrong' variety

2011-11-26T20:55:00.009Z

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 Ard Cairn Russet, a very sweet, slightly dry russet. Clearly the striped red fruit are just about as different a variety as you could get.

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 Foxwhelp, 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.

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.

Looking for identification guides for ciders reminded me to go to the excellent Gloucestershire Orchard Group, which has an excellent directory of cultivars local to the area, as well as a lot of other information.

Wolvercote Wonder

2011-11-15T18:21:00.002Z

I counted the number of this fruit on a metre of cordon, it came to 30, all medium-to large and unblemished. I've picked the reddest and shiniest, leaving about 10 that look less ripe.

Tried one which had ripened prematurely due to squirrel damage. Flavour and texture pretty much a generic red summer apple, soft sweet with a slight perfume. I think these will need to be used quickly, will be best on the cusp of ripeness while there is still some crispness and a little more acidity.

Medlars

2011-11-15T18:18:00.002Z

Medlar tree has gone butter yellow and looks lovely. Medlars still firmly attached and hard, will leave them a while longer before turning into jelly.

Winter Nellis, evaluation

2011-11-15T17:59:00.004Z

The very good crop Winter Nellis have all ripened quite rapidly, it's been hard work keeping up with them. The first couple tasted horrid for some reason, bitter and slightly tannic. I don't know why as the rest have been very good. They need peeling as it is one of those varieties inclined to bitterness of the skin, but the flesh is soft, sweet and juicy with a musky flavour; there is usually some tinge of bitterness but just enough to add compexity. What I'd describe as a 'fondante' variety, soft and sweet, when you almost forget you are eating pear and not a sugared sweet.

Golden Russet

2011-11-15T17:50:00.002Z

I have a new favourite apple. This is the first year that this cordon has fruited, but it has been worth the wait. Superb flavour; crisp, juicy sweet, with a light Egremont flavour. Fruit size is larger, quality good. I imagine they will be good keepers, if we can stop ourselves eating them all. The only problem is that this variety spurs very, very sparsely, and not at all on upward facing branches. Basically, it isn't simply isn't happy as a cordon, it needs to be grown as a bush or standard to accommodate enough of the sparse wood to produce a decent crop. And basically, I need to find more land to grow varieties like this in greater quantity, and to ensure a supply of home-grown apples through until March/April.

History of pears

2011-11-02T21:39:00.007Z

Interesting few paragraphs on the history of pears:

About 1730, pear breeding, for which Belgian religious establishments and curés were to become famous, started with the work of Fr Nicolas Hardenport, priest of his native town of Mons. In that year he made an extensive sowing of pear seeds, with the hope of raising better varieties. Now, patience is a prime requisite for those who would raise fruit from the seeds; especially does one who works with pears have to be patient. The old jingle runs: He who plants pears Plants for his heirs.

 The worthy curé possessed this virtue to a superlative degree—he waited thirty years before he was satisfied with the varieties that came from his seed bed. From that time on, for a dozen years, he introduced each year one new kind. Among those attributed to him are Glou Morceau and Passe Colmar—two types still grown to-day. His new pears were a genuine contribution to the world's fine fruits; but even greater was Fr Hardenport's contribution, in that it stimulated the raising of pears in Belgium.

Thereafter, quite a number of the Belgian clergy took up the same pursuit. When the order of Urbanistes was suppressed, in 1783, their garden was abandoned. In it were found several new pears, results of their hybridizations. One that is still grown is called the Urbaniste, in their memory. In 1809, Abbé Dequesne of Mons launched the pear Marie Louise, a variety still grown; and about 1830, Mons. Deschamps, Abbé of the Orphan Hospital at Enghien, raised the famous pear, Beurre d'Arenberg.

 In time these new varieties found their way into the propagating beds of nurserymen, and thence into public and private gardens. Some of them travelled a rather fortuitous route. In England is grown a pear called "Vicar of Winkfield." This was first discovered at Vithers-en-Breune, in 1760, by a French curate who was blessed with an eye for good fruit. Later, it was introduced from this parish into England by another clergyman, the Rev. William Rahm, vicar of Winkfield in Berkshire.

from The Winter Diversions of a Gardener

by Richardson Wright

'Wolvercote Wonder' Apple

2011-11-02T12:51:00.007Z

Today I noticed a bird had pecked a hole in one of the apples on the wild-sown variety I've been trialling (referred to as the 'Wolvercote Wonder' by my other half, in homage to the Borsetshire Beauty). When the birds think fruit is edible, generally that's a sign that even if not ripe to human standards, the fruit needs picking.

I decided to trial this variety on the basis of a few over-ripe, but wonderfully colourful, large apples I found near the railway track about 3 or 4 years ago, a chance seedling from a core thrown from a train, as the land has been scrubby pasture as long as anyone can remember. My memory is that they were very promising, but memory can play tricks of course. This was the first year that my scion was large enough to flower, and the crop was profuse. I thinned them a little, but the fruit size seemed good, and they have all reached large-medium size, about the size of a Gala, and a wonderful deep pink with blue-ish bloom. The bloom started fading about 10 days ago, now they are a wonderful, glossy mid red, one of the most attractive apples I've seen. On a length of cordon of just over metre, there are 25+ fruits, all of good size.

The fruit isn't quite at peak ripeness, the non-blushed side is still green. First bite very crisp, almost to Granny Smith standards, with a densely fruity flavour like Gala. No complexity of aftertaste. Skin a little tough, better peeled, flesh a little chewy once the initial flavour rush has faded possibly just because they aren't fully ripe, but very promising so far. And perfect timing for us, as we have just about run out of other apples, the Rosemary Russet is not quite ready and can be kept until March anyway; November-December apples are just what we need.

Baked or roast quince

2011-10-31T21:30:00.012Z

I left a box of quinces outside the gate for anyone who cared to help themselves. Later we discovered who it was, when invited to house-warming drinks. Another neighbour thanked us for them, and said she'd used them all for making Nigel Slater's Roast Quince. I have to say I'm immediately suspicious of these sorts of recipes, usually fussy and over-complicated. I have to say all of these sound quite nice (unlike the hideous pear and chocolate crumble that features in Slater's Guardian column this week - what a hideous way to treat Comice pears).

This is our recipe, which differs a little.

4 quinces, peeled, quartered and cored

Large glass of quince wine (or other fragrant desert wine of your choice)

2 heaped tablespoons of brown sugar

1 tsp of powdered ginger and another of cinnamon

1. Poach quinces in sweetened wine for half an hour, or until slightly soft (we put them in the microwave for 10 minutes, turning them in the bowl occasionally.

2. Transfer to a roasting dish, reserving the fluid,

3. Add the fluid to the brown sugar and spice, stir to dissolve (over heat if necessary)

4. Spoon this syrup over the fruit and place in oven pre-heated to 170 C

3. Bake for 40 minutes, turning and basting occasionally with the syrup, until very soft and tender (we turned down the oven to 120 C and left it for a bit longer).

The result is quite unlike anything you will have tasted, the same concentrated quince flavour as Membrillo but with the a unique texture; the caramelised crust reveals a rather chewy coarse, granular, centre with just a hint of the astringency of the raw fruit.

Two more unidentified varieties

2011-10-30T19:53:00.008Z

Some unidentified apples from my in-law's garden. The apple was supposed to be an Ard Cairn Russet, this tree was the first apple I grafted, from wood bought from the dreadful fruit nursery Deacon's. The tree is about 10 year old now, and this is the first year it has had a heavy crop to evaluate. I'd already had several other trees and graft wood varieties bought from Deacon's turn out to be completely wrong, here is another one to add to the list. The fruits are medium-sized, very hard and greasy, obviously a very late variety. My father-in-law picked them all far too early (he has early stage dementia so can't really be reasoned with) so they may shrivel before they ripen properly.

I've been going through the catalogues, can't find anything that is a particularly good match for appearance/lateness, Winter Pearmain comes the closest, (based on description in Joan Morgan's The Book of Apples).

The other one is from the enormous and ancient pear tree growing on the wall of my in-law's 17th century farmhouse. It only started to produce fruit a few years ago, after I gave them a Conference to see if a pollination partner would induce it to produce fruit. This worked, and some steady work on pruning the monster has gradually brought it back into producing healthy fruit (rather than scabby little things of the first few years).

The tree is probably at least 70 years old, probably older. It's grafted on to Pyrus communis stock. I have read that can have a negative effect on fruit flavour/quality, but without grafting some onto a quince stock, I can't really make a comparison.

The fruit is loosely pyriform, sometimes highly irregular. It has a slightly musky flavour, and a slightly bitter flavour permeates the flesh as well as the skin. Some of the qualities remind me of Gorham, but the season is far too late, they are rock hard through most of October, just beginning to soften now. The descriptions sound like Vicar of Winkfield but it's rather earlier and more highly russetted than the latter. I will have to get Bunyard out and go through all the old varieties again I think.

Pear foliage

2011-10-30T19:49:00.002Z

Foliage of Fondante d'Automne

Sloe gin

2011-10-24T21:50:00.007+01:00

Came across a good patch of blackthorn with a good number of sloes, quite a rarity around here. Having seen branches drooping with ones in south Gloucestershire a few weeks back, at a time when we couldn't stop, I was glad of the find. There are lots of blackthorn bushes in the area, but they crop very lightly or, more often, not at all. I think the free-draining gravel soil means that there is little lime available, which stops the kernel forming properly in stone fruit.

I managed to pick about a kilo before the dogs got too bored, more than I needed for the nearly full bottle of gin that has been on the shelf for rather too long now.

Most recipes seem to agree on 1 lb of sloes to 75ml bottle of gin. I prefer to infuse the fruit without sugar, adding after the liquid has been decanted around Christmas time. I don't bother to prick or freeze the fruit, they were very squashy and the cell walls will break down with time.

Here's the recipe written properly

450 g (1 lb) sloes

75 ml gin or vodka (cheapest possible)

300-400g (12-14 oz) sugar

1. Rinse a clean demi-john with campden tablets.

2. Add fruit, sugar and gin, fasten down with a solid bung.

3. Leave for three months, checking and giving a shake once a week or so.

4. Drain fluid into clean demi-john. Taste and add more sugar if necessary, and leave to dissolve for a few days. Decant into a sterilised bottle.

Medlar wine

2011-10-23T20:50:00.013+01:00

I've been meaning to try this for a few years but have never quite gotten round to it. The recipe is loosely based on my quince wine recipe, but with additional spices and some dried fruit to give it body, should the medlar flavour not quite be as mellow as expected.

2 kg (4.5 lb) medlars

enough boiling water to cover

100g sultanas

half orange, including peel

A generous knob of root ginger (2" approx)

half a stick of cinnamon

600g (1.5 lb) caster sugar

250 g (.5lb) muscovado sugar

Desert wine yeast (I'm trying sherry)

2 tsps of pectolase

1. Pick over medlars discarding any loose matter around calyx.

2. Place fruit and spice in stainless steel pan and cover with enough boiling water to cover fruit. Bring to boil and then remove from heat. Leave fruit infusion to steep for a few hours.

3. Strain off liquid through a coarse sieve into another steel vessel. Add sugar and bring to boil. Leave to cool, until luke-warm.

4. Pour more boiling water over the fruit in the first pan, and bring to the boil again. This will be used to top up the volume in the demi-john as required.

5. Make up some sterilising fluid using campden tablets, and rinse a clean demi-john, bung, funnel, fine sieve and airlock in preparation for the cooled medlar infusion.

6. Pour infusion/sugar syrup mixture into the sterilised demi-john, using a finer sieve inside a large funnel to catch any smaller bits of fruit. Remove sieve, leaving funnel. Open yeast sachet and sprinkle about half into bottom of funnel, then do the same with pectolase. Then flush the powder through as you top up the demi-john to just over 3/4 full using spare medlar infusion (or orange juice if preferred). Swirl around a couple of times to make sure the yeast/pectolase is well mixed.

7. Rinse airlock/bung in campden solution again (I like to use campden solution in the airlock) then twist into neck of demi-john as firmly as you can.

8. Place overnight in bowl in sink, or unless you have some idea how vigorous the fermentation may be (it can vary quite a bit, but generally wines with high acid/tannin content seem to be the most likely to 'boil over').

9. Place in cool, dark place for a few weeks until fermentation has ceased, keeping airlock topped up. Once you are sure it has finished, it can be decanted into a clean demi-john and aged for a few more months before bottling.

Not sure what this will be like, having never tried it before. I used firm, un-bletted medlars as an experiment but would be better/safer to use fully-ripened ones. The infusion tasted quite light, spicy and pleasant, but with a highly tannic after taste, probably because the fruit wasn't ripe eonght. I think I'll leave the rest of the crop 'ripen' a bit more before making jelly or a further batch of wine. I'm hoping for something more akin to a sweet sherry-type wine, with a rich colour and flavour. Time will tell.

Pear and Ginger Upside-down cake

2011-10-20T21:52:00.009+01:00

This is a variation on the Eve's pudding recipe which makes a very attractive cake.

100g butter

100 g vanilla sugar

50g self-raising flour

100g ground almonds

2 bantam eggs (or one large egg)

2 tsp cinnamon

1tsp powdered ginger

half tsp salt

crystallised ginger

1 large, ripe pear (or 2 small pears)

Quince or apricot jam

1. Cream butter and sugar to a soft paste.

2. Beat eggs, and whisk gradually into butter/sugar.

3.Add salt and spices to flour and mix together. Add ground almonds and mix well, breaking up any lumps of almond.

4. Gradually introduce flour/almond mixture into the batter, and fold in until well mixed.

5. Chop up 5 or 6 cubes of crystallised ginger into small pieces and add to mixture.

6. Take a non-stick cake tin, and grease well. Half and core the pear(s), then chop into slices. Arrange these to make an attractive pattern in the tin. Arrange cubes of crystallised ginger to fill in any gaps. Spoon on the cake batter, making sure that it fills all the gaps between the fruit, without disturbing them. Try to get it so that it is fairly level across the tin, so that it cooks evenly.

7. Pre-head oven to 170° C. Place in oven and check after 20 minutes. If the top is looking browned, cover with foil and reduce the heat to 130° C.

8. After 10 minutes, try the knife test to see how well it's doing, and if it is not ready, return it to the oven and continue checking at 5 minute intervals until it is cooked through.

9. When done, remove from oven. If the top has 'caught' in places, these can be sliced off with a knife, and any bumps levelled out so that it will sit evenly when inverted. Next place a plate or board over the tin, and turn it over. Measure 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of jam into a mug or old jam jar, and melt in microwave. Pour jam on top of cake, and spread out gently to glaze.

Approximately 345 calories a slice, when divided into 6.

Last pear picking

2011-10-20T21:49:00.003+01:00

Decided to pick all the remaining pears today, to avoid potential damage from elements, and the last persistent squirrel. Will keep the Winter Nellis in open boxes, as they will ripen gradually from now, but might wrap the Josephine de Malines and Santa Claus in paper to try to prevent too much shrivelling in store, as these can take quite a while to start ripening.

Autumn colours

2011-10-11T22:15:00.001+01:00

Scabby leaves of pear, Santa Claus and strawberry leaves.

Grenadier

2011-10-11T22:11:00.003+01:00

The 2 boxes of Grenadier windfalls are coming to the end of their useful life. At this stage, they are quite palatable for desert use, flavour is full and fruity, though the texture is a bit crumbly. A shame that we inherited a tree that comes at just the wrong time for us.

Pitmaston Duchess

2011-10-11T22:04:00.005+01:00

This is the first time this variety has produced fruit, and it has come as a bit of a disappointment. I picked the three fruit, one of which was very large, the size of a Swan's egg, as soon as there was the slightest hint of yellow on one. I left them for 2 days in store, then notice that one had virtually liquefied in that time. We ate the other, which was nothing to write home about. Hopefully I've caught the last one in time, but I can't say I'm impressed. Comice is a similar size, and a much better flavour for both cooking and desert. I grafted 2 maidens originally, both have been very weak growing, susceptible to canker (one succumbed), so it doesn't score well on any count (plus it's a triploid, so not a good choice if you only have one other pear variety for pollination). The tree is only about 4 feet high, so I think I will 'top' it with a more vigorous variety, that might benefit from a weaker-growing interscion.

Santa Claus

2011-10-05T14:08:00.009+01:00

I've been assuming the damage on my Santa Claus was due to scab, as (unlike what is says in the catalogues) I find the leaves and shoots very susceptible. This only happens to the ones in my back garden, the front tree (part of an arch) never has this problem on the fruit even though the rest of the tree is scabby. I think I'll pick them soon, they are still very hard at this stage and take a time to ripen but I don't want leave them too long and find they rot from the core (cropping has been light so far so I haven't had much practice with them).

Apple cordons

2011-10-05T13:48:00.006+01:00

I think I'm close to admitting defeat on some of my apple cordons. All of my pear cordons are easy to prune and more or less prolific, but some of my apples are really a waste of space. I was advised that M26 is the best rootstock for apples, but I think it is far to vigorous, M27 is a much better stock for supported forms. M26 is a pretty useless stock all round, as it's far to weak and spindly to use as a half-standard form, it needs permanent staking and the branches simply can't support and weight of fruit and are prone to breaking.

Some varieties of apple are fine on cordons, ones that spur freely with compact growth (Sunset is the best in this respect). Most apples are too vigorous and the pruning required to keep a trained form manageable just encourages yet more top growth. With the exception of just a few, most apples fare best with only light pruning to shape.

The more vigorous of my M26 cordons make shoots growth in excess of 3 feet which is just a bit too thick to prune with secateurs; using a lopper results in ugly wounds, and personally I dislike having to resort to a pruning saw. It's a sign that something isn't working.

I will give them one last chance and ringbark the worst offenders next Spring, but I will also graft up some M27 versions of these trees and either make a new cordon, or grow them as bushes now that I have some more space (or both). If ring-barking doesn't work, I think I'll take them out and plant pears in their place.

Golden Russet

2011-10-05T13:42:00.005+01:00

This is the first time since this cordon was planted, about 12 year ago, that his variety has produced fruit. It has very sparse growth, with few spurs, and this branch has only come into cropping because it has been bent down in a W rather than a V -shaped cordon. I'm looking forward to trying it as I could do with a late Season russet, as I don't find the Rosemary russets keep their flavour well past Christmas. Looks like roughly a kilo ofunblemished fruit. But as a cordon, it is a disaster, as it it's neighbour Egremont Russet. Both far to vigourous and shy to spur.

Summer pruning!

2011-10-04T17:32:00.002+01:00

Made a start on so-called summer pruning, starting with Winter Nellis. I like to prune extension growth away at this time of year as it lets more sunlight in and means fewer leaves end up falling around the trees. Summer pruning should never be done until terminal buds have formed, signalling extension growth is finished for the year, so can be pruned back to the fruiting spurs, apart from long growth required for training in or as graft wood next year. The prunings will go straight on the bonfire.

Sunset - review

2011-10-04T17:28:00.005+01:00

The real 'star' of this season has been our crop of Sunset, which have ripened superbly well. I'm really impressed by the quality of the fruit, crisp, sweet and aromatic. They seem to have coloured rather more than in previous years, perhaps this explains the lovely flavour. It's sometimes described as a Cox 'substitute' as it is very easy to grow and prolific. This isn't really fair as it's a different kind of apple, juicier and sweeter, but equally good and very heavy cropping. I'll be sad when they are over.

I don't know why I haven't recorded the crop weight of Sunset before, it always produced well, I'd estimate between 3 and 5 kgs

Red Comice - review

2011-10-04T17:25:00.003+01:00

I think I've been a bit disparaging about Red Comice as a desert pear in the past, so I'm prepared to eat my words. They are superb, the skins are thin and without bitterness, the flesh is like a normal Comice, but rather richer. I think I should have picked them a tad earlier, as some are going a little floury and soft in the middle, but still superb.

Winter Nellis - crop

2011-10-04T17:23:00.003+01:00

Excellent crop of 5 kg this year. Although classed as a very late pear, I find they start to ripen quite quickly when picked, unlike the other late pears which do keep well into the New Year.

Composting

2011-09-23T11:09:00.007+01:00

I'm probably not the only person with a number of mouldy windfalls this time of year, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on what to do with them.

First, leaving them to rot on the ground isn't a terribly good idea. Although it's nice to leave the odd windfall for the birds, it's horrible having a hundredweight of rotting fruit lying around. Fruit can rot anaerobically and produce botulinum toxin which can be fatal for any poultry or birds that ingest it; it can be very slippery to walk over and will attract wasps. If the fruit is affected by pest or diseases, then leaving the spores or larvae lying around just means you will get more of the problem next year.

Ideally any fruit that is diseased should either be burned (not always possible and a potential nuisance to neighbours) or otherwise responsibly disposed of. I put mine in the food waste bins provided by the council. It's virtually the only time we ever use this service, as most other food waste goes to chickens or dogs. Council composting facilities are much better than those that can be achieved at home; they either use large, sealed containers which can be rotated to get even composting at high temperatures, or anaerobically digested to produce electricity.

I really don't like putting large amounts of fruit on my compost heap. Many is the time I've come across a layer of vinegary slime in the middle of otherwise peat-like compost, from a mixture of fruit that just hasn't rotted properly even when chopped up and mixed with straw / manure. If you are going to compost a quantity of windfall fruit, I'd suggest first putting it through a garden shredder, then mixing thin layers in between damp straw to stop it becoming slimey.

Crop: Sucrée de Montluçon

2011-09-22T20:35:00.008+01:00

Just under 4 Kg from my super-productive little stepover this year. I left them on the tree as long as I could this year, and this is the first time they have ripened sufficiently (I usually end up using them under-ripe as cooking pears). Fully ripened they are slightly perfumed, soft, coarse and slightly granular but very sweet, nearer catalogue descriptions. Skins were quite tough and papery though. Ideally this variety needs a long season in addition to a warm location, and picking should be left as late as possible.

Crop: Glou Morceau

2011-09-22T20:30:00.003+01:00

A tidy 3 kg of these this year, from quite a young cordon, in about 4 year now I think. In previous years I've mostly cooked them as they stay quite hard for so long, but will let these ripen to evaluate them properly this year. A small late mid-season pear with fine texture.

Frass on Quince

2011-09-22T20:12:00.004+01:00

I noticed lots of insect frass on the calyces of a couple of quince this year. Quince are famous for having few pests or diseases, so I was a bit annoyed to find this as well as quite a lot of scab. However, on close inspection the damage is mainly on the exterior, extending only a little way into the fruit at the calyx end.

I'm not sure what did the damage, I couldn't find anything among the frass or inside, but I think whatever it was, it's an opportunist bug of some kind rather than a serious specific pest of quince. I'll need to keep an eye out for it, as even this small amount of external damage will rapidly turn to brown rot in store.

New Variety

2011-09-22T18:29:00.006+01:00

This is my new variety found in the field beyond the house growing near the railway track several years ago. The windfalls were pretty far gone, all very over-ripe but the appearance and taste seemed good, so I popped back a couple of months later and took a scion. Only a months later, the tree was destroyed as part of the A34 bridge replacement. It's taken several years for the grafted scion to produce fruit.

So far so good. The crop is heavy, a good size without too much thinning. The fruit extremely healthy and has attractive even pink flush all over, which should turn bright crimson later. It will be quite a late one, ready late Oct-Nov but not a long keeper if my memory serves me right. It will fill the gap between the mid-season varieties and the those that ripen in the New year. Fingers crossed it tastes as good as I remember!

I regularly look for self-sown apples along side roads and tracks. Most are healthy and vigorous and edible to some degree but usually have some flaw that lets them down (tough skin, lack of sweetness, lack of size etc), this is the first I've thought worth grafting to evaluate further.

Crop: Bishop's Thumb

2011-09-22T18:11:00.003+01:00

Had been picking an eating these without thinking, so I thought I'd weigh the last few and estimate the crop. We had at least a dozen on the half-grown arch in the front, so I think the crop was at least a Kg. I left some too long on the tree, which meant the odd one had gone brown from the core, but those that were just right had a magnificent 'fondante' quality, very sweet and soft. The flavour would have to be described as 'bittersweet', there is a hint of bitterness but it doesn't detract from the overall flavour. The texture is soft and rather coarse, the antithesis of a 'butter' pear but I find they make a nice contrast in a mixed pear platter.

Quince Jelly

2011-09-22T17:59:00.005+01:00

Nearly all the windfall Quinces bubbling away in a large pan. Recipe to follow.

Crop - Vranja

2011-09-22T17:48:00.002+01:00

A very heavy crop of Vranja. However, the quality was rather below par this year. As the set was very heavy, the average size was smaller than usual, but the northern side of the tree was very badly affected by brown spotting which I think must be pear scab (as the pears were also affected to a greater extent than usual). The black spots are mostly surface deep, but on a couple of fruits they do extend into the flesh with cracking of the exterior as in pear scab. I thing the peculiar season probably encouraged this (very high temperatures early on made for some very soft growth which couldn't withstand more humid conditions later on). However, I think I need to open up the centre of the tree to increase ventilation, as it has become horrible congested in the last couple of years.

Quince - Sobu

2011-09-22T17:26:00.004+01:00

This is my second half-standard quince tree, Turkish variety Sobu. The reason I added another quince variety despite having a large, productive tree of Vranja is that I hoped it would be of a higher quality, for cooking and exhibition. Certainly for the latter, the fruits are large, smooth skinned and a regular shape. The only problem is that they don't ripen on the tree, but stay green until they drop. I think in future I will need to pick in early September and bring inside to ripen/yellow in time for Autumn shows. The other slightly annoying thing is the amount of 'bloom', impossible to pick without damaging. However, it does 'polish' off very easily.

One of the probles with some quinces is that they remain very woody next to the core, which can be quite a large proportion of the fruit, so the best quality ones have a small core relative to flesh which makes preparing them before cooking much easier.

I cut one open, and it was quite easy. The core is small in relation to the flesh area. However, this one had bruised internally without showing any sign externally.

The tree has only been in about 3-4 year, so cropping is very light, half a dozen fruits of varying sizes.

Eve's Pudding

2011-09-19T13:24:00.010+01:00

As we've ended up with an old cooking apple on our new patch of land, I'm having to find new ways of using the crop up other than the default 'crumble'.

Eve's pudding isn't hugely different, the crumble portion of the dish is replaced by sponge.

This is my own adaption of the plain recipe.

Filling

5 or 6 medium apples (cookers or eaters to taste)

Muscovado sugar to sweeten

Quince Jelly

Topping

100g self-raising flour

100g golden caster sugar

100g butter

2-3 tablespoons cinnamon

2 eggs, beaten

Fan oven pre-heated to 180°C

1. Peel, core and quarter the apples, cook in microwave until softened. Drain excess fluid from the fruit. Place in large glass pudding basin and put to one side. The apples should fill about half of the dish.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar into a paste. Add the beaten eggs gradually, whisking gently into butter/sugar mixture. Add a little of the flour to avoid 'curdling' at first. Add the cinnamon to the flour, and sieve into the rest of the mixture, mixing it in gradually until you have a stiff paste.

3. Depending on how sweet or sour the apples are, add between 1-3 tablespoons of muscovado sugar to taste, and then another couple of tablespoons of Quince jelly, spreading over the apples. Spread the sponge mixture over the top and shape it so it covers the apple evenly.

4. Place in the oven, cook at 180°C for 15 minutes then turn the heat down to 150°C (to help stop the top burning) and cook for a further15 minutes. Remove from oven and test with knife, as you would a sponge to see if the mixture sticks to the metal.

This is the difficult bit as, unlike a sponge cake, there is a variable amount of moisture in the apples that makes the sponge layer rather gooey. The aim is to get the top crisp, the middle spongey and the bottom still slightly gooey (a glass basin will let you see what's going on). If the mixture still seems very wet just underneath the surface put back for another 15 minutes. The top can be covered with foil to stop the top burning.

This might seem like a fiddle, but it is worth the effort as the contrast between the crisp top and soft centre is wonderful. The jam/sugar mixture should have formed a thick caramel around the apple.

We used our Grenadier apples, which by this stage are actually a good sharp desert which keep their shape when cooked, ideal for this recipe.

Once the knack of getting the sponge right is mastered, I think this is a really good basic recipe that can be varied to suit other fruits.

Village Show - fruit categories

2011-09-19T13:19:00.001+01:00

Crop: Coe's Golden Drop

2011-09-13T18:41:00.003+01:00

My Coe's Golden Crop had a very good set this year, and looked to have a promising crop for once. But one by one, nearly every fruit has turned brown and either dropped or rotted on the tree. As the crop has been so small in previous years, I haven't really paid it the attention I should have, I probably assumed the rot was due to wasps nibbling the thin skin causing brown rot to set in. But this year I have religiously opened every spoiled fruit, and found every single one infested with plum moth. I'm slightly at a loss to know why the infestation is so severe; neither the wild plum nor the Denniston's is affected, and there aren't many plum trees in neighbouring gardens. I was left with about 7 unaffected plums from a 8 foot standard which had previously been over-loaded.

Not sure what to do, I'm not sure it's worth the bother of pheromone traps/spraying for one sparsely producing tree. The fruit is good, but not as outstandling a yellow plum as the catalogues suggests, and the few unaffected fruits ripen very unevenly, the area near the stalk shrivels whilst the other end is sometimes hard.

My husband's favourite plum is the Warwickshire Drooper that grow rather ferally in his parent's garden, as unusually this variety does very well on it's own roots. The flavour isn't as rich as Coe's, but large, sweet and juicy, skins are equal in terms of thickness/bitterness, but it very reliable, seemingly pretty immune to silverleaf and only mildly affected by moth. The drooping habit is attractive, and somewhat self-limiting re. height which is nice.

I know the poor soil here means that plums are very slow to come into production, maybe it's simply too poor for a fussy variety like Coe's. I'll give it one more chance.

Keepers Nursery Open Day

2011-09-13T13:53:00.002+01:00

I wish I was nearer, I'd love to go to an open day at Mr Habibi's orchard, sadly Kent just too far for us. Although I now graft all my own fruit these days, I have bought from Keeper's Nursery in the past, maidens trees have been a nice size and always come true, unlike those bought from another well-known fruit supplier (Deacon's). On the rare occasions I've asked for follow up advice it has been very good.

Pear or Apple?

2011-09-10T17:46:00.000+01:00

Russet pretending to be a pear.

Today's pickings

2011-09-10T17:42:00.003+01:00

Total 4 boxes. Smaller quanitities (1-2kg) of Ellison's Orange, Sunset and Egremont. Very disappointing yields from apple cordons. I need to do something to reduce vigour, I might start with root pruning.

Crop: Red Comice

2011-09-10T17:37:00.005+01:00

This is the first year when Comice has produced a full crop, very good quality with large fruits, total over 5kg, the largest few weighing in at about .5kg or 1lb each! These are my great hope for the village show next Sunday. I usually like to pick the night before, but the danger of damage from the mini-hurricane that is predicted tomorrow is too great. I hope they won't look too tired after a week in storage.

Crop: Worcester

2011-09-10T17:33:00.002+01:00

Worcesters, about 3kg from young half-stantard M26.

Crop: Comice

2011-09-10T17:30:00.005+01:00

A good quality crop of Comice, some nicely blushed from the (non-existant) sun. Moderate crop of 4kg. Box filled out with Glou Morceaux, probably about 2 kg worth (can't be bothered to measure small quantities on young trees).

Crop - Concorde

2011-09-10T17:27:00.004+01:00

Decided to pick as much mid-season fruit as possible today, as there ex-tropical storm Katja is on the way for tomorrow, and I don't want the crop wasted as windfalls. Crop was a good 5.5 kg.

Also picked kg of Conference.

Windfalls

2011-09-09T21:44:00.003+01:00

We had the first Autumn storm a few days ago, and with it a lot of windfalls, signalling that most of the remaining pears and some of the apples are ready for picking. I picked a box of Conference, most of the Glou Morceaux, Bishops Thumb, Beurré Hardy, also some Comice and Concorde. Elison's Orange and Egremont had started dropping, so picked all that parted easily, plus the Sunset's that had fallen. I had to pick all the Worcesters early too, as they started to drop.

Will have to give quite a bit away. I haven't tried to sell any more as the quality of both apples and pears simply isn't that good. The Worcesters taste metallic and rubbery, neither they nor the russets have that slightly honeyed quality you get with maximum sun ripening. I wondered about trying to leave them longer but there has been no sun in the interim since picking. So much for this being a good year for fruit. Certainly the extremely warm early conditions ensured a good set, but the quality is awful. Also the ripening period has been brought forward, meaning that mid-season cultivars are ripening along side earlier ones, with little succession.

Mulberries

2011-09-09T18:30:00.005+01:00

This is the first year that our King James Mulberry has had a useable crop. Although it started to crop from about it's second year, the crop has been light. This year there has been a steady number of rip fruits from late July. Through early August there were enough fully ripe, black fruit to snack on whilst gardening; in the third week of August there were enough to fill a small desert bowl to have with cream. However, even when refridgerated they keep very poorly. I picked a bowl one day; they were forgotten that evening, but I decided to eat them the next afternoon. They tasted a bit mildew - when I looked the ones at the bottom of the bowl were completely mouldy, with very obvious white mycelium fibres already covering the fruit.

By the last weekend in August, black fruits picked straight from the tree were tasting a bit mouldy. Not 'winey' as some fruits go when overripe but mildewed, very strong mould. To be fair, the weather really hasn't helped, it's been very damp over the last few weeks and I've noticed blackberries shrivelling on the bushes too, the Devil has been spitting early this year.

Today, even some of the mid-red coloured fruit look a bit shrivelled so I decided to pick the remainder of the reachable crop and jam them, just over 1kg, enough for a small quantity of jam.

There aren't really any guidelines anywhere for how to use mulberries, but I think we will be better prepared next year. I have to say that using them is made more difficult by my husband refusing to eat them unless they are completely black, when they lose a lot of their acidity (my palate can take them just a tad 'redder'). They drop so easily at this stage, it's easy to lose most of them. But there is about a week in early- to mid- August when they can be eaten like other soft fruit. From that point on I think it's better to pick in stages, freeze, and then jam (or wine) at leisure. Mulberry jam rivals strawberry in the most delicious jam stakes (the fruits that don't break down are wonderfully chewy, like finding bits of fruit toffee in your jam), but is very hard to come by as so few people have mulberry trees, and they are tedious to pick. I wouldn't be without a mulberry now though, the taste of a really ripe fruit is on a hot summer day is indescribable, no other fruit matches it for intensity.

Post script

Husband made the jam (usual method of 1kg dry fruit to 1kg sugar), but for some reason decided to add pectin, as he wasn't sure how much mulberries have naturally. The answer is plenty; adding pectin made it far to thick. Personally I like my jam slightly runny or jelly-like in consistence, not completely solid (technically this would be fruit 'butter' anyway). Also I should have been a bit more careful in picking through them, as I let through the odd woody stalk that didn't break down on cooking. Live and learn, the flavour is good regardless.

Red comice

2011-08-18T17:46:00.001+01:00

Just thought I'd add these photos as they looked so beautiful in the rain today. I think these should look stunning at the local hort. show next months. The espalier has fruited really well this year, fruit size is very good despite dry location and drought season.

Fondante d'Automne

2011-08-15T17:11:00.006+01:00

Fruit actually going yellow on tree, will have to start picking crop. Annoying, with so many Morettini still to get through. I don't want to have to sell the whole crop so that it isn't wasted. Crop is a whole month earlier than last year. 2.5 kg picked Aug 17, 2.5 Aug 25, 5 kilos total.

Annoying!

2011-08-15T13:15:00.003+01:00

Annoying to see the Google adverts for fruit pruning services in Oxford at the bottom of the page, you can ask me instead! Most of the people who call themselves tree surgeons are just blokes with chainsaws, and I'm sure they have no specialist knowledge of individual fruit varieties and their pruning peculiarities.

Denniston's superb...

2011-08-15T12:59:00.006+01:00

... has finally lived up to it's name. Boughs of excellent quality fruit bending branches, but also attracting legions of wasps. Like Devoe, they had started to swell and crack following drought/heavy rainfall, allowing wasps easy access. Its actually quite dangerous harvesting with this level of wasp activity, we resorted to protecting hands and removing whole branches rather than picking individual fruits by hand. Another reason was that much of the fruit was on wood that had migrated northwards over the fence. Didn't measure the crop - a certain amount was wasp-spoiled and discarded, plus we ate an awful lot as we were picking. We've been eating about 8 a day for the last week, with half a tray still left.

I think the reason for the sudden increase in crop is due to not pruning extension growth at all last year (which did mean it had got rather out of control). The tree isn't trained as such, but vI don't think this variety likes being pruned at all. We removed two large uprights, nearly 6' long (which would have taken the overall height to way over 12 feet if left), from the centre of the tree and removed most of those overhanging the fence. Will try to 'festoon' new growth from lower on the trunk, and try to tie down extension growth of the main 'T' shape just to keep it tidy and accessible. This is about as late as I would ever want to prune a plum to avoid silverleaf.

Devoe

2011-08-15T12:53:00.002+01:00

Dissapointingly small crop of Devoe, but the quality was better than in some years. Picked on August 5, as a couple had started to split after heavy rain attracting wasps. This was too early, as they shrivelled a little before softening. Skin texture better than in some years, thinner, less papery. Flavour very good, sweet, juicy and perfuned. Foliage very badly affected by scab, absolutely no extension grown on either cordon, but fruit completely unaffected.

Irish Peach

2011-07-31T21:57:00.003+01:00

Picked and eaten straight from the tree today. Unlike early windfalls, just ripe. Skin okay, flavour sweet, acidity, very 'appley'. Crop 1.5kg this year. Crop 2-3 weeks earlier than 2010.

Beth/Morettini windfalls

2011-07-31T21:54:00.006+01:00

Enormously surprised to find Beth crop starting to yellow and fall so early. This is still July for Heaven's sake! Ate the first one, not great quality, dry, little juice, none of the usual buttery quality, due to poor sun levels and leaving too long on tree. Picked all those with signs of yellow - 1.8 kg picked so far.

Decided to pick the whole crop a couple of days later, the additional crop was a further 2kg, meaning the total was a bare 4kg. Last year was a bit better 5kg, but way short of the 7 kg in 2009.

The Morettini were also starting to fall, creating a wasp hazard on the pavement outside, so I decided to pick any that were a decent size or flushed. These weighed in at 4kg. Flavour has been poor, due to lack of sun. Will be interesting to see of the ones left on the tree improve in the few days of sunshine.

Pear scab

2011-07-29T19:03:00.002+01:00

A terrible year for pear scab, mostly affecting foliage. The usual suspects all succumbed, but to a worse degree, and others varieties suffered for the first time. Worst affected are Santa Claus and Devoe, but Fondante d'Automne and Beurré Gris d'Hiver Nouveau have also showing a lot of yellow/blackened foliage. I think the explanation lies in the very warm spring, which encouraged a lot of soft growth which has succumbed during the colder, more humid months of true summer. Only the fruits of Santa Claus are affected, and only in a particularly dank corner.

Codling control - the results

2011-07-29T18:59:00.002+01:00

Slightly disappointing results for codling moth control. Picked several bored fruits off Pixy and Orlean's Reinette. I've come to the conclusion that the worst affected varieties are those where fruit is bourn in clusters that are very tight, sheltering the caterpillers sufficiently to bore into the fruitlets hidden from predators. I think the nematode treatment was worth doing, as I haven't found any on varieties other than these two yet. In future, I think I'll try spraying these varieties individually, using pheromone traps to identify when the adult moths are on the wing.

July horrors

2011-07-29T18:52:00.002+01:00

This is turning out to be a very strange season. Fruiting times are very unpredictable - some varieties are ripening extra early, catching me unawares. St Edmund's Pippin is a whole month early, as I discovered when my cockerels ate all the fruit they could eat near the ground, plus the blackbirds had made some holes further up. I left Irish Peaches far too long on the tree, with the result that they were all pithy and flavourless when I tried them, with the inedible, leathery skin I'd expect in such a dry season. Meanwhile, my early pear Morrettini shows no sign of ripening yet. Most of the fruit appears undersized, pears in particular, and I suspect will have unpleasant skins. Meanwhile, we picked our earliest ever greengage yesterday, and the crop on both our standard plums is heaviest we have had to date.

Record earliness?

2011-07-15T18:54:00.004+01:00

Small crop from Vista Bella (having a partial biennial year off), but having any sort of home-grown apple before the middle of July must be a record. Very nicely ripened, considering these were on the shady side. Nice balance of sweetness and acidity, slight 'strawberry' flavour, flesh and skin soft, with no trace of bitterness found in some summer reds.

Whinham's Industry

2011-07-15T18:50:00.002+01:00

Not a lot to say other than I always look forward to my desert gooseberries, which come just after the currants and strawberries have finished, and fill the 'hungry gap'. I should grow more desert varieties, I'm sure there are bigger, juicier and even sweeter cultivars than Whinham's, but it's reliable and easy.

Plum dressing

2011-03-07T19:40:00.005Z

Plum blossom looks very promising this year. Coe's Golden drop seems to be covered and even the usually blossom-shy Denniston's Superb seems to have more than usual.

Usually I forget to lime the plums early enough. Too early, it will just all wash out of our thin, open soil; too late and there won't be enough readily available to the roots by the time the fruitlets are forming. I'm sure this is the reason that plums are so disappointing here. The wild plums only produce prolifically when they reach 12' plus; local sloe bushes hardly produce any fruit at all.

Limed the area around both about a month ago, and spread calcified seaweed around the root area liberally today. Fingers crossed for a better year for plums in 2011.

Last Pixies

2011-03-02T17:28:00.004Z

Tidying away the fruit boxes, came across some more Pixies which were surprisingly good. Most of the acidity has gone by now, slightly dry but now very sweet with a strong flavour of pear drops, certainly these well-ripened ones hadn't lost flavour, just acidity. Really ought to plant another one, or top something less good with it.

Brogdale deadline missed again

2011-02-11T12:07:00.007Z

Yet another year when I simply haven't got round to thinking about ordering graftwood early enough. The deadline for ordering from Brogdale is strictly the end of January, as pruning commences in earnest during the first week in February. I have quite a bit of topping and changing to do with wood from my own trees, and still haven't decided what to do with my new land (general maintenance will probably take all my limited energy again this year).

I almost went to the 'National Scionwood Exchange', held at Stowe Landscape Gardens. I have a lot of pear wood to exchange, and wondered if I could buy pear stocks in small quantity, as I need some maidens to establish new cordons. I got a pretty patronising response. No they didn't have any Quince A, but had I thought of using Pyrus communis or wild pear? I thought of my in-laws' 100 year old wall pear, which produces a profusion of spiny suckers, uncontrollably vigourous growth and very poor quality pears, plus the great length of time I'd have to wait before such a tree produced its first pear, and bit my tongue quite hard so I didn't feel tempted to reply with what was going through my mind.

Following that suggestion, I've a fair idea that the only wood on offer in exchange for mine would be 'heritage' varieties I've never heard of, fine to keep going if you have unlimited space for a fruit archive, but probably varieties I would personally discard within my own semi-intensive system for not offering minimum standards of health, productiveness or fruit quality. I'm all for the preservation and re-establishments of traditional orchards, but the primary purpose of growing fruit has to be for personal need; maintaining fruit museum would be lovely, but simply not practical for the majority for small amateur growers.

Happy New Year

2011-02-11T11:58:00.004Z

A belated Happy New Year to my few followers. Another year begun badly with nearly all online and offline activity cut for months due to a bout of keratitis, I hope this is finally responding to steroids.

Lets start the New Year, with the remnants of the Old, with the last of last year's crop just about lasting. This is the first year that Josephine de Malines produced a crop and they have kept much longer in store than my other late pear Winter Nellis, most of which seemed to disintegrate when the temperature fell to -12º before Christmas. Shrivelling slightly at the top, but still quite firm. Flavour isn't top notch, a little dry and astringent but hardly surprising this late. Apples are still firm, almost crisp but I think Pixie is starting to lose flavour a little now; the Rosemary Russet is holding up better, but we will shortly run out of all of them.

some autumn photos

2010-10-31T13:31:00.000Z

Crop: Vranja

2010-10-21T20:57:00.004+01:00

A good crop again, 11.5 kg (25 lb) not counting the early windfalls. The scent is wonderful.

crop: Pixie and Rosemary Russet (our late varieties)

2010-10-21T20:52:00.002+01:00

A very disappointing crop of both Pixie and Rosemary Russet, our late apple cultivars. Rosemary was probably having a slightly 'biennial' year after cropping well last year, but Pixie was very badly affected by codling moth for the first time, leaving us with only one medium-sized box to see us through into Spring.

Rogue Red

2010-10-21T20:51:00.000+01:00

Just a couple of pears on one spur again this year.

Crop: Winter Nelis

2010-10-21T20:48:00.001+01:00

A much better crop of Winter Nelis this year, weighing in at 3.5 kg, despite quite high losses to squirrel damage at various points. Picked October 16, for reference.

Pear Crumble

2010-10-16T15:18:00.007+01:00

My patent recipe for pear crumble (in case I forget!)

topping

6 oz ( 200 g) plain wholemeal flour

3 oz (100 g) margarine or butter

3 oz (100 g) soft dark brown sugar

6 large pears

3 tablespoons soft dark brown sugar, or to taste

1 tablespoon cinnamon powder

glass of Marsala, Sherry or Madeira

Sieve flour into bowl with cinnamon; add sugar, having broken down any lumps. Rub fat into flour/sugar until 'breadcrumb' consistency is achieved.

Peel pears, core and chop coarsely. Place in quite a deep oven-proof container, preferably glass. Sprinkle on sugar and add alcohol. Cover with crumble mix. Place in pre-heated oven at about 160ºC for about 35-40 minutes, until caramelised juice can be seen bubbling around edges. Take care not to burn the dark sugar.

Photo shows a mixture of Sucrée de Montluçon, Conference, Rogue Red, plus a small amount of finely diced quince.

Crop: Sucrée de Montluçon

2010-10-16T15:08:00.005+01:00

I deliberately restricted the crop of Sucree de Montluçon to 7 fruit, as I wanted some decent-sized ones to enter in the culinary pear category at the local show, though in the end I did not bother. The theory worked, and I had nice, large even crop, which started dropping this week. The small crop weighed in at a respectable 2.1 kg (nearly 4.5 lbs).

Sucrée is an odd pear, and I can't say I'd agree with other descriptions of its qualities. The texture is very coarse (see photo) and slightly gritty, but very juicy like slightly chewy melon. The flavour is sweet with a slight aromatic quality reminiscent of guava or star-fruit, though overall a bit thin. I usually cook them while still hard. I expected the very hard, green ones I prepared today to be under-ripe, but one just starting to yellow was just right for eating raw.

Using over-ripe pears

2010-10-13T18:39:00.004+01:00

Although poorly-ripened pears are usually extremely disappointing eaten fresh (hard on the outside, brown mush on the inside), they actually cook very nicely, as long as they are not too far gone. If the centre is only slightly discoloured, just scoop out the soft bit, and will be very nice for recipes such as fruit crumbles. Even soft pears will keep some substance once cooked, rather than 'fall' to mush like a cooking apple, and the addition of a little brown sugar and a dash of Marsala will compensate for the thin flavour. Not suitable for poaching, use large, slightly under-ripe pears such as Comice or Bartlett types. Varieties with higher acidity, and a more astringent skin flavour often have the best flavour once cooked. I do grow a couple of varieties of 'culinary pear' just for the sake of having a full collection, but so far they have not yet produced fruit. My rationale is that a variety such as Catillac will keep longer than even the late desert varieties, and be ready around January.

Mea Culpa

2010-10-12T17:53:00.002+01:00

I have a confession to make, I have ruined my crop of Conference/Concorde and Comice by leaving them on the tree far too late. All these varieties will fail to ripen properly if picked too late, softening from the core before the outer fruit ripens. I foolishly didn't document when I picked them but it was around the beginning of October; the ideal time would probably have been about a week earlier. I have just had to put nearly all in the 'green bag', all yellowing slightly but so rotten one's fingers almost go straight through. My poor excuse is that we didn't not have enough boxes to hand, and I hadn't had time organise the storage space in the outhouse as life has been chaotic of late.

Red Comice

2010-10-06T16:21:00.002+01:00

Only a single fruit again this year, but the espalier is beginning to spur up nicely so maybe croppin will take of next year?

Beurré Gris d'Hiver Nouveau

2010-09-26T17:21:00.003+01:00

A similar spur on Gris d'Hiver - decided to leave these a little longer as they didn't want to part easily from the spur.

Crop: Beurré Hardy

2010-09-26T17:18:00.002+01:00

A nice crop of 4 from a single spur of Beurré Hardy, still rock hard but ready for picking to ripen in store.

Rogue Red

2010-09-23T11:32:00.001+01:00

Nowhere near ready yet, but this year they have developed a lovely red flush which explains their name !

Bishop's Thumb

2010-09-23T11:20:00.002+01:00

Left these too long on the tree, they look wonderful but have dried up and turned a little spongy. This variety can be very juicy, and needs an abundance of sweet juice to offset it's astringency. There is a very tall full standard Bishop's Thumb near my printmaking studio, I sampled a couple of less ripe-looking windfalls last week which were much nicer, so I'm convinced they are the type that benefit from picking while still green and fairly hard.

Final Nemasys treatment

2010-09-23T11:19:00.003+01:00

Final Nemasys treatment was applied last Monday, a couple of days over the suggested interval of 7 days, due to lack of time and terribly strong winds.

crop: fondante d'automne

2010-09-11T16:08:00.006+01:00

These have started falling, which prompted me to pick and store them properly. Today's crop weighed 5 kg, in addition to 1 kg spoiled on ground and 1 kg sold at local shop, making yield just 7 kg or just under 15 lbs in total, rather more in total than last year. The fruit has not coloured as much as last year, looking back, which has been the case with the early pears (which had less flavour than usual). Small amount of superficial tortrix moth damage.

Nemasys - second treatment

2010-09-11T15:20:00.003+01:00

Not very exciting, but just for my records I applied second treatment of Nemasys codling moth treatment this afternoon, six days after the first one. It rained this morning, so it was nice and damp for spraying but the sun came out later, I hope this doesn't mean the nematodes are spoiled by drying out.

Crop: Devoe

2010-09-07T10:31:00.003+01:00

Having found them a little disappointing last year, I forgot to pick any of the few that the squirrels left this year. My husband brought me some for breakfast today, and they were much better, skins less hard and papery than last year probably because of the recent lack of sun. Note to self: pick around the same time as Beth (last week of August) as once they have started to yellow, the core will turn soft very rapidly.

Fig: Brown Turkey

2010-09-07T10:29:00.001+01:00

I'd forgotten how nice home-grown figs are, much better than the flavourless imported ones. Pure honeyed nectar that melts in the mouth.

Crop: Bishop's thumb

2010-09-05T21:16:00.002+01:00

Fig: Brown Turkey

2010-09-05T21:07:00.003+01:00

My standard Brown Turkey eventually deigns to produce a single fruit!

Nematode treatment for Codling moth

2010-09-05T21:00:00.005+01:00

The Nemasys nematodes turned up on Friday, and the weather was cool and dull enough to spray today. I was a bit worried that they would not be sufficient for all our various trees, but I needn't have worried as the cordons are very easy and efficient to spray. The sachets had to be dissolved in 10 litres of water, but my sprayer only takes 3 litres so I had to make up 1 litre of concentrate and then fill up in three sessions. I now realise just what a boon cordons are, much easier to access and spray. The M25 standard Grenadier was a nightmare, and took half the treatment volume alone, so we've resolved to remove it in stages as there's absolutely no point in maintaining a large producer of inedible fruit that rots and poisons my poor poultry.

The second treatment should be done 5-7 days from now, exactly when will depend on the weather conditions. Only time will tell if this is an effective treatment though.

Fruit supplier!

2010-09-05T20:58:00.003+01:00

Basket of Gorham and Red James Grieve destined for our village shop. Gorham crop was quite light this year, only about 1.5 kg.

Poison fruit - Grenadier

2010-08-28T19:08:00.010+01:00

One of my lovely pullets, poisoned by rotten fruit.

We have inherited a large standard cooker in the new garden, almost certainly Grenadier. I've sometimes thought what a pity the fruit was always left to rot on the ground by our late elderly neighbour. We tried baking a couple of them but they were absolutely vile; even smothered in sugar, they tasted of neat vinegar. Even the wasps have barely touched the windfalls.

I'd been letting my small flock of new silkies range around the area. So many 'experts' exhort gardeners to let poultry free range under fruit trees, to clear pests and help clear up the windfalls, which were quite sparse to begin with but then started to drop in great numbers a fortnight ago. One morning I found one of my black pullets paralysed in the house. She was unable to walk, but had drooping wings. I brought her in, rehydrated her after which she brightened up but then started producing bright turquoise droppings (previous experience tells me this indicates poisoning). She be came increasingly more paralysed, head down and wings drooped, and died a couple of days later. I suspected botulism, but a one off instance wasn't enough evidence to be sure. A couple of days later her sister developed the same symptoms and declined very rapidly, and died within 12 hours of showing the first symptoms, which were classic ones of botulism poisoning.

Examination of the ground under the Grenadier revealed many completely black, rotten fruits embedded in the ground, and quite a few that had turned completely brown. In poultry the usual source of botulism poisoning is rotting vegetable material, (birds are susceptible to a different form of the disease to that that affects humans).

So please don't let poultry free range among windfalls, rotting fruit is not a good food source for them and can be deadly. Pick up all rotting fruit and either burn or put in the re-cycling bags, most of the early windfalls will be infected with codling and be half-rotten inside before they even touch the ground.

Crop: Beth

2010-08-28T19:03:00.005+01:00

Terrible storms this week meant that we lost a sizeable percentage of the Beth crop as windfalls. I should have noticed that one or two had started yellowing on the tree, and a kilo or two ended up on the ground as wasp food. If I'd checked last years records I would have seen they were ready exactly the same time as last year. I picked the remainder yesterday, the crop weighed in around 5kg - about 7kg /15 lbs total, remarkably consistent with last year's crop. The local shop took a tray, will be interesting to see if it's worth supplying fruit on an ongoing basis. Fruit quality was a tad disappointing this year to be honest, lacking the usual intensity and sweetness.

More Codling Moth

2010-08-13T11:48:00.004+01:00

No mystery about the source of the codling moth, the ancient cooking apple in the newly-acquired neighbouring garden is absolutely full of moth larvae. The fruit has not been picked or cleared for years.

A lot of the Morettini fruit has developed signs of infestation since being picked and stored, quite a significant percentage now. I'm not sure why it's taken so long for the infestation to build up on the other side of the fence, but now it has. I think the apples are less affected as most of them are quite strongly biennial, so over-wintering females have found no fruit to infest.

Lets dispel some myths about control. Most of my cordons are grown between regularly dug vegetable beds, this has made very little difference to the incidence of pests that spend part of their life cycle in the soil below. I also have chickens, and a very wide variety of wild birds that feed enthusiastically, which also has made little difference. I haven't tried any barrier methods of control (greasebands) yet, or pheromone traps, so this will be the first approach.

I might try the biological control, as there aren't many other fruit trees in the vicinity and I'm sure the main reservoir is probably the cooker next door. Pheromone traps are an option, but will catch some of the males, not enough to make a real difference, so their use would probably be only as a guide as to when to spray as a last resort.

RHS info on codling moth

Pests: codling moth

2010-08-01T15:04:00.007+01:00

Just found one that didn't manage to escape! Spotted a Glou Morceau that had a large amount of frass emerging from the eye and cut it open to find a large grub devouring the core. Very large in comparison to other fruit-mining grubs, even cut in half it was nearly 1cm long and 2-3mm wide, a greyish colour with a dark brown head.

Codling moth

Pest: codling moth damage on pears

2010-08-01T14:32:00.002+01:00

The first pears to fall were all infested with some kind of fruit-mining larvae. This time I'm inclined to think the culprit is codling moth, rather than fruit mining moth which was a problem last year. The latter tends to make multiple tunnels nearer the surface, whereas the damage here is mostly to the core with one escape tunnel.

Only a handful of fruit were infected, so not a major problem as yet. If the numbers increase next year I might have to think about controlling it down the line, but not at the moment.

More about codling and other fruit-mining moth damage to fruit.