Crop: Sunset

Not a heavy crop of Sunset this year, though the few fruits were of a good size consequently. I left them too long on the tree, and a couple had started to rot in situ, without any help from wasps. If it sets a good crop next year, I must remember to thin them, as it makes a lot of difference.

Crop: Rosemary Russet

Another good crop of Rosemary Russet. I find it difficult to tell the fruits from Pixie, as the two cordons intertwine and the fruits are almost identical in size; the Rosemary russets are less russeted than the Pixies. The flavour is quite different however, although the season is also quite similar to Pixie. Last year it was difficult to tell which was without tasting. I think they kept marginally less well than Pixie. According to the book of apples, the stalk is thicker and shorter than that of Pixie.

Crop: Pixie

Another excellent crop on the Pixie cordon, despite a bumper one last year as well. This variety kept us in fresh apples until March this year (although the skins had started to shrivel, the flesh was still crisp). One cordon is not enough, so I plan to add it as an extension to one of the less-productive cordons, probably the King Russet.

Crop: Winter Nelis

Another disappointingly sparse crop of Winter Nelis. However promising the crop looks when it sets, it rarely carries more than a single fruit per spur, and the majority of spurs end up bare of fruit. The size is disappointing, though I have seen this variety produce larger fruit elsewhere. Nevertheless, they will be very welcome, as they are usually the longest keeping of all my pears, and a nicely ripened pear is very welcome in December.

Bunyard's description:

WINTER NELIS. Her. Pom., II., 38. F. Nelis  d'Hiver. G. Coloma d'Hiver. (Bonne de Malines.)  Dessert, November to January, medium, 2\ by 2 J, round  conical, a little uneven. Skin, rough. Colour, greenish  yellow nearly covered with thin dark brown russet,  increasing round eye. Flesh, greenish white, trans-  parent, very juicy and sweet, delicately perfumed.  Eye, open in a shallow even basin. Stem, rather long,

Crop: Glou Morceau

This is a nice variety. Only a young tree planted about 3 years ago but precocious, regular crops with no pest damage or other problems which hang well on the tree until late in the season. The only downside is that it never really ripens to desert perfection but is very  nice cooked.

Bunyard's description: GLOU MORCEAU. Her. Pom., II., 55. F. Beurré d'Hardenpont. G. Hardenponts Winter Butterbirne. (Beurré d'Hardenpont, Beurré d'Arenberg.) Dessert, December to January, fairly large, oval pyriform, often snout-like at eye, uneven. Skin, smooth. Colour, pea green till it approaches ripeness, when it changes slowly to a pale greenish yellow. Flesh, very smooth, very melting, nearly white, flavour first rate. Eye, wide open in a wide basin, which is a little uneven. Stem, long, fairly stout, woody, generally inserted at an angle. Growth, moderate, rather spreading; fertility good. Leaf, flat and undulating, down curved, finely and regularly crenate, turns dark brown. Origin, raised by the Abbe Hardenpont in the eighteenth century. It is known as Beurré d'Hardenpont, or Beurre d'Aren- berg in France ; our Beurré d'Arenberg being the Orphelin d'Enghien of Belgium. It is regrettable that the memory of the pioneer of Pear raising, l'Abbé Hardenpont, is not commemorated in this fruit. One of the finest of winter pears, ripening successively and lasting in good condition for some time. On a South or West wall it crops regularly and ripens its fruits splendidly. In France it is said to benefit by a shade over the tree to protect it from spring frosts.

A mystery...

This one is a mystery to me. The parent cordon of both these fruit is Dr Jules Guyot. I remember budding Devoe onto one half of the Y when my husband broke the original maiden graft by mistake, and I had to take rapid action not to lose the variety. However, there is a section between Dr Jules and the Devoe extention production very nice but quite alien fruit. I have no memory of budding anything else on, and the fruit is unlike anything else I grow (superficially a little like Comice, but about half the size). I can't see any scars at the base of the spur that would suggest it had been budded, or grafted further back, whereas the scars are still very obvious where the Devoe spurs were added. Could it be a bud sport ? 

Crop: Santa Claus

The first year that this partial cordon of Santa Claus produced a crop it was very good. Large-sized, irregular fruits of good flavour that kept a very long time. Ever since, it's had difficulty setting any fruit, and that which has survived has been horribly affected by scab. 

Devoe: crop

I should have kept a closer eye on the Devoe cordon too, the largest fruit has been ready to pick for a few days, a couple had already fallen and wasps were beginning to attack the fruit as the skins are quite thin. I think I should have picked them earlier.

I decided to cook the damaged ones, rather than waste them. They weren't great. The texture was a bit rubbery, similar to under-ripe conference, and they don't have enough acidity in comparison with the best culinary varieties.

I tried a couple of the others; they were both floury and going brown in the middle. I think this is one of those varieties that need to be picked before they are ripe and part easily from the stem, like Concorde.

The skins of the reddest ones were quite tough and papery, and there was quite a thick 'string' at the core. 

Crop: Conference

The combination of a heavy crop and non-stop gales for the last few weeks has taken a real toll on the Conference/Concorde cordons, which now have an oblique shape in two dimensions. The stakes have been loosened, and I will probably have to replace/extend them in addition to the bamboo lattice. Either that or make the cordon lower which I'd prefer not to have to do, as the top branches of the current arrangement get rather more direct sun than the lower ones.

Crop: St Edmund's Pippin

My small crop of St Edmund's started to fall earlier than I'd expected last week, so with non-stop gales in the offing I decided to pick them. Ideally I would have left them a little longer, in the vain hope of a bit more sun to help ripen them. Crop about 2lbs, all sound and no pest damage.