Wednesday 6 June 2012

first fruits

I picked a pound or so of gooseberries this afternoon...the first fruit of the year. Oh, I've had rhubarb but technically that's a vegetable so it doesn't count.


The bushes are so heavy with fruit that the branches were almost touching the ground so I picked these from the ends to lighten the load. The rest will be left to ripen properly, birds and disease willing.

It's funny how, whatever the weather, some crop always seems to perform well. For the last two years tree fruit harvests have been poor but the soft fruit have been excellent so there is always something to eat. Mind you, I'd rather bite into an apple than a gooseberry!

We also had the first peas of the year today. Only a handful of pods but almost a month earlier than last year. They were container grown in the greenhouse at first so are well ahead of the outdoor sown plants.

So many things are now almost ready that the anticipation is getting too much. Beetroot are reaching golf ball size, carrots, cabbage, turnip and broad beans are only weeks away and the first flowers have appeared on the french beans. Salad crops are being picked almost on a daily basis so all the hard work is paying off. And, as if that wasn't enough, we also have some pretty flowers

Beautiful rhododendrons and a not so beautiful compost bin.

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