cherry harvest

This year, for the first time since we moved here, I was determined to actually harvest some of the cherry crop which our prolific tree produces. Guess what? I actually managed it and here's the proof....

600g of lovely red cherries which are not quite ripe yet and a bit sharp but plenty of sugar will sort that out. These were taken from the parts of the tree that I couldn't manage to net so there will be plenty more which I will allow to fully ripen.

Today wasn't just about cherries, though.

I picked peas, broad beans a cauliflower and a turnip. Oh, and  small cucumber but I can't show that as we had it with our sandwiches for lunch.

I've often heard it said that cauliflowers are difficult to grow but I've had no real problems for the last five years. You get the odd one that 'blows' but as long as they get plenty of water they seem to thrive in my soil. One little tip which does seem to help is to add a sprinkle of pelleted chicken manure into the planting hole.

After the recent rains the water butts are full again, along with four watering cans and five buckets. Because I grow such a lot in containers I need to store as much water as I'm able. In hot weather I need to go round twice a day to stop my crops wilting. I know it would be easier just to stick a hosepipe on the mains tap but that's not really in keeping with what I'm trying to do here.