Cherry blossom

We've a bumper show of blossom on our cherry this year. If they set to a fruit, the birds will be happy. We've had this tree for 30 years, it was grown from a cutting/graft by a friend, it has moved when we've moved, it spent 15 years in a less that perfect spot, and suffered some heavy prunings too. I think it's happy with it's current position though, as year on year we're getting more blossom and fruits. It's certainly one of our gardens heralds of Spring proper.

Early Blackberries

An early showing for this most abundant of wild fruits. The humble Blackberry. First I've seen this season.

Sloe

The forest may be dry, though one of the streams still flowing well is Red Rise Brook and as a consequence the fruits on stream side shrubs a filling out nicely.

Going nuts.

We've a couple of Hazelnuts and a Cobnut in the garden, and last autumn I cut the rods out of them, leaving the parent trees unscathed. Doing that I assumed we wouldn't have much of a crop  of nuts this year...in the case of the Cobnut, I was mistaken. The Cobnut tree is more laden with fruits than I've ever seen it, good sized fruits too. Cobnuts are a corylus cultivar, very like the Hazelnut (corylus avellana) though propagated for much larger fruit, two maybe three times the size of the common hazelnut. I'll watch with interest how the fruits develop, as in years past the fruit case may have been well developed, though the fruit inside was not. Still, if they do come to fruition, we'll have quite a crop.

My cherry

I just know some bird's going to have my cherry. No, it's not a  1970's 'Carry On' line (and shame on you if that's what came to mind). I've had this Cherry tree for years (it was given to me by an old friend), every year is produces quite a few cherries, although none ever make it to fruition. This year, as usual, the fruits formed, and, as usual, the birds feasted, though one or two survived, and one, well hidden amongst the leaves, has made it well towards to adult cherry-hood. It may just get eaten by me....may!

Getting in a jam

A couple of years back I made some jam, in fact I made just over 10ltrs of jam...and, I'm still eating it today. Well, it is a preserve. This year I've had a glut of Strawberries, oh the trauma I hear you sarcastically cry, but you can only eat so many bowls of strawberries and cream...can't you. Anyway, I thought I'd make some more jam. When baking/making I like to try and cut down the amount of sugar I'm using, so I cut out a third of the sugar, and increased the fruit by a third, of course altering the recipe radically. Then, I washed the fruit when I shouldn't have, making the mix far too liquidy. Yup, you guessed it, what should have been a simple exercise soon turned into a proper mare, what could wrong, did. I cooked and cooked, and still the mix was failing the wrinkle test, and I cooked some more. Then I turned my back, distracted by Geoff, and boom, it began to stick to the bottom of the pan. Luckily I got to it quick enough to stop it burning, but only just, finally, in my haste forgot to skim it (although that wont effect the taste or quality). As I said, everything that could go wrong had (and everything I could do wrong I did), though at the end of it I still had some jars of jam. Lady luck smiled on me today, and no mistake.  

Jammin

I've been jammin, jammin, jammin, I hope you're like jammin too. Well, it is the season, for jam making that is. This year our allotment has so far produced bumper crops strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants (with blueberries and blackberries still to come). We've eaten fresh of plenty but what better way of extending our enjoyment than making jam and I have. I've made strawberry, gooseberry, blackcurrant, raspberry and mixed fruits, I've made just over 10ltr of jam so far.  Preserving's a great way to make the most of surpluses you grow or forage, as well as prepping skill, preserving would be essential for maintaining a supply of food all year round. One thing that struck me whilst thinking down this path was how many of our preserving methods require large supplies of processed ingredients such as salt, sugar and vinegar, all things I'd imagine would all but disappear with the collapse of society. Something for me to think about when planning for social collapse or a zombie apocalypse (which ever strikes first). Still in the meantime, whilst it's there in bountiful quantities, I'm going to enjoy my jam.   

The smell of Spring

One of my favourite things to do in Spring, is take some time to stop and smell the Apple blossom, it's sweet fragrance is transporting; to me Apple blossom is the smell of Spring.