fruit

Reviving the rhubarb

September 6, 2011
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We did something at the weekend that was long overdue. We finished cutting down the dead ivy that had been smothering one of our trees, and in the process discovered what a good thing it had been for the rhubarb. Our rhubarb has never been particularly happy where I planted it alongside the chicken run. [...]

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This year’s crabapple harvest

August 9, 2011
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The crabapple tree has really come into its own this year. Last year it gave us enough apples to look good when in fruit and to make a small quantity of jam, but this year it really went to town. The top branches were bent right over with the weight of the delicate pink and [...]

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We’ve transplanted our tomatoes

May 10, 2011
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Already, our tomatoes were starting to look cramped in their little 9cm pots. It’s only a couple of weeks since we moved them from the kitchen windowsill out into the greenhouse, so I didn’t think we’d be doing this so quickly. Nonetheless today we transplanted nine of the finest specimens into the larger pots where [...]

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Our rhubarb has made it through the winter

March 4, 2011
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Our first crop of rhubarb could be on the way as our roots made it through the winter and are shooting up their first spears of the new season.

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I’ve re-planted the strawberry plot

February 13, 2011
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Our strawberries have made it through winter stronger and more numerous than ever, so I took advantage of the dry weather to replant all the free children plants.

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Tidying up the raspberry plants for winter

October 5, 2010
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We’ve had a good summer of fruit from the raspberry canes but now they’re seven feet tall and starting to take over the patio. Unfortunately it’s still too early to cut them down.

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Trying our hand at pear cider

September 21, 2010
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We’re making pear cider courtesy of a box of free fruit, but it’s proving more difficult than we had expected to extract the first pressing of juice.

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The redcurrant jelly disaster

August 16, 2010
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Taking my eye off a pan of stewing fruit proved disastrous. The long and the short of it is the loss of a crop… and no jelly for our toast this autumn.

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We bag some bargain rhubarb for the garden

July 21, 2010
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A rhubarb plant for £2 was too good an offer to pass up, don’t you think? We were passing by the gardening stall on the market (which at this time of year is always full of seedling plants for those who were too lazy or too late to start their own) when we spotted them [...]

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Our redcurrants are… well, red

July 9, 2010
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Now that the strawberries are finally coming to an end in the plot, the redcurrant bush is really coming into its own.

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