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how is your fruit coming along?
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chez



Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35934
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 14 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I've just picked two ounces of blackcurrants from my first young bush. There'd have been a few more but it got attacked by excited bantams before I noticed. They've eaten the few young gooseberries and the rabbits have eaten all my strawberry plants. I'm planning on having better fencing next year. And fewer rabbits, obvs.

yummersetter



Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 14 5:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I love Satsuma plums, I have a rapidly growing tree near a south facing house wall that has a large crop coming on. The postman seems to have a couple fall into his pocket whenever he does a parcel delivery . . its a long wait whilst we answer the doorbell.

Both Gipsy and Satsuma ferment in their skins if you leave a bowlful in a sunny window, I just ate a Gipsy plum picked last week that tasted like Port wine.

Liz in Ireland



Joined: 27 Jan 2009
Posts: 1287

PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 14 6:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I had really good straberries this year, and put some of it down to putting a net over them....
This evening, I went to look for the last few....and found a dead juvenile blackbird all caught up It must have died a horrible death I'll go back to sharing next year

pookie



Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 4984
Location: Mid-Wales
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 14 6:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The birds have had all our cherries, redcurrants, 1/3 of the green gooseberries and all of the red ones. Had a couple of lbs of rasps but the birds have been beating me to them since.

I managed to get about 3lb of blackcurrants this morning before they all descended.

apples/plums/damson/greengage looking reasonable.

Strawberries - so so.

Thinking of using the heras panels for a fruit cage covered in some smallish netting for next year.

chez



Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35934
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 14 7:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

pookie wrote:
Thinking of using the heras panels for a fruit cage covered in some smallish netting for next year.


IIRC, Bebo's friend the pekin breeder had one made out of heras panels; he'd even used them as a roof and had cut a gate in to one side. It seemed to be working very well when I saw it.

pookie



Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 4984
Location: Mid-Wales
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 14 7:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Chez wrote:
pookie wrote:
Thinking of using the heras panels for a fruit cage covered in some smallish netting for next year.


IIRC, Bebo's friend the pekin breeder had one made out of heras panels; he'd even used them as a roof and had cut a gate in to one side. It seemed to be working very well when I saw it.


we've got doors in 3 of ours, but not used any as roof panels though....oooohhh there's a thought!

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 14 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

yummersetter wrote:
Both Gipsy and Satsuma ferment in their skins if you leave a bowlful in a sunny window, I just ate a Gipsy plum picked last week that tasted like Port wine.


Don't all plums do that?

P.s. It might be methley, not satsuma. Haven't had time to check my map. Another 5 kg today, would have been more but wasps are all over them, and the cherries

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 14 7:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Liz, don't feel too bad about it as some of the young ones seem to be out to get themselves killed. There are a lot of inexperienced birds around at the moment. I have seen a few dead on the road, and had one fly into the side of the car last week. It suddenly came straight at the side of the moving car. There was another car coming, so wasn't able to stop and check it unfortunately.

Think the best thing is to use tight netting or heras panels as suggested. You might be able to get the remains of some slightly bent ones to get the mesh out of. I know we have a few that have had branches fall on them.

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 14 9:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

tahir wrote:
P.s. It might be methley, not satsuma.


It's actually Beauty. Which means that I really should be looking at my Satsuma (delish) and Shiro (bit watery and pointless). Nice to finally have a decent crop of Japanese plums, especially as Early Favourite and Early Rivers have both been pants this year

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 14 9:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sean wrote:
I dunno. They grow citrus in northern Israel, and they have proper hard frosts and snow in winter. or is it an average temp thing?


I think it's probably a combination of things like damp cold soil in the winter, the regular late frosts etc but I haven't heard of anyone growing citrus succesfully outdoors

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 14 6:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The Early River plums have come in at our farm shop and as far as I know they have a good crop. I will check on that today.

As far as citrus is concerned could it also be something to do with light, although I think probably the cool damp rather than sharp cold is the main problem.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 14 4:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

yum yum yum

my first blackberry is rather nice

if you are growing em for fruit (rather than as weeds or security fence)it is worth the time to eat the terminal fruits as they ripen,i think that there is a hormonal signal when that one exits the "holder" which spurs the rest of the bunch into ripening more rapidly than if the terminal one is still attached

Lloyd



Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 14 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

My first tomatoes got picked this evening! Yay!

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 14 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Can't get near the Mulberries, swarms of wasps.

Cherries have been picked clean, the leccy fence wasn't working and foxes/rabbits/badgers/muntjac have chewed through the net in quite a few places

Apricots have been knocked off the trees by all this rain in large numbers, plenty of brown rot

Plums, next variety is Heron, about 20 kg on the floor yesterday, managed to pick maybe 5kg of these and 5 kg of Beauty

1st decent crop of Heron, it's a dark plum with green flesh, might just be the amount of rain that we've had but pretty tasteless.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 14 7:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Sorry to hear of your losses Tahir. Hope the remainder gives you a decent crop.

I picked more raspberries in the woods yesterday so now have enough for a small batch of jam. Noticed that the wild service tree we have in the garden has set some seed, so apart from growing a few more, will try one or two to see what they taste like. I understand that a liqueur of some sort is produced from them but no idea exactly what it is.

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