End of September 2006

The apples are coming along but not quite ready yet, i have four dessert cordons Red Windsor, Red Falstaff, Greensleeves and Scrmptious. They all follow on from each other which ensures that i have time to pick and eat some before having to store what's left. This is their second year of cropping and have done very well. I had some problems with earwigs earlier on in the season but thinned out the crop and ensured that the cordons were well away from the fence and haven't had any problems since. Looking forward to my first apple.

The tatties were uplifted last week and left to dry on the surface this is some of the Nicola's. These have all been cleaned, sized, sorted and put into brown paper bags for storage. Any that were damaged ie slugs or more likely my fork i use straight away.

Nicola's did really well this year with no slug damage or signs of scab. Lady Christyl's were not so productive as they normally are. Nonetheless still a good crop overall.

Blackberries and Autumn Raspberries are fruiting well, still plenty to come. The Blackberry is Chester and has beautiful flowers followed by the delicious fruit.

The Rasps are Joan J and are a primocane variety so i just snip them to the ground when they've finished fruiting. What could be easier?

I'm starting to slowly clear the beds whilst the weather holds, although had a lot of rain yesterday but nicer again today, so the soil will still be too wet to work for a couple of days.