Progress

Continuing to pick the apples on the second tree and still loads to go at. Had one or two off the Red Falstaff's and these are really nice. They're still developing but should be fully ripe in another month or so.

Greensleeves should be the next to become ripe and can't wait, they're more like a Granny Smith in taste and texture. At the moment, however, they are staying put on the on the tree and stubbornly refusing to budge, that's show's my patience - none!

Picked more blackberries and raspberries. Didn't quite get enough of each to make a pie so i mixed together the blackberry and raspberry, sprinkled with a little bit of sugar and added a crumble toppping.

Within 10 mins of it coming out of the oven it was half eaten, but it was delicious. That's what i call home-made, home grown fruit and home made topping, perfect.

Finally got the strawberry bed finished....still got a few stray runners to clear up. There has been some more top growth already so they must have enjoyed the hair cut. Not producing runners now i've trimmed them back as they are putting all their energies into new leaves which is just perfect. That should give them a bit of protection over the winter.

Whilst i was tidying up the bed I noticed the amount of whitefly that were made homeless...they didn't seem to do any damage but i've had a lot of whitefly this year and they're still fluttering around my runner beans and apples...anywhere there is greenery really. Must be due to the exceptional hot weather as I've never seen so many whitefly.

Apart from the picking of fruit and tidying up the garden is really slowing down now. However, the warm weather we've all been enjoying has helped to get ahead in the garden for a change. I'm sure we'll all be in for a shock when the weather does turn...but let's hope it's not until nearer to Christmas.

First year i've grown Broccoli and caterpillers had got to it so i decided to snipoff the heads and see if it would regrow. Which they did so today i managed to pick my first home grown broccoli. I was amazed at the difference between home grown and shop bought. I notice too that a couple of my brussel sprouts seems a bit short but are still producing buttons, will leave them and see how they fare as they seem to be getting bigger. The other ones are developing well and are nice and tight so i'm hopeful for picking in a month or so after the first hard frosts. Only thing is i adore brussel leaves but the caterpillers got these.

The cauliflowers were a disaster in that this was the first year they developed heads and i was well chuffed and then the caterpillers got them so haven't been able to pick one decent one. The cabbages didn't fare much better so i decided to cut my loses and cut the heads off them and composted them leaving the stumps to develop smaller heads which they have done so i should salvage something from them. Such is the highs and lows of veggie growing. On the whole though it's been a good year and i've really enjoyed it. Actually felt like I was in charge (well almost).

Mid October 2006

I finished harvesting the first of the dessert apples, ‘Red Windsor’. I lost a few to earwigs and thinned quite a few as it was laden but still managed to get a good crop. The tree is now stripped bare and three other trees happily producing away and developing well. They all flower and fruit in succession, essential for pollination and also makes it easier to manage when cropping. Red Windsor produce nice medium sized apples with a nice sweet flavour, not quite as sweet as ‘Scrumptious’ but still sweet.

I picked the first two apples of ‘Scrumptious’ another dessert apple and these tend to be a fair bit larger than the Windosr’s but the flavour is really nice, the apple skins are naturally shiny too which also makes them appealing, and although they look completely red in the picture they are a dual colour. The flesh is white with a nice texture which is really sweet and juicy would be a favourite with children. Certainly you can’t beat home grown apples straight off the tree.

For anyone wanting to grow apples but worried about space I would recommend cordons, I have four trees in a 12ft space. They crop well enough to keep you going in apples and you can have more varieties in a small space cropping in succession. They are also very decorative and it’s amazing the amount of interest they generate.

Found a shield bug part of the 'stink bug' family again on the apple leaf...think he must be looking for somewhere to hibernate over the winter as turning from green to brown. They don't do any harm from what i can gather but they can exude an unpleasant smell if they feel threatened which if they happen to be going across your blackberries is left behind. Haven't seen these before in Highland so assume this is due to the hot summer we've had this year.

Rose 'Gertrude Jekyll' is still producing buds. It's a very pretty 'girlie' pink and has lovely shaped flowers. It is very fragrant and looks really attractive in the lower light levels of autumn, likewise in the summer at the end of the day it shines.

The yellow rose is ‘Golden Shower’, a climbing shrub rose and has grown quite well to cover a trellis and again is very fragrant.

Still blackberries to be picked and these are starting to ripen in earnest now. This is the second growing season for Blackberry ‘Chester’ and has produced very large fruit which is very sweet and full of flavour…very different to the brambles you see growing in the wild. An added bonus is that it’s also thornless. Despite it being the second growing season it’s still managed to produce a reasonable crop and put out new shoots to be tied in next year. I will have to move the bush though as I allotted 6ft of space it clearly isn’t enough and could do with twice the amount. Luckily I’ve a spot where I can move it too where it will have enough room to flourish.