It has been a funny old year for fruit. Damsons almost a no show. The pears are not much better but the plums were not bad at all. As for the apples, we look to have a bumper harvest but the odd thing is that not only are the early fruiting Discovery trees I planted by the river ready as they should be but so too are all the other trees, four weeks ahead of schedule. Apples are already starting to drop to the ground in large numbers. So the harvest is now underway.
The apples for most of the discovery trees and my one golden delicious tree are being stored for eating during the autumn in the rack you see below. And yes that is garlic you see, all home grown and ready to string and transfer to the larder this weekend. For storage we need newspaper but neither myself or th Mrs has bought a physical paper in years. So newspapers have been scrounged from the in laws and by close of play today, I should have all four trays laid up.
I have one cooking apple tree to harvest today.It will be a modest crop. I shall store those apples too, for crumbles and apple sauce to store and mix with my breakfast yoghurt. But I am too rushed baking, brewing and freezing things for Sharestock right now so the cooking apples must wait a fortnight.
Everything else is for apple juice. The first scratting and pressing is tonight and with what you see below and what Joshua and I shall pick today, I reckon we should have,perhaps, 30 bottles by tomorrow. We shall see.
