All About Magazine - Issue 14

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Mellow fruitfullness...
by Mike Robin at
Not too much to do in the organic veg patch here
at the eco micro-holding (small smallholding) at the
backend, especially now all the spuds have been dug
– just some spring cabbage plants to put out and a
few autumn-sown overwintered onion sets to go in.
Different story though in the newly established mini
orchard of around forty or so fruit trees on half the
paddock, and damson picking, for instance, to make
gorgeous damson preserve, has been the order of
the day. The damson trees were actually naturally self-
sown specimens, which was a nice surprise, as though
it is a damson area , the existing trees hereabouts were
getting old and past it. Apparently, as many damsons
as you like can be eaten without getting stomach
ache, unlike plums.
Talking of plums, theVictoria plum treewhich has been
going longer than the rest, has chosen this year to give
up the ghost, giving an unusually poor crop. Some
apples have been collected as windfalls, very tasty
too, and most of the rest need to be gathered in and
stored on breadtrays to provide fruit into the winter.
One or two sloe bushes have appeared ‘naturally’, so
some sloe gin could be on the agenda. Pears seem to
be in their usual patchy supply, but the peach tree in
the south facing garden border did quite well this year.
There are cherry trees but seldom any cherries as the
birds get to them first - ah well, they’ve got to make a
living too.
ALL ABOUT MAGAZINE | FEATURE 5