The Fruit Garden (2025)

 It is mid-August and we have already harvested all the blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries and some of our apples (Rev W Wilks).

Photo 1: Some of this year's Rev W Wilks Apple Crop

We started picking strawberries in May and raspberries in June ...

Photo 2: Raspberries Picked on the 14th June 2025

... and will contimue to pick them until the first frost (October/November). Our thornless blackberry is also coming to the end of its cropping season.

A few days ago, we picked our first plums (Cox's Emperor), a couple of weeks early due to the warmth of late Spring/early Summer ...

Photo 3: First ever Cox's Emperor Plums (early August 2025)

This is the first year this tree has produced fruit with two of the three plums on exhibit in Photo 3. Hoping for a bigger crop next year, perhaps similar to this year's Jubilee plum tree where 30-40 plums are ripening up nicely ...

Photo 4: Jubilee Plums (August 2025)

As mentioned above, we have already harvested our Rev W Wilks cookers. As these apples are very susceptible to brown rot, most of the crop has either been eaten (apple and blackberry/raspberry/rhubarb/gooseberry crumbles) or frozen; leaving the remaining 'good' apples to store briefly before eating (Photo 1).

The eating apples are ripening up nicely for picking from September onwards ...

Photo 5: Red Falstaff Apples (mid-August 2025)

Photo 6: Gala Mist Apples (mid-August 2025)

Photo 7: Blenheim Orange Apple (mid-August 2025)

... and finally, on the apple front, the ever-reliable Red Windsor ...

Photo 8: Red Windsor Apples (mid-August 2025)

We lost our Comice pear tree last year but the dependable Concorde has plenty of fruit on it ...

Photo 9: Concorde Pear (mid-August 2025)

We've not eaten much rhubarb this year because of all the other fruit that has been available. Fortunately, the variety we have (Livingstone) crops from Spring to Autumn without a break so there is still plenty of time to make rhubarb pies, crumbles and cordial. 

Photo 10: Rhubarb Livingstone (mid-August 2025)

The last couple of year's have not been good for our two grapevines, especially white variety. However, this year has seen a big improvement and we should get a fair crop if the autumn weather is kind to us. I'd like to think that this year's improvement id down to my pruning expertise but I'm not sure what, if anything, I did different in preparation for this year's growing season. Since the grapes are seeded, we will probably do our usual thing and make grape juice.

Photo 11: Black Grapevine (mid-August 2025)

Photo 12: White Grapevine (mid-August 2025)

We also grow medlars, crab apples, rosehips and chokeberries in the garden which find their way into jams and preserves. But that will have to wait! Those strawberries, blackberries and raspberries wont pick themselves ...