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bunnNot only are the early apples ripe (and falling off the tree!) a good two weeks or more early, but there are blackberries ripe in the most sheltered spots - and not just the odd one either, I could make a crumble if I felt so inclined!
Whereas up on the hill, there are still whortleberries on the bushes - normally I'm sure they would be well over by now - and some of the plants have flowers on again - at the same time as the berries!
A fortnight or so ago, I met a grumpy old woman who was picking whortleberries. When I commented politely that it was a good year, she grumbled at me that 'everyone' was picking them. Even if this were true - and I'm up there often twice a day, and have seen very few other people showing any interest in the bumper crop - the bushes are loaded with the things and have been for months. There are so many berries that many have got overripe and are falling off, leaving purple splats on the ground, and I come back from walks with my mouth and fingers a virulent purple.
In other news, I have cleared several ash trees, some hazel, and a lot of brambles from the front bank by the parking spaces. There is quite a bit of free space there now which used to be occupied by a conifer that got too big and had to go, so I need to put something else in there. Fortunately, my sister recently gave me a plant which I believe to be a Myrobalan Plum - it was planted by her neighbours from pits from fruiting plants in the hedges up in Herefordshire, and from the description, I am almost sure that these were Myrobalan Plums.
Admittedly, I do have something of a problem with an infestation of plums at the top of the garden where an old plum tree has gone feral and rampaged about forming itself into a small woodland, but that seems to have given up on fruiting. Word of mouth suggests that the Myrobalan Plum may be more productive in the fruit department. I shall give it a chance, anyway.
In Other other news, I went to Tavistock, where I bought:
And then I impulse bought:
Whereas up on the hill, there are still whortleberries on the bushes - normally I'm sure they would be well over by now - and some of the plants have flowers on again - at the same time as the berries!
A fortnight or so ago, I met a grumpy old woman who was picking whortleberries. When I commented politely that it was a good year, she grumbled at me that 'everyone' was picking them. Even if this were true - and I'm up there often twice a day, and have seen very few other people showing any interest in the bumper crop - the bushes are loaded with the things and have been for months. There are so many berries that many have got overripe and are falling off, leaving purple splats on the ground, and I come back from walks with my mouth and fingers a virulent purple.
In other news, I have cleared several ash trees, some hazel, and a lot of brambles from the front bank by the parking spaces. There is quite a bit of free space there now which used to be occupied by a conifer that got too big and had to go, so I need to put something else in there. Fortunately, my sister recently gave me a plant which I believe to be a Myrobalan Plum - it was planted by her neighbours from pits from fruiting plants in the hedges up in Herefordshire, and from the description, I am almost sure that these were Myrobalan Plums.
Admittedly, I do have something of a problem with an infestation of plums at the top of the garden where an old plum tree has gone feral and rampaged about forming itself into a small woodland, but that seems to have given up on fruiting. Word of mouth suggests that the Myrobalan Plum may be more productive in the fruit department. I shall give it a chance, anyway.
In Other other news, I went to Tavistock, where I bought:
- a new kettle (the old kettle having gone to Kettle Heaven)
And then I impulse bought:
- a pair of linen trousers
- a loaf of bread with seeds and figs in
- A huge Belgian Bun
- two bars of exciting Cornish Chocolate
- two deliciously unhealthy cakes (lucky the trousers arent' tight-fitting, really)
- Steak (and got a big bag of free beef trimmings and bones for the dogs!)
- a stripped chicken carcass (for soup)
- a big bag of basil
- some Norworthy goat cheese
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Date: 2011-07-31 11:30 am (UTC)Nice haul for an hour in town! *Sighs wistfully for a Belgian bun*
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Date: 2011-08-01 08:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 01:59 am (UTC)Also: where on this planet can you buy a chicken *carcass*? (reevaluates world view.) I mean, chicken carcasses are delightful for soup stock, but usually you have to eat the chicken first.
Maybe the old woman is the spirit of the whortleberry bush?
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Date: 2011-08-01 09:11 am (UTC)Chicken carcass was from the farmer's market. The Chicken Lady tells me that a lot of people just want breasts or wings, so they end up with partly stripped carcasses. She used to strip them and sell the bits separately, but apparently at 2am one morning she was fiddling with a dead chicken and had a moment of revelation that It Was Not Worth It so just shoved the thing in a bag to sell for £!cheap. I buy them to make soup, cos you don't always want a whole roast chicken with all the trimmings (plus, expensive!), whereas shoving a cheapo carcass in a pot with some garlic and thyme, then later pull out bones -> delicius soup = dead easy.
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Date: 2011-08-01 10:00 pm (UTC)har--I know what you mean about the cost of a chicken from the farmer's market. I think we just paid $20 for one... which is ridiculous, in a way, but they're good people, run a good farm, and we can squeeze 3 meals out of it. Meal #3 is always soup, because as you say it's beyond easy. Fill the pot! Put some stuff in it! Heat! Soup!
the farmer's market is my favorite day of the week.