Apples and pears

No, me old china, I am not talking about the stairs. I am talking about actual apples and actual pears.

The twiggy little branches on my dwarf apple tree are leaning towards the ground. I can’t help wondering if they will be able to bear the weight when the apples (seven of three varieties are fully grown.

Ditto the pears.

I’m guessing the twiggy branches can indeed bear the weight, else what would be the point of these dwarf trees? Still, it’s pretty funny looking.

I’m also wondering about these red Bartlett pears (one of my faves). They are a fraction of the size of the other pears. Are they actually going to grow to the size of real pears? (If they do, the twiggy little branch will reach the ground.) Or are these meant to be dwarf pears on a dwarf pear tree?

Time will tell.

What a difference a day makes

A day (slightly drizzly – nothing you’d call actual rain) and a half (slightly busy with other things) spent indoors. When I go down to the garden yesterday afternoon, I can’t believe what’s been happening.

There are, quite undeniably, pears growing on the pear tree. How exciting is that? (Okay, okay, I know there’s a long way to go before I get a pear crumble out of this tree, but still. Pretty fucking exciting as far as I’m concerned.)

The California lilac has burst into bloom and is absolutely buzzing with bees.

You’ll have to take my word for it (as they are apparently camera shy), but there really were at least twenty bees sucking the nectar out of these flowers when I took the photo.

Lots of strawberries have started to appear. This is going to be a great crop – especially as (touch wood) the netting means most of them are for me and not for the birds.

Less good news elsewhere.

So much for my recent excitement that peas were starting to appear. Some have, but only four out of dozens planted. It’s possible the birds got to the seeds. It’s also possible the seeds (third year in a “good for three years” packet) were actually past their sell by date. More seeds will need to be purchased and planted. Peas now well behind schedule. Sigh.

The beets are still coming along nicely and I think (although it may be wishful thinking) that I spy with my little eye some carrot leaves starting to appear. (And as they do, I suddenly ask myself why the hell I planted them in the shallower end of the raised bed. Doh.)

Four squash plants have sprouted. No idea if they’re acorn or scaloppini. (Should have made a note of which I planted where. Time will tell.

No sign so far of any lettuce, rocket or spinach. Too soon to give up on these? Nah. Ever the optimist me.

Appley ever after?

The question of paint versus stain has been duly debated and the answer seems to be stain. Although some followers quite fancied the idea of brightly painted frames, WISE woman Catherine made the best point.

“I just finished staining a planter box we built. Here's why: stain will protect the wood, to a degree, from wind, sun and snow and last for several years. It won't crack, bubble or peel. So the question is: do you want bright, beautiful colour and more work sanding, stripping and repainting in a couple of years? Or natural looking wood, less work and more time for the swing, the book, the cats and wine?”

Obviously more time for the swing wins. Stella, when asked, totally agrees.

Quite a bit of staining in my future, although possibly not in the next couple of days. (After a week of summer-in-April, when I go outside to take this photo of Mr Fixit’s latest delivery, there is a clap of thunder. As I write, rain has started falling.)

Elsewhere in the garden, the most exciting news so far is…

Regular readers will, I’m sure, recall that three years ago Krys and I planted a dwarf apple tree in the garden. It produced lots of blossom and one apple the first year, lots of blossom and eight apples the second year (and there would have been many more apples if frigging Antler Boy hadn't got to it) and precisely zero blossom last year. So, yes, the fact that there is once again lots of blossom on the apple tree is pretty bloomin’ exciting. Will any of this blossom turn into actual apples? Time will tell.

There is also lots of blossom on the pear tree, added to the garden two years ago. This is not quite as exciting as pear blossom has appeared in abundance every spring. What has so far failed to appear on the tree is an actual pear. Fingers crossed this might be the year.

Speaking of things blooming (or not, as the case may be), across the road at Pat’s place – and all around the island – lilac trees are already flowering. Alas, not so in my garden – neither the long-established, flowered-once-only-for-Krys-three-years-ago tree nor the second tree I planted two years ago which I was promised would flower the following year and didn’t. Considering how much I love lilacs I consider this to be most unfair. Fortunately, Pat remains very generous with his overabundance.

It's all a bit sad

Wake up this morning to the surprising realisation that there is absolutely nothing I absolutely have to do today. No costume or music meetings for the panto (which I am once again directing). No Zumba class at 9am. (Yes, you read that right. I recently started going to Zumba classes twice a week, despite the fact that they start at the ridiculous hour of 9am.) No preparation for a rehearsal tonight. Nada. And the sun’s shining!

Perhaps it’s time to visit the garden.

I confess I have not spent much time down there since the well ran dry earlier this month. I simply cannot afford to be watering the garden with the water I had to buy to fill the cistern. Going down to the garden to watch things slowly die held no particular appeal.

I head down after breakfast. It’s all a bit sad.

It may look as if there are still quite a few leaves on the pear tree, but what you’re seeing is the bottom third. The top two thirds of the branches have only a couple of leaves between them all.

Not many leaves left on the apple tree. The little tree that gave me eight apples last year didn’t even blossom this spring (more than a little worrying). The pear produced lots of blossom, but no fruit. No idea if the rain which has started to fall and will hopefully continue to so over the winter will be enough to rally my fruit trees.

I don’t honestly remember if the leaves on the fig tree

or the lilac tree

were this yellow and ready to drop before the beginning of October last year. I have a feeling they weren’t.

Time to give up and pull up the courgette and squash. Not a great year for either.

The few cherry tomatoes left on the various plants are too small and too green to salvage for chutney, so I pull them out and leave their containers ready for next year.

On a brighter note, my fuchsia corner seems healthy and is still producing flowers. 

I take a tea break and hang out on the garden swing for a while with Stella (who’s very happy to have me back in the garden). Spend most of the time wondering what, if anything, I should be planting next year. We had a long, dry summer in 2014, but it was neither as long nor as dry as this summer. We really didn’t have much rain last winter (which probably explains the well running dry this year). I shall have to do some research before next spring, figure out which vegetables require the least water and (assuming I actually like any of them) think about planting different crops.

For now I think I’ll do something to cheer myself up. Dahlias definitely don’t need much water. Nor do the Star Gazer lilies. So, let’s get them out of their pots and into the ground.

A nice little new bed that will produce beautiful flowers for me to admire when I’m reading on the garden swing next summer. Not exactly edible, but you can’t have everything, right?