Thank you Jack, your observations are always helpful. Can you advise how to know when to pick pears, and the best way to ripen them? We have a massive crop but we’re told they have to be picked green. But when? Until now we’d never had a successful pear tree, and didn’t know about this problem.
Hi Diana, like apples, the best way is to lift and twist, if ready they will come away from the tree. Then ripen them at room temperature as you would with shop bought, checking regularly as they can ripen unexpectedly!
Thanks! They’re not quite ready then, though the gales last week knocked some down. I saw advice to chill them in the fridge for a few weeks, but we haven’t the fridge space to do more than 4 at a time. I’ll follow your method. 👍
Thank you, Jack! I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and your trees. The garden you're developing, and your plot as a whole, is hugely inspirational, I just love the fabulous combination of carefully curated cultivation and allowing nature the freedom to express itself that you're achieving. And a polytunnel full of tomatoes is always an impressive thing to see!
Thanks Darren, it’s definitely turned out to be a really good year - it all just came together toward the end of summer. The apple trees we talked about summer pruning are looking very happy - I removed the worst cankered branches and the new growth is looking nice and healthy.
Been a decent year here but I’ve failed yet again with aubergines. 3 plants and only 2 aubergines still not 100% ripe! I would have thought our climate is quite similar to yours here in NE Scotland - a little dried perhaps - but as I grow them in a wee tunnel I wouldn’t have thought it should make any difference.
I’ve had lovely beefsteaks for the first time this year - a Russian heritage variety which taste amazing!
That’s great about the beefsteaks well done! Aubergine are funny, I think it’s often down to the cultivar or amount of sun. I’ve had some do amazingly well some years but most have done badly for me in Yorkshire. I think early and smaller fruited cultivars are better in the UK.
I dont have an allotment (too much like hard work and none available near me!) but do utilise my garden to grow soft fruit and veg, unlike my lazy neighbours who have no interest in growing anything to eat. I'd agree that this year has been fantastic for good home grown harvests. When I moved home about 10 years ago I planted 2 apple trees. One in particular produces enough apples most year to supply a small supermarket. I also get abundant soft fruit especially blueberries. I have several mature plants now, in pots and freeze surpluses such that I have them available 365 days per year. In the greenhouse, this year, I grew melons for the first time, in grow bags and they did well considering I just left them to it. Peppers also did well in the greenhouse. I planted small bushy tomatoes in pots. The freezer is stacked full of them despite giving a few away to next door. Sweetcorn, chard, beetroot, round courgettes all did well in their raised beds. I love experimenting growing things from the seeds of veg or fruit I've eaten, especially if not usually grown in the UK commercially. 7 or 8 years ago I tried avocado. Out of 6 seeds (3 small, 3 large, the 3 of the large took off. 2 eventually gave up but the third and last one is determined to survive despite some heavy and prolonged frosts a couple of years ago. All the leaves were lost last winter but now - wish I could attach a picture, over 6ft tall! Regrettably I doubt I'll ever get fruit. Its in a pot and should be re-potted again. Trouble is it is so leafy it easily gets blown over.
That’s all amazing Bruce well done! Especially the melons and blueberries, I’ve always struggled with blueberries even here on our acidic soil! Keep going with the avocado, if it’s surviving you could well get fruit if you grow it to about 3-4 metres tall. Will need a very big pot or to be in the ground tho.
Hi Jack, I'm sincerely happy for you and I love reading your blog. Down here in Hampshire (near Fordingbridge) I've had another difficult season, mainly due to heat. I thought I'd got ahead of sowing etc but once transplanted many of the transplants just stalled- not growing, not dying even with what I thought was a good amount of water. I have a no-dig plot and feed with my own compost each year but something stops certain plants thriving. I am at my annual "is this really worth it?" moment, although I am sure end September/October will find me planting garlic bulbs.
Best crops: Potatoes, dwarf beans, runner beans, courgettes, broad beans, apples
Worst: Garlic (planted last autumn, small bulbs), tomatoes (outside were better than greenhouse), spring onions (mine take forever, months), onions (small bulbs), pumpkins (very low fruit), peas (x3 lots did not germinate), florence fennel (did not develop bulbs)
Keep going Lee, it’s funny every year there are good crops and bad crops and it’s best to focus on the good ones as we’d all go mad trying to figure out why the bad ones did badly. Often it’s just the cultivar or some other unknown reason. You’re obviously doing something right with the successes. My bad crops this year were salad crops because I just didn’t concentrate on successional sowing them properly, and beans as the pheasants kept eating them all.
Thanks for your advice and support Jack. The brutality of gardening is in the seasonality which means that we only get limited opportunities each year before the seasonal window closes.
Thank you Jack, your observations are always helpful. Can you advise how to know when to pick pears, and the best way to ripen them? We have a massive crop but we’re told they have to be picked green. But when? Until now we’d never had a successful pear tree, and didn’t know about this problem.
Hi Diana, like apples, the best way is to lift and twist, if ready they will come away from the tree. Then ripen them at room temperature as you would with shop bought, checking regularly as they can ripen unexpectedly!
Thanks! They’re not quite ready then, though the gales last week knocked some down. I saw advice to chill them in the fridge for a few weeks, but we haven’t the fridge space to do more than 4 at a time. I’ll follow your method. 👍
Thank you, Jack! I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and your trees. The garden you're developing, and your plot as a whole, is hugely inspirational, I just love the fabulous combination of carefully curated cultivation and allowing nature the freedom to express itself that you're achieving. And a polytunnel full of tomatoes is always an impressive thing to see!
Thanks Darren, it’s definitely turned out to be a really good year - it all just came together toward the end of summer. The apple trees we talked about summer pruning are looking very happy - I removed the worst cankered branches and the new growth is looking nice and healthy.
All looks amazing, Jack. Well done you!
Been a decent year here but I’ve failed yet again with aubergines. 3 plants and only 2 aubergines still not 100% ripe! I would have thought our climate is quite similar to yours here in NE Scotland - a little dried perhaps - but as I grow them in a wee tunnel I wouldn’t have thought it should make any difference.
I’ve had lovely beefsteaks for the first time this year - a Russian heritage variety which taste amazing!
That’s great about the beefsteaks well done! Aubergine are funny, I think it’s often down to the cultivar or amount of sun. I’ve had some do amazingly well some years but most have done badly for me in Yorkshire. I think early and smaller fruited cultivars are better in the UK.
Yes. I’m sure you’re right. I went for a grafted one that promised early fruiting! So much for that! 🙄
Oh lol! So much for that. Sorry. Next year! Worth trying again.
I dont have an allotment (too much like hard work and none available near me!) but do utilise my garden to grow soft fruit and veg, unlike my lazy neighbours who have no interest in growing anything to eat. I'd agree that this year has been fantastic for good home grown harvests. When I moved home about 10 years ago I planted 2 apple trees. One in particular produces enough apples most year to supply a small supermarket. I also get abundant soft fruit especially blueberries. I have several mature plants now, in pots and freeze surpluses such that I have them available 365 days per year. In the greenhouse, this year, I grew melons for the first time, in grow bags and they did well considering I just left them to it. Peppers also did well in the greenhouse. I planted small bushy tomatoes in pots. The freezer is stacked full of them despite giving a few away to next door. Sweetcorn, chard, beetroot, round courgettes all did well in their raised beds. I love experimenting growing things from the seeds of veg or fruit I've eaten, especially if not usually grown in the UK commercially. 7 or 8 years ago I tried avocado. Out of 6 seeds (3 small, 3 large, the 3 of the large took off. 2 eventually gave up but the third and last one is determined to survive despite some heavy and prolonged frosts a couple of years ago. All the leaves were lost last winter but now - wish I could attach a picture, over 6ft tall! Regrettably I doubt I'll ever get fruit. Its in a pot and should be re-potted again. Trouble is it is so leafy it easily gets blown over.
That’s all amazing Bruce well done! Especially the melons and blueberries, I’ve always struggled with blueberries even here on our acidic soil! Keep going with the avocado, if it’s surviving you could well get fruit if you grow it to about 3-4 metres tall. Will need a very big pot or to be in the ground tho.
Hi Jack, I'm sincerely happy for you and I love reading your blog. Down here in Hampshire (near Fordingbridge) I've had another difficult season, mainly due to heat. I thought I'd got ahead of sowing etc but once transplanted many of the transplants just stalled- not growing, not dying even with what I thought was a good amount of water. I have a no-dig plot and feed with my own compost each year but something stops certain plants thriving. I am at my annual "is this really worth it?" moment, although I am sure end September/October will find me planting garlic bulbs.
Best crops: Potatoes, dwarf beans, runner beans, courgettes, broad beans, apples
Worst: Garlic (planted last autumn, small bulbs), tomatoes (outside were better than greenhouse), spring onions (mine take forever, months), onions (small bulbs), pumpkins (very low fruit), peas (x3 lots did not germinate), florence fennel (did not develop bulbs)
Keep going Lee, it’s funny every year there are good crops and bad crops and it’s best to focus on the good ones as we’d all go mad trying to figure out why the bad ones did badly. Often it’s just the cultivar or some other unknown reason. You’re obviously doing something right with the successes. My bad crops this year were salad crops because I just didn’t concentrate on successional sowing them properly, and beans as the pheasants kept eating them all.
Thanks for your advice and support Jack. The brutality of gardening is in the seasonality which means that we only get limited opportunities each year before the seasonal window closes.
And the mushrooms this year have been off the scale! It’s unreal
Fabulous aren't they! I love seeing them everywhere :)