The nearby pears were looking as gnarled and inedible as usual, and the hazelnuts were stripped by squirrels before they were ready – the floor littered in the shells. The walnut tree resounded to a constant war between those same squirrels, some travelling as far as from the other end of the track to reach it.
With all the rain and then sun it was a great year for plump blackberries. Very tasty, and I'd noticed there were a lot of people collecting in the area. It's shame that so many get so wasted here, but that's all out of our control.
As with all soft fruit, collecting them ourselves to pass on isn't as easy as it would seem. They're an unreliable crop, don't last long, and are incredibly hard to store without processing – so unless there's a ready market, you may as well take what you need and leave the rest for the birds. An awful lot of space needed for very little.
The plums appeared very early on our tree and twenty plums were saved from the wasps and fungus – very tasty. The myriad plum trees across the site came on later, but as in previous years the fungus and rot took hold before they were ready. Such a waste. And such a mess.
An awful lot of apples fell early. We tried clearing them away before the rats had their annual feast, but with most of the site out of our control and overgrown that's a losing battle.
The lack of pruning means fungus takes hold as well, the vast majority would be unsellable.
Then we had a visitor. Someone roamed the site collecting most of the eating apples, even the single tree in our fenced area. It seems they also took a couple of our squashes.
We have our suspicions who it was, particularly as one person boasted about having some apples from the site. It’s a shame they’re like that, but it’ll work against them in the end...
Next… animals.
Jamie
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