Fruits Of My Labours

In Spring all our fruit trees were covered in blossom, apples, pears, plums, peaches and gages and we were eagerly anticipating a bumper crop. The fruit formed and then for some reason it all fell off, it wasn't the "June Drop" it was just a total avalanche.  So now we are left with one  lovely pear, about a dozen plums,  half a dozen Cox's, Bramley's and Gages, what a joke but it's hard to be amused. My peaches are grown against a south facing wall and those that were left grew huge but when they were picked many were rotten on the back (the wall side),  probably due to all the rain.  On the bright side there were plentiful redcurrants and enough gooseberries to make some chutney and at the moment the raspberries are beginning to ripen up.  I am left wondering if other parts of the country have suffered as I have or perhaps it was just this area or even just my garden, hopefully time will tell.

This peach is Avalon Pride and does not succumb to peach leaf curl, the fruit is sweet and full of juice.

I love to just stand and look at red currants, they are perfectly round and look like clusters of shining rubies.

On a happier note the grape vines have really benefitted from all the rain, so now we just need some sunshine to ripen them and then we just need to stop the birds from getting there first.  Perhaps I won't start designing wine bottle labels just yet.