Fruit!

Little apples, Jun 2020

I mentioned before that the cherries have started;  so have the strawberries at our allotment (there are maybe two dozen plants total).  The blackcurrants and redcurrants are coloring up, and raspberries are forming.  We might even get whitecurrants this year--there are several bunches on the bush.

I gritted my teeth and thinned both my little apple trees, taking off maybe a quarter to a third of the immature fruits;  they overproduced in 2018, then didn't even flower in 2019.  I'd rather get 50 fruits every year than 100 fruits one year and none the next, so I thinned the apples down to one or two per bunch (there were more like three to five before).  I may not have thinned enough, but I'll leave it now.  This year the plum is taking a break from fruiting, though it didn't seem like it overproduced last year.  I'll have to consider thinning it in the future too.

The almond tree has a moderate amount of nuts growing, despite me not helping at all with pollination this spring.   It's getting to be a nice sized tree, though still small enough for our garden.  If only my little peach tree was as good a grower--it might actually be a goner, as it was very badly affected with leaf curl this year and has very few leaves left. 

The fig tree too, has been stressed this spring and a couple branches have died back, though it looks like it's got some new growth now.  There are still some nice little figs on it;  I dried a lot of last year's figs and they went into my Christmas puddings for this year.

Speaking of little trees, I think I have a tiny quince seedling growing in a container on the patio.  I sowed seeds from several quinces we bought over winter, and it looks like one has sprouted.  I think one sprouted last year too, but got too dry and died.  This one is in a much bigger container and will hopefully fare better.