Farewell to My UK Edible Garden

August 2015

Soon we will be on the move and saying goodbye to our UK garden – at least for a few years with visits back in intervals. However, the fruit trees and bushes flourish and will continue to do so even if we aren’t here. We’ve arranged for care and for others to enjoy the harvests in the interim. However, this is how my last month went and what is still pending. Earlier in August, I harvested the last of the red currants. A bumper crop this year. Too much to consume instantly, so some jelly got made. It makes a nice gift to friends (some of whom will be enjoying those future harvests!).

The loganberries are finished and much of the huge crop is currently stored in the freezer. I have plans for the bulk of it – pies as I’m going with my new obsession with sweet shortcrust pastry. The old long canes from this year’s crop have been cut down, leaving this year’s new canes pined to their trellises for next year’s berries to form.

I’ve also harvested all the blueberries. No trouble eating the entire crop as it came off the bushes. Fruit salads featuring handfuls of blueberries have been on the menu this month.

The blackberries are also beginning to ripen – one or two at a time.

A few blackberries, the last loganberries, a handful of blueberries, a peach or two, and some left-over pastry = instant fruit crostata/galette.

The raspberries are gearing up for their second late summer to autumn crop. The older canes that produced the early crop have been cut back to ground level to give the new, taller canes a bit of breathing space. The fruit will be harvested, eaten or frozen in my absence. Really going to miss my raspberries!

The Damsons are turning colour. They will be harvested before I leave. Still grappling with what to with them.

The grapes might soon be at that peak un-ripe juicy stage to collect for verjus. The contiment makes good gifts and keeps well, mellowing with age. Might lay in a stock of a bottle or two in the cellar for our eventual return.

The rhubarb is winding down – the leaves turning colour and looking a little messy.

The quince tree is loaded with fruit. It will not be ready to pick before I leave, but others will harvest it. Once that is done (the last of the fruit trees to harvest), our gardener will come in and trim the espalier trees, ready for next year.

The kiwis are also developing nicely, but they will not mature and ripen until the first frost. I’ll be gone, but with a fleeting visit in the autumn, I might just be in luck and be back in time to pick them.

Meanwhile, planning what comes next…

Around My Edible Garden is my monthly diary entry detailing what is happening in my garden this past month, part of the Garden Share Collective (GSC), maintained by Lizzie@strayedtable (click on the “links in collection” icon below to view all participants). A chronological listing of my garden blog posts is listed Diaries in the Menu bar.