Forty kilos of apricots and more still on
the tree but inaccessible because the ‘Pride of Madeira,’ not realising how big
it would grow, was planted too close, making it impossible to get to some
branches. The shrub itself is not only enormous but so beautiful with its huge
rosettes of bright blue flowers, quite spectacular, but there are still
apricots on the branches above it and littering the ground below. Having used
all the fruit we could, carrier bags full have been given away to friends and
neighbours and, in exchange, we have had more than a dozen eggs and fourteen
litres of olive oil. The second apricot tree that ripens a little later is
already laden and fruit ripening so there’s another bumper crop coming and the
fruit on our one and only plum tree is also about ready. Its branches are so
heavy with fruit they are practically hanging vertically. That too needs severe
pruning later in the year. We did have two plums in the garden and a different
variety in the courtyard but one died and the one in the courtyard developed a
fungus and had to be severely cut back so no fruit from
that this year. I see the avocado has flowered so maybe we’ll get some pears
later and the prickly pear is laden. That too will have to be severely cut back
but the big problem with prickly pear is what to do with the bulky cuttings? It
is the most amazing plant. Leave a leaf or a portion lying on the ground and
you can be sure it will eventually take root. When Douglas and I came back from Italy
some years ago, where we went in search of family history, we brought Chris a
bottle of prickly pear liqueur; I wonder if I can make a prickly pear wine. Don’t
see why not. Actually, on second thoughts, I think I’ll confine myself to the
next lot of apricots. There are already nine demijohns of homemade fruit wine waiting
to be bottled.
Douglas always had trouble starting the old petrol driven chain saw so bought
himself an electric one and the nectarine has finally been cut to a six inch
stump. Not only that but he has cut down an enormous fig taking up much too much
space under a walnut tree and there is a month’s supply of wood from it; not this next winter maybe but the winter
after. The trunk is a good five inches or more across. It was laden with fruit
but unfortunately it is a male and the fruit is inedible, otherwise it wouldn’t
have been taken down. We do have another, a winter fig. It is unbelievable how
big everything has grown in the garden all of which needs drastically cutting
back. I brought some seeds from Australia like
nine years ago and the tree I planted is now something like forty feet high! We
have also, having cut down the fig, found a good place to plant my loquat I
have grown from a pip. It is the
loquat season at the moment, unfortunately a very short season, just a couple
of weeks or so, and I do love them, one of my favourite fruits. The mature tree we already have seems to have
developed that fungus as well and what fruit there is is grey and shrivelled so
nothing from it this year. Greeks
call loquats moosmoola but the Cretans have to be different and here they are
called thespoola. It’s no wonder my Greek is still so poor, even after nearly
sixteen years.
Everything is bone dry at the moment and we
desperately need rain. The days can come over cloudy but soon the clouds
disperse. Some shrubs are looking very dodgy and although we have a watering
system it doesn’t seem to get everywhere. Guess it’s watering can and hosepipe
time and summer is only just with us.
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