Bite Sized Beauties

My son reminded me that we had not yet visited the Mayor's Pear tree on Peartree Green this year. So we zipped on up there and, sure enough, the small tree was loaded with ripe fruit.

These are some form of Asian Pear, we love them and visit each year. We reached up and picked ourselves a bag full of these bite sized, pendulous treats.

My children call them "Snack Pears" - to small to be practical for cooking but  sweet, crunchy and juicy. Last year we harvested several kilos and I made a gallon of delicious perry.

The house is now well stocked, with enough to last us through half term. Although, we may pop back to re-stock before the season is over, if our supplies are consumed too quickly.

Don't forget to put the Urbane Forager book on your Xmas present lists!

Station Walk to Peartree Green

I'm pleased to report that our train station based walk was a complete success. The idea was to collaborate with my friend Clare Diaper who had written a book on local station walks. Clare planned the walk route and I pointed out fruit and nut trees along the way.

As we arrived at out start point, Woolston station, I immediately pointed out the Pear tree in the station grounds. To be fair, I had an advantage here as my train broken down there two days before. 

There was a good number of interested people who had bowled along for the walk; the weather was just about perfect apart from one quick squally shower. We began at Itchen Ferry Village, or where it used to be anyway and mused over the building of the great ships and Spitfires that were built around this area in the past; hovercrafts are actually still manufactured nearby. From there we set off up onto Pertree Green - and here my job was going to get much more interesting.

We admired the Mayors Pear tree, a regular stop for the children and I about this time of year, then we walked down into the main body of the green. On the way many people paused to gather Blackberries or Elderberries, which were growing wherever you looked. It was not long before I started to spot Apple trees (there are loads hidden around the Green). The first few trees were fairly inaccessible and seemed not to have much fruit but we soon began to spot trees truly laden with Apples. We had bought a small picker with us to help gather fruit and my son was soon clambering up among the branches, as he always will.

By the end of the walk we must have seen over a dozen different Apple trees and everyone had filled their bags and boxes with enough fruit to keep them in Blackberry and Apple crumble and pies for quite a while. Everyone was enthused and happy and hopefully we will see a lot of them again soon - perhaps at the Mansbridge Apple Day (Sunday 11th October Octavia Rd Open Space).

N.B. Apple Day at Mansbridge Community Orchard 

The event will be held at 2:00pm on Sunday October 11th. If you have any spare apples, bring them along for crushing into juice. Octavia Road Open Space is basically a field and wilderness area, so wear suitably robust clothing, wellies etc. This is a free community event, run by volunteers and all are welcome but everyone one is responsible for their own (and their children's) health & safety.

Pendulous Pears, Thanks to the Major

I was just thinking that the harvest season had pretty much drawn to a close, when a trip to Woolston, passing Peartree Green en-route, revealed that we had missed a trick.

They do say, Walnuts and Pears you plant for your heirs, and the ancient Pear tree that was planted by the Mrs Cutler OBE Mayor of Southampton in 1951 was absolutely smothered with ripe fruit.

We discovered this lovely tree a few years ago and have been visiting it ever since. The pears are small, firm, round and beautifully sweet. My children call them Snack Pears. Mrs Cutler is no relative of ours, but we figured that she would be delighted to find that the fruit was going to be put to a good use.

My son and I zipped back up to the tree after his Sunday rugby training, there was a fair few Pears on the ground already and the fruit was suitably ripe, so we set about picking a large bag full.

In about 20 minutes we collected about 15 Kgs, which is quite a lot for a fully grown adult to lug back, let alone a 9 year old boy. However, I’m sure that my fruit based strength and conditioning program will eventually benefit his contribution to the Trojans team.

There is still heaps of fruit left on the tree, if anybody else wants to pick some but you would be wise to use a fruit picking pole, as you should not climb old fruit trees as the branches can snap catastrophically without warning.

Picking the Mayor's Pears

Best Place For Them!

Several friends of mine have recently expressed an interest in brewing cider. As a result, the Mansbridge Community Orchard cider press has been working overtime. We pressed another 15 gallons of juice this weekend.

My chums used fruit they had picked from home and I had some left over from a quick trip up the Southampton Little Common with my friend Andy. It is always a good plan to have a variety of in your ingredients and so, I  added a few pears I found lying about in the kitchen. Andy did make his own cider press, but the bottle jack employed in its construction, proved too powerful for the frame! He kindly donated his excess fruit to the Mansbridge Community Orchard Apple Day.

Andy Goes Ape

After a busy morning juicing apples, we took a trip with the children to explore Peartree Green, where a work-colleague had reported seeing lots of loaded apple trees.

Hard Work but Great Fun

Our first port of call though was my daughters favourite “snack pear” tree, planted by the Mayor of Southampton several decades ago. As it turned out, there were not many pears on the tree; either it was a bad year or someone had been there first. The kids enjoyed it none the less.

Look Out, They Have Escaped!

After hiking about Peartree Green for a while and asking a few locals, we spotted a big tree that was filled with fruit; we circled around the bramble barriers until we found a path in and the kids were soon scurrying up and around the branches. These were lovely tangy red eaters that tasted a bit like sweet Coxes. Despite the bramble scars and stinging nettle welts, we filled a couple of large bags. This was about as heavy a load as we could climb back up the hill with. Apparently, there are loads more trees that we failed to locate.

Most of this little lot will go into lunch boxes and the apple store, as they look like they will keep well. We grabbed a few little pears off the Mayor’s tree before heading back home, pausing only to buy a bag of charcoal for the last bbq (probably) of the year.

The Mayor's Pears

Unexpected Pleasures



Maiden Hair or Ginko



Many of our little adventures are planned in advance, this need to be because of time or rather the lack of it, but some of my favourite moments of discovery are completely unexpected; like the eerie fog that descended over the park as I cycled home from work last week.




Is That A Park Pixie Next To That Tree?

 

Today was another one of those days.



Quinces Outside the RSH



While my daughter was learning to dance, my son and I whizzed off to grab a bagful of quinces that I had spotted the night before outside the RSH hospital entrance.




Quinces Smell So Nice and Spicy

 

On the way down the road I spotted a lovely bunch of mistletoe growing on a small rowan tree in the verge in Highfield. We didn’t pick any (best to wait till nearer to Yule) but I took some fairly good pictures of it. 



Kiss Me Quickly! xxx



Mistletoe is a parasitic plant and often grows very high up but this bunch was set at about head height. Despite all the fecund associations the berries are poisonous, so don’t let any fall between your lips while you kiss.

Like Beautiful Little Oriental Fans

Further on in Portswood, we were brought up short by the startling colours of some yellow/green leaves of a Maiden Hair (or Ginko) tree.



Tasty Peartree Green Snack Pears



Later on we stopped off at Peartree Green to forage a few of the Mayor’s Pears to take home. As we drew up I noticed a large bird sitting in a tree.



Don't Blink, It's A Peregrine, I Think...



At first glance I thought it might be a fat Kestrel but on closer inspection (I had binoculars in the car) it revealed itself to be that speedy prince of prey, the Peregrine Falcon; I have seen one of these birds before but never in Southampton.

Yum!

Rotund Round-Up

We have just returned from a lovely holiday in Devon with apples on our minds as well as several bags full that we collected during our trip. I am planning some (entirely legitimate) scrumping trips this month, in association with my new friends at Transition but more details on that soon – Don’t touch that dial!

First Though, More Pears!

First though, a quick pear round-up; it has been a great year for all fruit and pears are no exception, with tree branches bowed under the weight of this fabulous bottom-heavy fruit.

High Fruit - No Problem

First we visited a tree situated on waste-ground in Portswood – this is a personal favourite of mine and last year we got a splendid yield from it. This year we were possibly a bit late and many of the lower fruit had already been taken but we soon had the extendable fruit picker in action plucking off the big boys at the higher reaches.

Actually Daddy, I Do Like Pears Now

My son previously professed not to like pears, despite being something of an apple fiend. After helping me fill the bucket though, my daughter and I eventually persuaded him to try one of our bulging beauties and he was soon converted.

About 10 Kgs

Next we zoomed off up to Pear-Tree Green and you don’t need to be a genius to work out what we were after there.

Walnuts and Pears You Plant For Your Heirs

First port of call was the lovely little tree planted by the city Mayor in 1951, which still produces a healthy crop of unusually small and round pears.



Thanks Mayor Cutler



These make excellent little snacks so we filled my daughter’s hat with some to take home and left loads to ripen further on the tree.

Always Bring Suitable Sun Protection - You Never Know When You Might Need It

Close by there is a pub – named The Pear Tree, and guess what grows in the pub garden?



What A Coincidence



This is a huge tree laden with huge pears and I’m sure that if someone asked the landlord/lady nicely, he or she would be happy if someone came to help pick the fruit. Who knows, it may even be possible to arrange some kind of beer fuelled pear picking party in their garden.

Big Pears on a Big Tree

Returning home with our boot full of fruit (we got about 10Kgs of pears this time), I remembered another very tasty pudding that the Head Chef had made previously – Chocolate Pear Upside-Down Cake!

Looks Good Enough To Eat, Doesn't It?

A great reward for the tired and hungry children, and let’s not forget the poor Urbane Forager; I am now in training and aiming to be in peak condition for the forthcoming season’s apple avalanche!

Also Likes Chocolate Cake Mixture

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