Cherries

My son and I made a quick reconnaissance mission to check out the state of our favourite Cherry trees, it's always good to be well prepared. Cherries are always the first fruit that we pick each year and it is always a totally tasty treat when something that was sour last week, bursts onto your tongue with flavour filled sweetness.

Most of the trees were looking healthy with fruit near to ripeness, but annoyingly we found that the birds and squirrels (our fruity competitors) were also already checking them out. We planned excitedly to get back the next weekend, in an attempt to beat our avian foe to the fruity booty.

We did find one tree, one of our favourites with exceptionally large Cherries, with mainly ripe fruit so we hastily set about picking as many as we could reach and quickly filled a couple of big containers to bring home. 

The next weekend, we returned to the trees, the birds had been busy but we still picked a couple of good containers full to bring home for the family. We have been greedily stuffing our faces with juicy Cherries ever since. 

 There are still lots out there, for those prepared to look and friends of ours recently located a big tree, full of ripe free fruit, near the airport train station.

Cherry Flowering

The Plum blossom is now beginning to fade and hopefully it will soon start to turn into immature Plums.

The Blackthorn bloom is still going strong and it looks as if it should be a good year for Sloes, which will ripen in the Autumn.

The Cherry trees are now taking their turn to come into flower and the good news is that they will be the first fruit to ripen around June.

The children and I always enjoy this time and we stake out our favourite trees, keenly awaiting the time when they are ready to pick and stuff into our greedy mouths. Sometime, we even harvest enough to take some home to bake with.

Wild Garlic and the related Ransoms, are also flowering in dappled woodland  shade (frequently near Bluebells) right now. You can create a delicious pasta pesto with leaves from these plants. We found some growing around our allotment site and successfully transplanted a few onto our site, where they are now happily flowering.

Ransoms, Very Tasty Leaves and Flowers

Pest Control and Border Patrol

We have finally worked out what has been attacking our Cherry tree. The leaves were getting decimated in some areas and the young fruit was suffering too. I thought initially that it was pigeons or other avian pests. We initially installed a make-shift bird scarer but closer inspection revealed that the culprit was in fact SNAILS!

The pesky molluscs had climbed up the tiny tree trunk and slithered out along the bendy branches to feast on the fresh foliage and even the precious immature fruit. We found over 25 on our first security sweep and the tree is only about 2m high. We plucked them all off and threw them as far away as we were able. I then painted a ring of fruit tree grease around the trunk as a deterrent to further incursion. The children are now mounting a daily fruit based border patrol- and removing any further slimy insurgents (their reward will be obvious, they both love cherries).

In further pest control news, I have also had to take defensive action in our allotment rustic fruit cage. The roof is not totally bird proof, being made of 10mm wide mesh and my red-current bush, which is full of quickly ripening fruit was being ravaged (definitely birds this time). I have now covered the upper branches with finer netting and hope to harvest the currents soon.

Plum Picking

When we first arrived at our current house, about 5 years ago, I was disappointed by the fact that the front garden had previously been replaced by an ugly concrete parking slab. The whole concept of converting gardens into parking for cars is anathema to me and I was determined to reclaim some of the original front garden. Eventually we found the resources to build a low wall, fill it with earth and plant some nice flowers, we also planted a small Cherry tree in the midst of the lush shrubbery.

This year our endeavours were proved worthwhile and we were rewarded with a decent harvest of very large delicious cherries, just as the other trees in the neighbourhood were running low on stocks.

Our allotment is also bearing fruit. The Tayberry bush was coming through with masses of huge flavoursome goodies, which I had to virtually fight the children over. The Blueberries are looking good too.

I have finally found time to bottle my batch of Elderflower champagne. I only hope that I have left it long enough, I don’t want a repeat of last year’s kitchen based fountain feature! I corked and caged the recycled bottles quite securely. It started off an opaque opal white but in a few days it soon settled down to be crystal clear.

During my lunch hour walks, I spotted a true abundance of plums and, upon closer inspection, it was apparent that some were already ripe. The purple/red fruit literally fell into my palm as I touched them, so I grabbed a couple of handfuls and scoffed them as I explored further in the area.

I have checked out the local trees, and I will shortly organise a Plum Picking Picknik. This will possibly be combined with a collaborative jam/chutney making workshop. If this idea sounds like the sort of day you would enjoy, keep a close eye on the Urbane Forager blog as it is likely to be announced at fairly short notice! 

My Cherie Amour

Who doesn't like Cherries? Everyone in our family does and we have been champing at the bit, waiting for the moment when they ripen and are ready to pick because this signals the start of our Summer of fabulous, fresh, free fruit foraging in the city.

We walked back to our favourite local cherry tree this week. Last week the fruit still looked a bit red, but on this attempt, we marched over Cobden bridge and our timing was perfect. The tree was laden with fat, juicy, sweet, black cherries.

Some friends came along with us and I don’t know how much they gathered but it did not take us more than half an hour to fill our own containers with 5 Kgs of perfect fruit. We did pick more than that but consumed a fair bit en route.

We still had quite a lot left from last week, so the Head Chef pitted and boiled down a big load into compote. This turned out to be a perfect midsummer pudding with soft, smooth vanilla ice-cream. The remainder was frozen to use at a later date.

I also added quite a lot to a big jar of vodka and this now smells like a curiously tantalizing mix of Cherry and Almonds/Marzipan. I have a good feeling about the final result.  I also think that when we filter the fruit out – that too will be rather popular with the adults, over ice cream, naturally.

Looking at the trees, I think it will soon be a very good year for Cherry Plums too. Anyone for a Plum Picknik?

I Spy Cherry Pie

We have been taking advantage of the sunny weather and collecting more Cherries in St Deny’s.

They're Big

This time the children and I found a lovely tree, laden with big fat ripe fruit that was just right for picking.

They're Tasty

We could reach some by hand and my daughter and I used pickers for the higher ones.

They're Easily Reached

My son, who enjoys climbing was placed into the lower branches, from where he scrambled up and proceeded to drop any Cherries that he could not fit into his mouth, into our pickers.

They're Coming Home!

It was only a short while before we were trooping off, back over Cobden Bridge; our faces and fingers smeared with juice and bearing our trophy of a large Tupperware box overflowing with tasty red fruit.

Cherry Aid

The Elderflowers are in full bloom now and the sweet smell of pollen is in the air. So, I hope you are all making cordial and champagne…

Elderflowers

Cherries are ripening on the trees now too and you’ll need to keep a close eye on them – there’s a fine line between the bright yellow/red sharp fruit that the birds will gobble and the darker sweeter ones that we want to scoff ourselves. I even saw a squirrel gorging himself in a tree the other day!

Easy Picking

We have already been eating cherries off the earlier trees and they are very nearly there. The tree outside my office and the big one at St Deny’s Community Centre are often the first local trees to ripen and I use these as a barometer to know when to start searching in earnest.

Delicious

My son and I picked a bucket-load of big fat juicy sweet ones in St. Deny’s the other day. You could see from the leaves on the ground that other people had been picking them too, which is good news because the main purpose of this blog is to promote just this kind of behaviour. I have been keeping an eye on the B&Q crop too.

Cherry Plums Ripe Soon

Of course, when it comes to cherry pickers, we have secret weapons… Our telescopic Apple pickers also work very well with cherries and plums, which will be coming soon too. We will be back in St Deny’s, fully tooled up, very soon, we spotted a tree that was absolutely laden with dangling red jewels, which were almost,  but not quite fully ripe….

I Spy Cherry Pie

Cherries in St. Deny’s Save Many Pennies

Tragedy…

My first batch of Elderflower Champagne has gone all gloopy!

I tested a bottle to see how the pressure was building up, it fizzed appropriately, it smelled delicious but it was far too glutinous. A quick search on the web showed that my experience was not unique and various people offered differing advice.

I deferred to my friend Kevin, who is a virologist, he has a very powerful microscope and knows what he is looking for. Kevin said it was a bacterial problem and so I sadly poured all two gallons down the sink (it did clean the stainless steel beautifully), rather than risk testing it for toxins on myself. I have since managed to pick enough to start a third batch using Campden tablets and champagne yeast, as I did on my second batch (which has already popped one cork and tastes delicious).

On a lighter note, my children only have one fruit on their minds recently, Cherries!

I picked a sandwich box full of sweet, dark cherries, in Hedge End, during my lunch hour and had also spotted a large bunch of super-sized beauties in St. Deny’s. I planned to come back with the children and a picking pole, to reach the high fruit and my daughter took no persuading, as we filled a large Tupperware box in about 20 mins.

Yes, they do taste as lovely as they look!

Anyone for Cherries?

I am a very regular user of the St Deny’s Community Centre, and I had been keeping a close eye on the ripeness of the cherries on the big tree in the front garden. The fruit on this tree often ripens early, a week or two before the other local trees and you need to be prompt if you want to beat the birds to it.

It was Midsummer when we rolled up outside the Junction Inn, with our fruit picking equipment boxes and lucky cherry socks. The first stage was to install the smallest members of the gang on the roof of the car, which we had conveniently parked directly under the tree.

Our friends soon joined us, bringing their own children along to help. We then set about filling up our containers with beautifully sweet, ripe cherries. Of course, quite a lot of the dark red fruit didn’t make it past the hungry mouths of the children (and adults).

It didn’t take long before the local kids got wind of the fact that these red things were not actually poisonous berries (despite my best efforts to convince them) and we soon had a little gang asking if they could help and more specifically to share our booty. Not that I mind, and actually, I positively encourage them to go and find more trees around the neighbourhood, there are plenty.

The regulars of the Junction Inn also seemed quite interested in the goings on. By the time we had finished, I had worked up quite a thirst myself but first, I had to get home with our fruit and get the children fed and up the wooden hill. No prizes for guessing what we had for dessert that night...

Cherry Picknik Anyone?

Can't Reach These!

I went out for a walk around the area of Hedge End where we picked our cherries last time and was pleased to note that there were plenty more close by waiting to be gathered.

Big Sweet Red and Juicy

I also found a tree with some tasty larger cherries by the side of the path, so I decided to spend a little time seeing how many I could reach. It was a bit tricky because I had no picker and there were lots of stinging nettles but I grabbed a bagful anyway.

My Fruity Lunchbox

I also noticed on my rounds that baby hazel nuts are now visible, although not nearly ready for picking. That will have to wait a month or two yet.

A Nut Cluster 

However, the cornucopia of Cherry Plums, Mirabelle’s, Bullace, Greengages etc. (cue long list of different and confusing names) are looking bountiful and they look as if they will ripen in a week or two. Rest assured, I’ll be keeping my eye on them.

Pluckable Plums

Till then, if anyone fancies a Cherry Picknik in Hedge End (close to the railway station), please register your interest here, by email or on the Facebook, Mansbridge Community Orchard page.

The Tester Passes Verdict