How Does Our Garden Grow.................. Part 2....... Fruit

We arrived to find 5 trees in the orchard and a few bushes in a soft fruit bed and a small rhubarb plant among the weeds.

The trees are a plum, two pear and two apple, one of which is a family tree with two or perhaps 3 varieties grafted onto one tree.

The fruit bed had one white currant, two other un-identified currant bushes, a dead gooseberry bush and a few raspberry canes.

We've planted more rhubarb crowns, two gooseberry bushes, the cheap blackcurrant bush and the bargain raspberry canes from Poundland and Wilkinsons and six strawberry plants from Aldi. In pots I have a small Apricot tree and a patio pear tree, both are alive but no fruit this year.

Apples looking as if they might be a  good crop

Pears look promising

Soft fruit bed. A few raspberries and currants from the established canes/bushes this year. More next year we hope Just 2 of the very cheap raspberry canes didn't survive. The largest currant bush - back left, colour unknown, has No berries at all, I'll cut it back and give it a chance next year. I need to find a way of covering the raspberries soon. There is netting left behind by Mrs F so it will be some sort of makeshift thing. Not a bit  like the huge walk in fruit cage we had at the smallholding.

The strawberry plants are in pots and will give us a small bowl of berries soon. I want to sort out a proper strawberry bed if possible before next year - raised would be good. All the rhubarb plants are still very small, I hope they put on growth for next year.
Both the Fig (£3.99 Wikinsons) and the Grapevine (£1.99 QD) have suddenly put on a foot of new growth in the last fortnight and even the mini lemon tree - as mentioned the other day - has suddenly sprouted a new leaf.

This is next door's elderly cat, she removed herself from the corner of the soft fruit bed quite quickly  when she realised I had crept up on her!

Back Soon
Sue