Living The Dream in North Devon
Just picked my nuts! Well Hazel nuts, the Walnuts will come later in the year. I have planted up a little nuttery (an orchard where nuts are grown) in one corner of our field with cultivated varieties of nuts. Currently Walnuts, Hazel Nuts and Horse Chestnuts. These being my favorite, I probably won’t plant...
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So the nectarine jam was not what I would consider a success. I thought it might produce a jam similar to apricot, but it just didn’t have the flavour. The jam tasted sweet with a slight hint of a peachy nectarine flavour. In my opinion, it would have been nicer with a higher acidity....
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Oh baby, yes it can be done and produces a tasty jam. Nectarine jam is a reality. Made from Nectarines grown in Devon, UK. Tasty, I’ll put the recipe in the website sion....
If you remember a couple of months ago, I was picking peaches, nectarines and then apricots. Now we are harvesting plums and late nectarines. The trouble is, this year I am inundated with nectarines, after all there are inly so many you can eat. What else can you use them for? Last night I...
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Just picked al the apricots, and a few nectarines and peaches. I’m going to keep a few for eating. Try freezing some, drying some and best of all making apricot jam this weekend! Yum, what does apricot jam remind you of?...
The apricots are beginning to ripen and turn golden orange. This variety of apricot, ‘Tomcot’, is growing near the south facing wall of the former shippen (cow shed). This year is the first year it has fruited. Apricot trees take about 5 years from planting to produce fruit. This is spot on, as I...
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I have a bumper crop of nectarines this year. Not ready to pick yet, but require a bit of attention. You may remember me fertilising the flowers back in early March, well now it is time to thin the fruitlets. To encourage bigger fruit and prevent overcropping, which can result in biannual crops, it...
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We had a few late light frosts last week, which was enough to lightly frost the new growth on some of the vines and figs. However, the vines trained against walls or in less exposed areas, seemed to have escaped unscathed. For those that were frosted, even though it was only the tips of...
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We are still continuing to cook with our citrus fruit. Having recently made Orange Curd (a variation on Lemon Curd), we are also still using them in drinks too. Kept in the greenhouse over winter, we have just moved them all to their summer spot on the terrace outside the kitchen. Conveniently located for...
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Looking like a growth out of the Jurassic period, this walnut flower is about to burst into life. While all the other trees around us are showing clear signs of opening their leaves for the summer, our walnut trees still look quite dormant. However, looking closely, the flower buds have swollen and they are...
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