General Spring Update

This is just a small selection of the things of Spring. Our first ever potato crop appears to be harvest ready and has been a definite success. I now understand the oft recollected pleasure of sifting through the earth to find these starchy nuggets! It's got to be the most exciting harvesting experience as you turn over the soil and they all tumble out. These are Kipflers grown from sprouting store bought spuds. They don't exhibit the Kipflers distinctive turd-like shape but I've seen ones that look like this before. High hopes for the taste test which is imminent.

 

 

 Herbs are happening in pots this year. The mint is making good use of an old recycling bin and even better use of a decent dose of dynamic lifter. Parsley has taken over the half wine barrel of my recently deceased blood orange. The next one will be bigger, bloodier and in the ground!

Has someone been fondling your street apples? Sigh. Unfortunately anything beyond the fenceline gets fondled sooner or later. How do I know this? It's the distinctive sheen they've developed. Apples are normally dusty and even a bit hairy when they're growing whereas these have a somewhat polished appearance. With successive croppings I'll probably calm down.

Malteser Syndrome

I have to say I'm almost numb now to the countless mysterious horrors presented to me when I walk through the apple orchard at the moment. This one however was just horrific enough to stir me. I think I'll call it the Malteser syndrome, firstly because I've got no idea so far as to what it really is and secondly for wholly obvious reasons. The damage is limited to the Summer Strawberry which continues to accept the brunt of natures boot this year and is limited to only five or six of the fruit. My sole suspicion so far is that its got something to do with the vicious 40 degree day we had about a week ago. Leaves were burnt and feelings hurt in the wake of that stinker and the sun-facing feature of these big brown spots is a dead giveaway. From the cross-section, the damage appears to be superficial but I can't see an apple recovering from this.