Tag: gardening

Yes, it’s coming up to that time again, so is there anyone out there who would like to take part in a little postal seed swap? Due to the (small) size of my little plot, I always end up with more seed of any particular type than I actually need, and on top of that, the two magazines that I enjoy – Kitchen Garden and Grow Your Own – invariably come with a packet or two of seed on the front page.

As a result, my fig tree has lost all of its leaves, and the small pear tree has also suffered badly. I don’t think either of them have suffered permanent damage, but only time will tell.

The pears tend to grow 5 pears to a spur, and it is generally recommended to thin them out to one or two to a spur. I’ve been informed that the time to do this is July, as there can also be a natural loss of fruit. However, many of my tree’s spurs were bearing 7 fruits, and I really didn’t want it wasting energy on fruit I would only be thinning out later. So I have taken off the weediest, and thinned them down to 4-5 a spur. That way, in July, I should have a pick of healthy fruit, should I want to thin again.

Until today, it has been a puzzle to me why I decided to plant them out – it seemed to me I would start off thinking “it’s too early for X”, then suddenly decide that if anything I had left it late, and then – after I had planted – I watch the plants slowly die.

After the Great Brassica Disaster of 2008, where I failed to harvest a single cabbage/broccoli/cauliflower, I swore that I would never grow them again.