Category: Garden

My first pear of the season! Actually, it’s only the second pear I’ve ever had from this tree, which is “Deacons Pear”. A reasonable dessert pear, but mainly an excellent pollinator for the Worcester Black Pear.

It was glowing in the afternoon sunshine – the change from green to gold happens pretty much overnight, and signals full ripeness.

Normally, I reckon on making chutney at the end of the season, to use up green tomatoes that are never going to ripen. this year, I’ve got too much of a glut of red tomatoes, as both Latah and Urbikany are in full flow at the same time. Fortunately, there was a pint of pickling vinegar in the cupboard …

I made 2/3rds of the recipe (I think I usually make half), which was enough for five jars of chutney and a “taster”. Recipe says to simmer for 90-120 minutes, but it actually took closer to three hours before it was done.  The chutney now goes into a cupboard to mature, until at least Christmas – I have several jars of last year’s still, so won’t be tempted to raid them early, though there’s a couple of spoonfuls as a “taster jar” to try out with the tail-end of pot-roast beef currently in the fridge.

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First home-grown tomatoes of the year!

These are “Latah”, which are very early outdoor tomatoes, with fairly small fruit (the larger one in the photo is the size of a golfball), and a really messy sprawling habit. It also has tough skin, and every year I think “I won’t grow that next year”, but every spring I think “maybe Latah … just because they’re so early”.