September 2022 – Harvest time
It’s September and we are deep into the harvest season of all the produce we’ve grown over the year.
From the Kitchen Garden come beans, courgettes, marrows, chard, spinach, cavolo nero, potatoes, onions, shallots, garlic, carrots and beetroot with parsnips, leeks and pumpkins still to come.
We’ve grown tomatoes, cucumbers and aubergines in the Salad House and of course there is the vast harvest of apples, pears and other top and soft fruit still to be harvested.
Some of the early apples are already picked and ready to go to the Kirkby Fruit Project. The Project is a volunteer group making use of surplus fruit to help raise funds for local community groups. They make their own fruit juice, cider and cider vinegar for sale, all details can be found on their website at www.kirkbyfruitproject.com.
They also provide a juicing service to local and other groups: a complete boon for us as we have a massive harvest from our 100 plus apple trees. We have more than eighty varieties all ripening at slightly different times throughout the autumn so we work closely together for most of the autumn.
I am slowly researching and creating labels for all the top fruit in the garden. Well when I say creating what I actually mean is I put the text together and a wonderful woman called Serena turns them into professional looking, durable labels that should last many a year. They list the name of the variety, when it should be picked and how long it will keep for.
I have sorted the labels for the orchard and the Yorkshire Apple Collection. I have also created the text for all the apples on the walls but I need to work with my trusty affixer of labels Steve who undertakes the job of getting the right label on the right tree using a spring fix that attaches firmly without damaging the tree.
They use the same system at Kew but as far as I know, the squirrels up here haven’t taken to chewing them off the trees in the way they do at Kew.
Some apple varieties such as Grenadier and Howgate wonder are ready to be picked in late September (possibly a little earlier this year) but stored properly, will keep until November or December.
I can remember as a child, my mother putting thick layers of newspaper on the big dining table in our rarely used and freezing cold front room. She would then painstakingly lay out the apples so that none of them touched and then periodically check for any signs of decay.
It meant that we had baked apples (yum), apple crumbles and in very cold weather, apple dumplings. I couldn’t move after an apple dumpling. It stuck to the inside of my stomach and kept me warm for the rest of the evening.
Other varieties such as the appropriately named Early Victoria ripen in August and need to be used straight away. A basic rule of thumb is the earlier the applet ripens, the poorer it keeps. Early Victoria is a great cooker and yes, I’ve already had my first apple crumble of the season.
Do come and have a look at the apples as they are harvested for another year. You can pick up a bag to take away for a small donation. All the current varieties being harvested are on display at the produce stand by the kiosk.
I’m full of apple trivia and am often to be found near a tree just testing the latest crop out so do say hello if you see me.
Filed under: Blog
