Miracle fruit starting to ripen up.
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Didnāt it warm up like a month earlier this year than 2021? So probably end of July.
Not a fruit shrub, but I plant mock jasmine, buddleias and other fragrant shrubs higher/further into the fruit forest and orchard so that one has to walk around to get a sniff when nothing much is going on around the fruit trees - because it would be a shame not to.
And a photobomb from the European fruitgrowersā most favourite solitary bee: osmia cornuta
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First 2 almost ripe strawberries this year - about a month too early. A little on the sour side, but no complaints as I come from a place where strawberries ripen in August.
and a more representative size for this variety. Iāll pick it this evening or the slugs will get it. Note the size of the 1/3 leafā¦ I wish I could eat the monster foliage, too.
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Iāve grown FG for 14 years and it never ripens here in Sept. Late July on average ( non rainy year ) is when they should ripen in this area. But beware, if itās rainy they will crack @ the shoulder and the normal ripening sequence will be lost, leading to drops and rot if left untreated.
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Earliglow strawberries start ripening here in southern middle TN ā¦ April 20ā¦ Surecrop starts ripening just after the Earliglow quit ā¦ mid May.
They are a good combo.
Strawberries are my first ripe fruit each yearā¦ not counting morel mushrooms.
Thanks. You are the closest stone fruit growing member to me here I think.
Iām quite happy seeing the fruit for the first time. I also am not overly optimistic I will be able to eat tree ripened fruit. Weāll see.
Iād hate to hope for a hot, dry summer like last year just for the fruit to ripen well.
I am thinking growing stone fruit that ripens as early as possible might be good choice here to avoid long exposure to everything besides myself who wants this fruit, whether insect, animal, fungal, viralā¦
My second leaf Katy apricot set and ripened two delicious fruit last week if April.
We still have some Aurora haskap - shared the other varieties with birds and slugs. I was hoping for some Elaeagnus x ebbingei fruit earlier on, but all that survived winter dropped by March. Early sour cherries are next, then sweet cherries and the strawberries were supposed to come later in June. Itās all a bit hashed up recently. But berries mostly get an extended season. Whatās worse is that all apples and pears ripen too early and one canāt go by the harvest time guides. Weāve ended up harvesting too late (too early by calendar) in the last two years and the fruit doesnāt keep in storage.
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Couple of loquat and zitavia white currants (first fruits, and first ever trying white currant) for breakfast
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Elderflower season is officially open (now that the rain is gone).
I think I could use some lightweight telescopic clippers for these. We train elder in the courtyard into trees.
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What do you do with your elderberry flowers?
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I mostly dry them for tea for colds and bronchitis. I also make a fermented drink, sirup and sometimes I make elderflower pancakes/crepes.
But they can be used for wine and fritters, too.
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Iām sure you have plenty for both it looks like, Iāve never processed any elderberries much less the blooms. But is the fruit not more packed with health benefits?
Wine as in white flower wine. You can make red wine from the berries.
The health benefits of the flowers and fruit differ. The flowers are anti-inflamatory, aid sweating and lower fever and help with production of mucus. They are traditionally used for colds, the flu, bronchitis but also pneumonia. Same goes for linden which was a lifesaver during serious respiratory infections.
The fruit is rich in antocyans and vitamin C, but is also mildly laxative and diuretic. But mostly used to treat nerve pain.
And you can use the bark, sparingly as an emetic and laxative.
In Slovakia we also use the wood to make this remedy for the soul Fujara - Wikipedia 
So only the roots of elders are safe hereā¦
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The video clip in that article is such beautiful music! Thank you for sharing this.
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For the first time I have some fruit drop from my Flavor Grenade pluot.
4 fruit, all small, on the ground and showing a bit of color when decaying.
In addition a single fruit on the tree with a hint of blush fell off when I touched it.
Maybe a result of the rains.
Glad you like it. This is one of my more favourite + the recording is cleaner. Makes me want to go home to the mountains (and raid the bearsā fruit larder while sitting on one of the peaks watching the day pass by. ).
And this one is similar to what my partnerās friendās fujara trio were playing in our courtyard while suspiciously eyeing the elder tree in the photo above. It has 3 nice straight trunksā¦
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Anyone dealing with mites eating new growth on their elderberries? (Iām assuming thatās what the lighter colored shriveled/damaged-looking new growth is caused by.) I didnāt have my phone with me to take a pic.
Just spotted this on the shelf in a local deli, looks like another way to use the flowers is syrup for a non-alcoholic beverage?
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Checked my elders todayā¦ looking good getting tall and very greenā¦ no blossoms yet. It should not be long though.
HR and JJ raspberries, Surecrop strawberries, obsidian blackberries.
A well ripened obsidian is a very tasty early blackberry.
I have some OTBlack raspberries getting ripe nowā¦ black but not soft yetā¦ another day or two.
I have some Bristol Blacksā¦ that have turned redā¦ on their way to black.
Love the black raspberriesā¦ my favs.
Purple royalty berries are still green but sizing up someā¦ looks like they will be my last rasp to ripen.
Herritage reds.
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